To ride dressage is to dance with your horse, equal partners in the delicate and sometimes difficult work of creating harmony and beauty.

Wednesday, September 19, 2018

Still dancing

With no "up-and-comer" in my foreseeable future, there's no excuse whatsoever for Lance not getting his recommended 30 minutes of forced exercise nearly every day. With no lessons, clinics, or shows in our foreseeable future, we can do whatever we want for that exercise. Some days I bit Lance up and lunge him,

some days we ride where we can on our hill,
Whelp, I guess we found the timber harvest area!

The trail beyond is now a hazard,  so there goes more access.

and yes, we still "dance." Yesterday we schooled in the arena, and cantered more than we have since the canter crash. I'm exercising great caution, staying away from the arena rails and cavaletti, and I always wear my helmet (and have a new one on order). Still, there are no guarantees with horses, even 'able-bodied' ones; I realize that if I landed badly – or Lance did – in another crash-and-burn, the results could be serious – or deadly. But . . .

Saturday, September 15, 2018

Sweet September

Fall weather arrived with September. We've had cooler weather, cleaner air, rain, and lovely skyscapes.


The trade-off? Shorter days! But since I'm no longer trying to avoid the heat and sun, I don't need to wait until the end of the day to ride, and our arena's sand footing is safely packed and dust-free so we can utilize it more.
Look, Ma; no dust!
We still go out and about, too. Yesterday after warming up in the arena, Lance and I headed down through our eastern neighbor's lot. A doe and fawn were hanging out on their lawn, so we skirted wide. The doe never got up, but we caught the fawn as we were coming,
and going.
We rode down the gravel road past changing trees,
and back up the hill through the vineyards, enjoying the fruit on the vines and the beautiful views. With the grapes getting ripe, I suppose noise-makers will soon keep us out of these areas for awhile. Those propane 'cannons,' injured deer distress calls, and screeching bird sounds can be unnerving to a horse!



Rick is taking a firm stance against my getting another horse, so what I have is all I can work with (except for occasional brief rides on students' horses). I'm disappointed, but Lance is doing well, has lost a bit of weight and isn't tripping nearly as much. I've even cantered him – very carefully for very short stretches well away from the sides of the arena in case he crashes again.  I am thankful for every ride, and I love my big red goober.