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Wentworth Hunter Pace - June 6, 2021

After Margaret and I had such a fun time at the fall hunter pace, we opted to go again this spring! This time, while I rode Rejoice again, Margaret rode her horse Jester and had a friend ride Ladyhawke. All Kennebec Morgans!! Jester and Rejoice have the same dam and Jester and Lady share the same sire. Unfortunately instead of a lovely late spring day, we had one of the first intensely hot and humid days of the year. It was definitely a bummer, but the ride was mostly in the shade of the woods and we had a great time!  most of the fences were 3' coops but we found a small log and this hay to jump haha Until we didn't. 😑 We brought along a third friend who rode Margaret's older mare, Ladyhawke. She's a good rider but hasn't known Ladyhawke for very long and didn't realize how much of a cranky boss mare she could be at times. She kicked Jester right in the front leg just about halfway through the ride, and while the cut itself ended up not being a big deal in the...

An Off Night...Nothing Like Your Mare Throwing a Temper Tantrum.

So.......I have rationalized it about 100 ways, but bottom line, Ms. Dreamy had an off day. Our ride tonight was rather.......awful.

After having the chiropractic work on Wed, July 16, Dr. J advised that I give her two days off. Of course, last night (Friday) it began raining at 3PM and never let up.....by 8PM I gave up and changed out of my riding clothes. Rain alone would have been OK, but that little thing called thunder and lightening just gives me second thoughts about being atop a horse in an open field.

SIGH

I do think that 3 days off is WAAAAY too much for this horse. She seems to be happiest when we ride 2 days in a row and then have one day off.....or three days in a row and one day off. Sometimes I can get away with 2 days off in a row, but one seems to work much better.

So, I was eager to ride tonight. It was muggy, so I figured a 40-45 minutes ride would be fine. Things started off OK, as we did walk-halt-walk transitions and walk-trot-walk transitions like our lesson this past Tuesday. Then I began some trot work, and tried very hard to sit the trot on my transitions. My goal was 4-5 strides before posting on the upward and 4-5 strides on the downward before the walk. I thought about being soft, RELAXED, and absorbing the energy through my seat and legs.

And lo and behold, I actually think we did OK. There was very minimal butt/saddle slapping (LOL) and I actually felt pretty comfortable up there at times. I did a lot of walk breaks too. One time on the upwards, I actually sat for NINE strides. It felt so good and she was so steady between my seat and hands that I just floated along... :D

SO I probably should have ended it there. ROFL! I could feel a big difference in Dreamy's back, as she was much more through and swinging. I could actually feel her hind end working and coming underneath herself. That was very cool. Her left bending seemed a little better, especially through her poll, but I still had to be VERY careful about over bending her. Still, I do think the chiro work worked! :)

When we started the canter, things were still going well. Our left lead canter was soft and round, no rushing and no pacing. WOW! This used to be our worst side. Tonight it was lovely! So I changed rein and that is when the temper tantrum began. She picked up the canter OK, but rushed and tilted her head to the outside. And then the trot transition? Totally forgot what a half halt was and went blowing through my aids and all hell broke loose. It was NOT a pretty sight. This has not occurred since June 19 (ummmm.....exactly a month!) as I looked back in this blog (see Jeckyll and Hyde Rides).

So rather than get in a HUGE fight, we went back to the trot, then trot-walk-trot transitions. Still being an absolute shit.

Ok, so let's do walk-halt-walk transitions. Better, but still being a complete and utter fool.

So I just did some medium walk-extended walk-long and low walk........I really brought things back to something she can easily do. We were both covered in sweat....Dreamy from her temper tantrum and me from having to RIDE her so much......GRRRRR.

Oh well. A month ago I was in near tears when she did this.....tonight it only took about 5 mins. to accept that this is called training. :) We did have a good 30 min. ride.......at least. I know she can do what I was asking her to do, so tonight was just an off night. With 3 days off, mugginess, an adjusted body, and a healthy dose of MARE.......it is what it is. Hey, we can't always have 2 fabulous rides a week!

Here's hoping tomorrow night's ride will be a better one. :)

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