Yesterday I had a lesson with my riding partner and her mother (who was a great rider, btw). I was scheduled to ride a pony named Texas but came up a bit lame so since the most of the other horses were being used that day B had me ride one of the retired thoroughbreds named Nikki. I have nicknamed this horse flashdance because she wears a fleece covered cribbing collar and she looks ready to start dancing! I wasn't sure what to expect out of this mare who hasn't been ridden in ages but she seemed excited to be pulled out of her pasture to be groomed -- and, wait, you're getting tack for me too??? That was the look on her face! She was thrilled. She's only 21 but she hasn't aged very well and subsequently acts much older than that in many ways.
We made our way to the arena to get used to our new mounts for a few minutes, my riding partner was on one of my instructor's personal horses, a 6-yr old green thoroughbred, and of course her Mom was on a brand new horse. The weather here has been unseasonably warm (which I will gladly take over hurricane like weather we've been having and the wicked snow storms we got this winter) so we headed to the huge outdoor to work - hooray!
Mostly, we worked on lengthening and shortening strides in between a series of ground poles...easy enough, but a worthwhile exercise in preparation for jumping. Nikki was a total champ and with some piloting got right into a soft frame and showed me that she knew exactly what I was asking for and collected and lengthened beautifully. My instructor commented on how gorgeous she was moving and I agreed, she felt lovely. We decided it would be fun to hop over a few fences and B warned me that Nikki would get "amped" up. And boy did she! trotting in to a small flower box she broke in to a canter 2 strides out, jumped the fence with glee, and cantered off feeling very full of herself! What a fun horse! We continued working over this fence concentrating on keeping her steady to the fence -- she rides like a experienced show jumper, picking her head up to look at the fence and not allowing much contact with her so she can set herself up -- I didn't have to ride her to the fence, she took me there...it was pretty awesome. It was very cool to ride a horse that's truly been around the block, and after riding Major on Tuesday, it was a joy to have a horse that was eager to get to the bottom of the fence rather than sucking back a stride out and then over jumping! She reminded me so much of a horse I fell in love with when I was 16 in Southern Pines...he was an ex-race horse named Tix and just the most fabulous jumper. We had a real connection and we trusted each other endlessly. If only Nikki were 10 years younger!!!!!
Today I am going to the farm to work with Kiki. They are putting a new roof on one of the buildings on the property so B suggested I wait until the afternoon to come -- after last week's attempt at working with her during a thunderstorm, I agreed. I am also bringing my camera so I can get some photos of the horses! Hooray!
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