Dave and I had our wedding ceremony on the 14th of May :) And it was beautiful! The week prior we had friends visiting us here in AZ, so not much riding. Also, I have a job now and that takes up two days a week of my time. But, only for 4.5-5hrs, no biggie! I only go to the barn every other day anyway so it works out.
Here is Dave and I:
Onto the Gert Monster!
She hadn't been ridden in 3 weeks by the time we came back home. We had so much to clean/organize just here at home, I didn't get to ride until a few days ago. I lunged her, knowing she'd be full of piss and vinegar...and I was right. She bucked, kicked, ran around crazy (I left the round pen door open) and tried to escape from the round pen. She knows better to not try that so she got into some trouble. She was lunged with the saddle on. Tightened it up, put her bridle on and off we went.
She.Was.GREAT! I couldn't have been happier with her behavior. Even though I could feel the energy in her, I had to keep a lot of leg on her to keep her going. Her friend, Koal, was in the arena (beautiful Morgan x Fresian cross gelding) and she kept wanting to stop and socialize...but he was working too. Silly horse. We didn't do too much. Sat around and chatted with a few folks.. she hadn't been in work for a while (as I said) so I didn't want to do too much; I knew we'd both be sore. She is such a champ! Picked up her leads correctly when asked, was engaged in the back, light in the front, transitions were very nice.. couldn't have been happier! She got a spa treatment after that. A good scrub down and conditioning too. She needs her feet done, though. Hopefully I can catch the farrier sometime this week or will just call him out.
Yesterday, I didn't lunge her. Probably should have as she still has a good amount of energy. She was a TURD at first. Wanted to go-go-go and fought with me a lot. Finally got over it and started doing really well. Then turned bratty again, showing off for this other horse she doesn't know that came into the arena, bucked, was trying to take off and dip in her turns again.. she got into a lot of trouble for it.. circles, circles, circles and a lot of transition work. Made her think twice and she started behaving more. Started getting tired... so we stopped. Other than her naughtyness, she did really really well. Counter-cantered like it's nothing, picked up her correct leads when asked and went into the transition smoothly without anticipation. She did rush into the canter a few times, but not like she had been before. AND...unexpectedly did a flying lead change. I about fell out of my seat as I wasn't expecting her to change her leads in the figure 8 we did at the canter. I didn't ask for it because she's not "there" yet--normally she'll just counter-canter. She does change them sometimes but not THAT well. Sucha good girl.
Some pictures.. my husband was having fun with the filters, so don't mind the color changes.
Hopefully I won't be too tired to update tomorrow. We ride again!
