On The Trail
Yesterday Roxanne and I loaded up Gypsy and Z for a trail ride as I had a rare open morning. I had tried Suzy, but she was busy. She and Tommy have been there and done that. Gypsy is a good level horse, which makes her a good companion for a green horse and good for her rider too.
We loaded up early and headed to the San Tans. I was happy to discover that my emergency preparedness vest fits over my crash vest. The emergency vest was put together by my friend Kathryn. It has all sorts of awesome things from duct tape and vet wrap to flint and a whistle. There are far too many things to list. It also fits my phone, wallet, and my .32.
I warmed Zetahra up on the lunge before mounting up. She was nice and attentive. We were the only trailer there, though there were aome hikers and bikers about. The ranger left his mule/gator cart by the trail head and Z gave it the hairy eyeball. I had Roxanne and Gypsy pass first to show Z it wasn't going to kill her, but she quickened as she passed it with her hip. We went past it a couple times until she relaxed and carried on.
We took Goldmine to the service road and had a good 50 minute ride. Z's "spook" at the moment consists of raising her head, hyper focusing on the object, and quickening. She is getting more responsive to the leg yield as a refocusing aid.
Gypsy kept a pretty strong walk the whole time so she would get a ways ahead and Z and I would trot past before walking again. Note: Zetahra doesn't really care about being left behind. At least not ao far as 30 yards goes. She would alow slightly after passing, but kept the trot with light encouragement until I asked her to walk. She also did well leading out for as long as Gypsy took to retake the lead.
Hopefully more trail rides are in our future!
Today I had a pair of lessons with a break between so I pulled out Cinnamon as I did last week. She was better lungeing this time, less rushy, but was a bit opinionated about the canter. I'd like to see that gone before I ask for it under saddle.
She had some really nice moments and a couple of rough ones. She and Trish didn't really get along. I think Trish came with some preconceptions and didn't give Cinnamon as much chance to give a good response as she needed. She is a little like Kitt in that if you keep asking after she starts to comply she gets recalcitrant and braces (in Cinnamon's case right now it includes a slight crow hop). Trish would keep pushing after Cinnamon would give half a try and end up inadvertently picking a fight with her. While Trish was working her I wasn't able to ride (pregnant and all that) to see if it was Cinnamon being a stink or if it was a communication issue. Having ridden her a couple times now I think it was more the latter.
And I will have to rabble more tomorrow as I am scrunched on time.
Good news: after some ungly moments I think LJ has been fixed ... hopefully.
We loaded up early and headed to the San Tans. I was happy to discover that my emergency preparedness vest fits over my crash vest. The emergency vest was put together by my friend Kathryn. It has all sorts of awesome things from duct tape and vet wrap to flint and a whistle. There are far too many things to list. It also fits my phone, wallet, and my .32.
I warmed Zetahra up on the lunge before mounting up. She was nice and attentive. We were the only trailer there, though there were aome hikers and bikers about. The ranger left his mule/gator cart by the trail head and Z gave it the hairy eyeball. I had Roxanne and Gypsy pass first to show Z it wasn't going to kill her, but she quickened as she passed it with her hip. We went past it a couple times until she relaxed and carried on.
We took Goldmine to the service road and had a good 50 minute ride. Z's "spook" at the moment consists of raising her head, hyper focusing on the object, and quickening. She is getting more responsive to the leg yield as a refocusing aid.
Gypsy kept a pretty strong walk the whole time so she would get a ways ahead and Z and I would trot past before walking again. Note: Zetahra doesn't really care about being left behind. At least not ao far as 30 yards goes. She would alow slightly after passing, but kept the trot with light encouragement until I asked her to walk. She also did well leading out for as long as Gypsy took to retake the lead.
Hopefully more trail rides are in our future!
Today I had a pair of lessons with a break between so I pulled out Cinnamon as I did last week. She was better lungeing this time, less rushy, but was a bit opinionated about the canter. I'd like to see that gone before I ask for it under saddle.
She had some really nice moments and a couple of rough ones. She and Trish didn't really get along. I think Trish came with some preconceptions and didn't give Cinnamon as much chance to give a good response as she needed. She is a little like Kitt in that if you keep asking after she starts to comply she gets recalcitrant and braces (in Cinnamon's case right now it includes a slight crow hop). Trish would keep pushing after Cinnamon would give half a try and end up inadvertently picking a fight with her. While Trish was working her I wasn't able to ride (pregnant and all that) to see if it was Cinnamon being a stink or if it was a communication issue. Having ridden her a couple times now I think it was more the latter.
And I will have to rabble more tomorrow as I am scrunched on time.
Good news: after some ungly moments I think LJ has been fixed ... hopefully.