Progress in every area, I believe!

Wednesday I went to the barn and for the first time this year, I got to ride outside! :) It was SO nice! Savy started out quite frisky. We went through all our conditioning steps to start with. Lots of walk and trot. The outdoor arena is quite large, and Savy and I did three laps around it at a trot. You may say, “Oh that’s easy.” But by the time we were on the “home stretch”, my legs were burning and Savy was barely trotting. Then we practiced some cantering and had a blast :) After that, I cooled her off bareback(but first I cantered bareback) and took Savy to the indoor arena since no one was in there to play with her at liberty. Our play time was quite rusty but after taking out the treats, we were trotting side by side to a cone, stop at the cone, then turn and run to another one. It was super fun! :) Although at the end, I was having a little bit of a space issue with her and she was being a little too mouthy. So using my own little method of keeping my space, we worked out that little problem and ended on that good note. It was overall a very productive day and I had a blast :)

++Bec N Savy++

Conditioning finally!(Sunday, March 13)

Well, its that time of year! Daylight Savings Time! And that means conditioning starts for Savy and I! Let me tell you, after you’ve ridden lightly for 3 months, and then you start conditioning, you get extremely sore! But Sunday was also an amazing revelation for me. I was SO connected with Savannah, and I finally saw things from a natural horsewomen’s point of view! I was so excited! I’m starting to actually learn from Savy! Something I never knew could happen when I first started riding! But I’m getting ahead of myself…

I started off Sunday by doing lots of walking and trotting. Just to let Savy get a big warm up. I did laps around the arena at the walk and trot in the two-point and I finally got my balance down! I only fell back once. After that, I did a posting trot with no stirrups. That was the painful part. I haven’t done that in like 3 years. My legs hurt SO bad! But they’re getting stronger and that’s what I keep reminding myself. Then we cantered to the right around the arena twice and I worked on my cantering position because I’ve been sitting way too far back with way too long reins. After getting that down, I let Savy walk for a while and then we practiced picking up the left lead canter. She finally got it but dropped it after a few steps but was able to pick it back up at the corner and hold it all the way down the arena because I’ve realized that my horse just naturally has an extremely fast canter and if I let her stretch out, she can hold the left lead canter for a little while! After cantering we did some trot poles and one jump :) It was so fun!

When I was done cooling her off, I hopped on bareback, and I was able to guide her through a cone pattern, around the end of the arena and to another cone, just by basically thinking and using my body weight to guide her through them! We were SO connected and I was so proud of her! We made HUGE headway! When I got off, I went in the stall and sat on the floor with her for a while. It was so peaceful ♥

Can’t wait to see how conditioning will pay off and how our relationship will progress even more!

++Bec N Savy++

(I realize I use this verse alot but its just so great!)

Jeremiah 29:11

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

Play day!

Sunday I went to Lea’s house and had a wonderful time! First we went out to the pasture and played with some circling together and cavalletti’s. We had to be careful in the pasture and watch out for ice and slippery spots. I can’t wait till warmer, drier weather! The ponies were very sleepy but Scout was so willing! He tries his little heart out and I love him so much! Then, Lea and I got on and rode around for a little while, but it was really cold and Eddie was concerned about things in the woods so we got off and went inside to warm up. After a while, we went back outside and took all three ponies for a walk around the track. It was super fun and Eddie was quite feisty on the way back to the barn! I enjoyed my day very much and I can’t wait for spring break and warmer weather! We’ll have lots more play time and a lot less heavy clothes to wear!

 

++Bec, Lea, Eddie, Scout, and Diesel++