Let's play catch-up + millions of redundant photos + bonus!

Riley got his shoes back on (since the beginning of December) a few days ago and homeboy was feeling REALLY good about himself. Our new farm is VERY rocky and I was pretty nervous about how he'd cope with the turnout fields (mostly just near the gates). To my surprise, he's held up pretty well for the last two months, at least until the mud arrived. He got a bit sore and popped an abscess, so I switched his turnout schedule so he's in half the time and I think he's appreciating the relief. Temperatures are warming up quite a bit and all of the horses seem to have spring fever! The ring was still sloppy, so i thought I'd hop on him and ride around inside to see how he was feeling... well, that ended quickly as he got all sorts of frazzled and I hopped off and decided we'd do some free lunging -- as a rule, I NEVER lunge or free jump for this sort of purpose, but I had little choice in crappy footing and less than ideal circumstances!



He rewarded me with some very fancy footwork and some low key efforts over the fences. Which in turn made me want to ride my horse and jump all the things ASAP.

That trot. Amazing what a new set of kicks will do.

Can't wait to ride this jump!

Square knees and relaxed ears. Loving it!

The weekend promised highs in the 50s so we made a huge list of things to do at the farm, including lots of riding!

First order for business for me was to give the pony a makeover! No one is going to want to buy a feral looking raggamuffin sitting in a muddy paddock! I figured it would also give us an excuse to work on the basics... you know, like standing on the cross ties like a good girl. So she got her mane pulled (which she was very good about until her withers) a full bath and scrub down, her face  and bridle path clipped (she loved) and her tail brushed out and banged.

Seems like she's done this whole "posing" thing before:)

She reminds me of a mini-Clydesdale!

Cute, clean blaze-face!

After our first test ride, I decided to start from scratch with her to see just what she knows and understands under saddle and on the ground. So I tacked her up and walked her to the ring and tried lunging her. Well, she lunges perfectly. W-T-C in both directions all on verbal cues. Check. I rode her without the standing this time as I think she's learned to brace against it (if you couldn't tell from that muscle under her neck). She started off much less worried than last time. I floated the reins at her so she got the message that there was nothing to brace against and she seemed to respond well. We just walk, trot, cantered in both directions and she did get a little worried during the canter work, but I finished with some quiet trotting to end on a good note. Then she got to stand around while I videoed another rider (standing still is always a good lesson to teach).

Tense, but quiet.

Learning to poke her nose out a little.

It all kinda comes apart at the canter, but I'll give her a pass for now.

Because of this... What a little powerhouse!

Finishing with some nice trot work.

She's quite the puzzle so far, but I think some consistent riding and handling and she's going to be pretty cool. I know she can jump, but we don't need to worry about that for now. If we can get her confirmed on the flat I would love to get her to a little starter event!

Riley was up next for a lesson and I gave Emily a laundry list of things of things I hoped to work on. Her response, "That's like a year's worth of lessons". Well, okay then, let's get to work. She started with flat work on a 20 meter-ish circle to get us really working from inside leg to outside rein. Riley really stepped up by giving me some pretty great flat work, but he struggled a bit maintaining the canter, though our transitions are getting sharper and more correct! I only had to be reminded 1,000,000 times to shorten my reins and lift my outside hand, but you know, baby steps. We came to the conclusion that I'm really going to have to start looking for a dressage saddle to help open up my hips and help lengthen my leg on the flat (sigh).

We moved on to a little grid that could be ridden in both directions. Either a one stride to a two stride or a two to a one. We went through first just as poles on the ground (establishing our strict canter away policy) and Emily made them all Xs, then an X, a vertical and a baby oxer (maybe 2'3"). For our first jump lesson of the year, I couldn't have been happier about Riley's attitude. He was straight, keen, and relaxed. last year, we weren't able to get a jump lesson in until April and he was a disaster (nearly bucking me off after tiny cross rails!).

Riley is unimpressed by this oxer -- but pleased with my exaggerated release:)

We added a little jump around the corner from the grid... I'm actually looking where I am going!

Riley's insane hind step. Also: my super fun saddle pad was a gift from Emily!

I love everything about his expression here.

Plenty for me to work on for sure, and Riley needs some conditioning, but otherwise a really successful lesson!

Riley also got his mane pulled and face trimmed up. I didn't realize just how long his mane had gotten until I started pulling it! He's looking much more dapper, though his face is still a train-wreck (but looking much improved) and he's in BAD need of a bath! His coat is growing back in the special way that only Riley's coat can, in little weird patches that look insane, so I'll probably clip with (with the direction of his hair) to clean that up too.

And a little bonus:

So, the place we took over must have had a big fire sale or something when it was in it's heyday, because we had to sort out and throw out (a lot of it was just dry-rotted garbage) old tack and equipment that was just taking up space. A lot of it had little price tags on it from the sale, but most of it wasn't worth enough to do anything with. However, we found one little item of note:

Oh, these old things? Just a pair of Dehner Bluchner boots in MY SIZE (insert grabby hands here!!!) So I took them home and tried them on with a very thin pair of boot sock for fear of 1) not being able to get them on without boot pulls and 2) not being able to get them off without a boot jack (both of which are packed away somewhere). The chances of these things fitting were slim to none because I have impossibly thin calves and normal size feet, but as you can see from the photo on the right, they are perfect! The foot bed and ankle are exactly correct and the calf is a tiny bit snug toward the top. The height is perfect. So I'm going to take them to a cobbler and have the breath new life back into these suckers. They are in need of some serious conditioning, but they are so lovely and worn in (just enough) and I think I can have the calf stretched a little bit to make them just right 9the soles are perfect too). What an amazing score!!!!