Today we went out to the barn in the afternoon. My plan was to start loping Bear early (particularly if it seemed like he felt good) and the lope and lope and lope. And then maybe lope some more. We started with some really light groundwork, then did a little warming up under saddle with… Read more »
lope
Good Sweat
Although groundwork used to be a regular part of what I did with Steen, in the last six months or so as he has mellowed significantly and his ground manners have become excellent, I have been pretty much skipping groundwork so I can ride more. I’ve also gotten pretty lazy with suppling exercises while mounted… Read more »
End of the Week Rides
Lately I have been getting some long rides in, but this Tuesday Bear and I had a fun, short ride, and I kind of liked the idea of having a few of those just to mix things up. On Thursday we more or less repeated Tuesday’s ride, but we were back out on the strip,… Read more »
Just the Two of Us
It seems like it has been a while, but I did go out with Robin on Friday. I just got lazy and didn’t blog about it. I was worried about Bear’s swollen ankles and decided to have a relatively easy day of groundwork. I thought it would also help with his somewhat increasingly bad behavior… Read more »
Borrowing the Bear Trap
The whole saddle debacle has taken the wind out of my sails a bit, but yesterday Brian came home from work and coaxed me out to the barn. He wanted to spend a day working on groundwork anyway, due to Bear’s swollen ankles, so he offered me a the use of his saddle. I’ve only… Read more »
Transitions
The morning was wet and we also had some things to do in the early afternoon, so we didn’t get out until after 2. But it was one of those gorgeous June days: sunny, slightly breezy, temps in the low 80s. The horses were a little lethargic from standing in the warm sun all day,… Read more »
Good Gait Speeds
It was a hot Friday afternoon, and we almost didn’t go to the barn. I was really tired from a long week at work (even though it was actually only four days), but I figured I would probably just sit around the house if I didn’t head out to see the horses. So we went. … Read more »
Loping in the Pasture
When we pulled up to the barn I was excited to see that the strip had been cut. I wished I had a camera with me during our last ride because the wind made the grasses look really cool against the horses’ legs. They were almost up their bellies in some places. But the grass… Read more »
A Long Weekend of So So Rides
Saturday was probably the best ride of the three. Robin and I had a family friend visit on Friday night. He had a lot of driving ahead of him and took off relatively early Saturday morning, so we just got ready and went to the barn. It was damp and quiet and we planned on… Read more »
Two Indoor Rides
Friday we had family in town, so didn’t make it out to the barn. On Saturday we went out in the morning and rode for about an hour in the indoor arena. I went in the dressage saddle, and again Steen started out a tad nervous. There were a couple spots where he would always… Read more »