Practicing for trail class?

This morning Brian (I was inside, he was outside) opened the front door and called, "Lance is out." We  had put the horses on the NW corner of our property so they could eat down the last bit of tall forage, and I don't think the electric tape is 'hot.' Apparently the grass is greener next to the woodshed; this is what I saw when I went out through the front door:

Good thing he's not spooky or reactive, because there isn't a lot of open space where he was standing!

I grabbed his fly mask and he stepped carefully through and over the firewood as I led him back to join his herdmates in the pasture (on the far side of the woodshed).

Before long, Brian repeated his earlier alert. This time I found Lance under the walnut tree:

At this point I said 'uncle' and we led all four horses to the secure lower pasture.

I am so glad that the horse camp we are headed to this weekend has permanent pole corrals at each campsite. I don't know that we could keep Lance contained within a small enclosure powered only with a battery-operated fence charger, or on a high-line!

Be gentle....

Trust me, I SEE all the flaws in my riding in these videos; I could sit beside you as you watch these and solidly critique them myself. Such is the challenge of learning to dance together in a way that seems effortless in its beauty, and doing it without a lot of outside help. We aren't there yet – but boy, do I love my young partner!

Lance's Training Level debut

I am so happy with my boy! A totally new environment, only his second show, and Lance handled it like an old pro. Oh, he "looked" at a few things here and there, but then accepted each of them and moved on. What a good mind he has.

Lance was a looker himself, all done up in braids for the first time, but I didn't get any photos. When you are a one-woman crew, you can only do so much, you know? I did pay to have our rides recorded, and the videos are uploading to YouTube as I type; I'll post them in my next entry. I didn't do a great job of riding him (I was being so careful not to let him curl behind the vertical that I didn't take enough contact!), but we had no errors and scored solidly – 65.6% and 64.6%. If I had done a better job of riding him I'm sure those scores would have been several points higher. Still, the judge's opening comment on our first test was "Fluid, forward-thinking test!" – one of the best comments I've ever received. :-)

August is hot on our heels, and we have a lot planned. Next weekend we plan to go horse-camping – a new adventure for Lance. In fact, yesterday after I got home from the show, I unloaded, unhitched, and we loaded our camper on the truck! The following week I hope to get another lesson from Julie in order to work on the various weaknesses pointed out by the judge. August 12 is set aside for a beach ride if it works out for the three of us who want to go – another new adventure for Lance. And at the end of August I plan to show Lance at the State Fair, which means we need to work on some things so we don't embarrass ourselves in Halter and Trail. YeeHaw!

When I am an old horsewoman

When I am an old horsewoman

My horse shall wear fine leather and turquoise,
And I a straw hat which doesn’t suit me.
And I shall spend my social security on oats and carrots,
And sit in my pasture watching my horse graze and roll
And ride him across the sunlit meadow
If my old bones will allow.
And when people come to call, I will smile and nod
As I walk past the gardens to the barn
To show the flower growing in a stall fresh-lined with straw.
And I will be an embarrassment to all
Who have not yet found the peace
In being free to have a horse as a best friend;
A friend who waits at midnight hour
With nuzzle and nicker and patient eyes
For the kind of woman I will be when I am old.
I will sneak out in the middle of a summer night,
I will shovel and sweat and wear hay in my hair
When I am an old horsewoman.

—inspired by Patty Barnhart's version; thanks to Jane Savoie for sharing

Supermoon; super ride

So, Lance and I were on a roll after three great lessons with Julie. At our last lesson, two weeks ago today, we finished by reviewing the two Training Level tests we will be doing at the show this Sunday. Since then, I've worked on test elements during our rides, although trying hard not to drill them. (Lance picked up "halt at X" way too quickly!)

Last week I was headed to the beach on Tuesday, and to Spokane for four days on Wednesday. Not wanting to miss any more preparation than absolutely necessary, I got up EARLY both Tuesday and Wednesday mornings to ride.

This week has been hot, and I haven't been able to ride in the mornings. Sunday's ride was okay; last night's (as in late – after dark) ride was fairly miserable. So this evening, I stopped thinking at all about the show and the tests, and just focused on exercises to improve connection and gaits and responsiveness. We leg-yielded down the wall as well as quarterline-to-wall; we did a lot of trot-halt-trot transitions; I made sure to keep him properly bent around my inside leg while keeping my hands 'giving' and on their own sides of his neck. Big improvement!

So for the rest the week, we'll do more of the same, and on Sunday, we'll go in and do our two tests as best we can. I'll try to get photos or video!