Pleasantly surprised!

I was able to get the boy out to stretch his legs for a bit yesterday, although he was much more interested in eating weeds than romping and rolling at first:

Basking in a rare moment of sunshine

(He was covered with wet sand when I brought him in, however.)

This afternoon the sun broke through again, and this time I was able to shoehorn in a ride. In spite of how ornery he's been acting in his stall, Lance was very good under saddle.

It's probably too much to hope for time to ride tomorrow; I have a long to-do list and a short morning before heading into town for the afternoon. Thursday I'll be gone all morning on an airport run, but maybe, just maybe, we can fill our dance card Thursday afternoon. It sure improves both our attitudes to do so!

Good timing gone

I rode on Wednesday last week, and then was gone for two days for a quick road trip. I don't usually ride on Saturday, but figured I'd be back in the saddle yesterday, after just one extra day off for my boy (I strive to take no more than two days off between rides). The forecast was for sunny, dry days in the low 70s through the weekend – perfection!

Well, I have never experienced such a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde change between the forecast and reality before in my life! A typhoon left Japan and headed for the Pacific Northwest, and it's been dumping on us since Friday:

There are breaks between the showers and downpours today, but I'm too swamped with homeschooling and other duties to try and take advantage of them. I've got to at least turn the boy out for a romp and a roll; he's starting to act like the cooped-up colt on stall rest I was dealing with before bringing him home!

Beating the rain again

It is raining again, and I don't care! I had another great schooling session on Lance before it started, after doing chores (rather late) and getting Brian through two of his school subjects.

I turned Lance loose before riding again, since he didn't get out at all yesterday. I like Mary's term – a horse needs a chance to "get its ya-yas out." This time he just had the saddle on, no bridle, so when he paused to snatch a snack from the overhanging maple tree, I let him.

A thirst for the thistles coming up along the baseboard? Go for it!

As for our ride, Lance's canter departs – even the problematic right lead depart – are getting better and better. After observing his right lead canter departs in our last lesson, Julie's opinion was that the problem was attitude, not comfort or ability. Her counsel was to make sure Lance was giving me a forward, quality trot with an active inside hind before asking for the canter with correct, light aids. (I had ceased using my outside leg since it seemed to irritate him.) It was obviously good advice!

Lance is also responding better to the "coiling and releasing the spring" work at the trot. He's actually giving me some half-steps instead of trying to drop to the walk when I bring him back with strong half-halts. I'm so proud of his progress!

Pent up

How quickly it happens. After a summer of being out all day every day, the horses have been kept in more often lately due to threat of rain. No, the horses wouldn't melt, but our sloped summer sacrifice pasture gets "slicker 'n snot" with just a bit of precip.

I rode Monday-Friday last week, but wasn't sure when I'd get to ride again from the looks of the forecast. Our first seasonal storm was supposed to arrival with the Autumnal Equinox, and it did get dark and windy and rainy for awhile. Then late this afternoon, the clouds broke up and the sun broke through. Having worked through the majority of my to-do list, I changed into my breeches (a fleece-lined pair!) and headed to the barn without a twinge of guilt.

Lance acted cranky while I got him groomed and tacked up, and seemed a little fresh when I lead him into the arena. I decided it wouldn't hurt to tie up his reins and turn him loose for a few minutes. Well, the first thing he wanted to do was stop, drop and roll – with the saddle on. Fortunately I was able to dissuade him of that idea, but only with the application of my dressage whip. Then the rodeo began; you would have thought he'd been cooped up for a month instead of a day! By the time I thought to grab my camera, the action was more tame. (The photos aren't great, but I still think he looks lovely; he carries himself so well!)

When I called, he was ready to come,

and we proceeded to have a good ride. As with every ride last week, he ended up with "lipstick," always a welcome sign:

As I write this and watch the nightly news, it is raining hard again. I'm so happy I was able to shoehorn in a ride!

First Level, here we come!

Or would that be Second Level?

It's been a good week with my handsome prince. We had a great lesson with Julie on Wednesday, after two good rides on Monday and Tuesday. Last night I put on his Renegade boots and rode him down to get the mail by the light of the brilliant harvest moon. Then this morning I got up, did chores and got in another good schooling session before the predicted rain. (Yeah, I'm feeling pretty smug about that bit o' time management. ;-)

 It's hard to say if our dances were better due to a costume change (I used the Wintec), a shift in my focus (lesson coming up/just past), or the full moon. ;-) Whatever; I'll take them.

During our ride on Tuesday, we progressed from schooling prompt trot/halt/trot transitions to "coiling and releasing the spring" at the trot – asking for a bigger trot, then bringing it back to a more collected trot – for the first time. In our lesson with Julie, we worked on trot lengthenings for the first time. These two exercises sound similar, but are actually very different in execution and purpose. Trot lengthening is only done in USDF First Level tests, but the self-carriage, collection and impulsion developed by "coiling the spring" is useful all the way to Grand Prix. I've heard it said – and agree – that not every horse has a lengthening, but all horses are capable of developing medium and extended trot (although not all medium and extended trots are created equal, of course). Depending on how things develop over the winter and spring, we may flit briefly through First Level on our way to Second Level – or skip First Level all together!