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...
With having to move my Wednesday lesson up to Saturday, we ended up with just one ride (Sunday) and a day off (Monday) before our next lesson today (Tuesday). It was kinda weird to not have more time to work on our "homework" but it was the only day I had this week. I opted to lesson in the outdoor again, because I like how it gives Ellie more distractions to work through and that we can school in what she has only before seen as a "horse show" ring where I don't train her. Running through two five minute tests in a show setting without getting to fix mistakes is totally different than an hour lesson, and I swear she is smart enough to know this. We started with some really nice trot work again, which was so encouraging. Her trot is really coming along well into a much more relaxed and open trot, instead of her tiny little trit-trot pony strides she prefers. I did a few canter transitions and she nailed all her leads. I have to think so much...