Winter Music

Today was a BIG day for Lyric. I decided it was time for her to go to Rana's for some education aand experience. I planned to leave early so we would have plenty of time in case she didn't want to load. So... I grabbed her and Dan that morning and put Dan on the trailer. I grabbed a handful of Lyrics favorite cookies and... she walked right on! One step at a time, but she literally walked right on. And stood while I squeezed past and did the butt bar. GOOD GIRL! So we headed off. Unfortunatly, despite my intentions of leaving early and her being super quick about getting on, I decided not to stop and get hay on my way and figured we would do it on the way home. Ha! (You'll see).    We got to Rana's and I left them on the trailer so I could go pee. When I came back and dropped the ramp, Lyric started freaking out and was trying to get off before I could even get the butt bar down. And she was slipping a little in the poo goo. Luckily I was able to get the bar undone and ...

  Today... it was warm and lovely! A gorgeous day. BUT... with 13-15 mph winds. So.. I decided to ride! Lyric first. Ha ha.. I was at least smart and put on my MIPS helmet for this ride. :) (Vs the non mips helmet). I groomed her and tacked her up. So far, so good! We walked to the arena with only a few stops and bribes with cookies. Eventually the other horses showed up, but she was less concerned than prior, so yay! Of course Dan had moseyed sort of near us but then as we descended the hill to the arena, he came squirting up and made Lyric jump! Crazy fool. ;)        We did a lap or two of pillar work and then I got on. She was a teensy bit jumpy. It didn't help that Jean's filly hurt her leg so she was locked away from friends and kept screaming non-stop. So we worked on the walk and getting even but soft rein contact. We even worked a little bit on "leg yielding". She's much better yielding left than right. But we made a teeny bit of progress. So then we tro...

  Hee hee.. Lyric was so good today and then went rogue. ;) But it was an allowed rogue. It made me happy to see actually.  After I rode Dan and lunged Funny, I haltered Lyric and put her in the barn aisle. She got groomed and we practiced with her feet. She was super. Then I put the cavesson with the bit on and she did great! We walked up to the arena and despite the others not coming immediately, she was good. She stopped a few times and I had to bribe her with alfalfa pellets, but she was calm and chill.    We got in the arena and did our pillar work and then we went to lunging. She was super! She's really getting the hang of it. I swear, she is smart! She yields out when I step into her and she's getting softer and softer in her neck. And the good news is that she is tracking up into the same footsteps, so... not crooked! Afterwards I let them out in the dog pen pasture and she had words. ;) 

  Lyric was a very good girl today. I rode Dan first and then lunged Funny. When I let Funny go I grabbed Lyric and we walked back to the barn. Luckily the other ponies came with us, but even so, she was still much calmer in the barn than usual. I groomed her and then went to pee and left her in the cross ties. She was still in the same spot when I got back! Good girl. There was no fussing when I tacked her up. I left her halter on because I was planning to lunge her first, and I had left the cavesson up at the arena. So we started walking to the arena. She stopped every few steps because the others weren't coming, but... she didn't do anything more than that and when I tickled her with the whip, she carried on. We managed to get halfway to the arena before Dan started meandering up, but... still. She was pretty brave.    We did our psoas stretch and then a few minutes of pillar work. Then we lunged. It wasn't ideal as she didn't lower her head, but she's figuring o...

This morning Lyric and I did some work in the round pen. We started with our pillar work and got some nice Pillar 2 and 3's also. Then we practiced yielding to the bit and the "leg" both ways and she was super with that. So then we lunged with the cavesson. She was great. Tracking right is easier for her to soften and relax. Tracking left was tougher, and included one bit buck and squirt move. But we also got some nice more relaxed work. Baby steps!! I'm very proud of her. She got her new shoes on Thursday and luckily she still has all four glue ons. Sara was pleased with her foot growth, but displeased with her behavior. Ha ha. She wasn't awful, just a bit fussy and wiggly. Which, is fine, except not when you're trying to put glue ons on and get the glue to set! So we also practiced picking up all four feet (and I had pulled the cavesson off and not put her halter on, so even better!). And we'll work on it before Sara's next visit.  So yep. Good girl!...

 Homework