SOOOO many feelings!

 Bless her little ginger heart! Baby girl just... had a day! 

I got up early to take her to Beth's XC grid clinic at Ashland. She is in heat so she wasn't thrilled about leaving her friends after breakfast but she didn't take more than a minute or two to load. We got to Ashland and got tacked up quickly and headed out to XC. I wasn't quite as early as I wanted so while we weren't late necessarily, we were walking out when it started vs being down there and ready and everyone else had already left the trailers. As I was putting my gloves on (already on and walking towards XC) something spooked her and she spun a hair. Jeepers!! I haven't even gotten myself together yet! But we made it down to the field. 

We chatted with Beth briefly and then went to try to warm up. And Lyric was feral! She was bouncing and threatening to buck and just.... slinging her shoulders around. Beth was like "you could just walk her and warm her up through the exercise as we'll start slow". Thank you Beth! Let's do that! I did manage to walk her around and then as everyone had come back to Beth as they were done warming up, I was able to trot her a tiny bit towards everyone again. 

 

The theme of the day was straightness. We started at the banks and Beth had set up to poles in a long V with guides on the side. We were supposed to walk through them but stay straight and then hop up the bank. Lyric actually did remarkably well. We did that a few times and focused on staying straight and keeping the same amount of footfalls in each portion of the V. Then she had us walk down it and we kept focusing on straightness. Lyric was also really good about this. However, she was threatening to bolt and getting all balled up and vibrating before we even started each time we went. She also decided that she was in love with Smarty and was nickering at him. After a few passes I decided that making her go last wasn't helping me because she was almost getting panicky so I cheated and cut in towards the front of the group so that she could go sooner and it did help. But then she decided she was in love with Smarty and was nickering at him. So then when Beth had us do it at the trot, she was threatening to bolt/buck/rear/etc when Smarty left her... and then she was so balled up that I almost couldn't get her to go forward. Beth did want us in a baby trot... a western jog of a trot... which... I wasn't quite sure if that's what we were doing or if it was a jig. ;) She said trot. Ha ha. And again, aside from her antics between our turns and when we were just about to start our turn, she was actually quite good for the exercise. Then Beth added a small cross rail to the top of the bank. We went up it first and the first time I totally jumped up her neck as soon as we got up the bank but Lyric just jumped the cross rail anyways. Good girl! After that I got better about staying it three point and following her up instead of jumping it for her. Then we had to do it down. Eeeks! But Lyric was actually really good. 

Phew... we survived that. So then we went over to the field and she had us angle a small jump. It was just the little amoebe green thing for us. She had us angle it then go up the bank with the grid, then jump something up there, turn around, come back down the grid, and then angle the jump again. And holy cow Lyric was super!!! She's never really jumped anything angled like that. And she didn't question it. In fact, she didn't really question anything today, which reinforces my thought that she needed her stifles injected all along. Although I'm sure I did help her confidence too. I chickened out and made her trot the down bank but she was brave.  Whooo hooo!

So then we headed to the ditches and she was one of the ones that had to lead the others over. Granted, she was still overjumping it a little but she didn't stop. Good girl! So then we did the angled poles before and after, but she still had to walk and trot straight. And she was great. So then she let us do that and jump the coop after. The first time we got to a funky distance and I "dropped" the contact. Beth told me that while she understood my thought process (Let her figure it out, don't interfere) that it was not the right choice for Lyric. Lyric was still too green and unconfident and needed me to "hold her hand" and support her at the base. Especially when she questioned it or had to think on her feet. So the second time I held the contact better and she jumped it from the same spot but it was so much smoother and didn't feel at all awkward! Yay! Okay. I was afraid that I was holding her head too much and not letting her use her neck but Beth told me I wasn't even close to doing that. I just need to hold her hand. And by keeping a soft connection, I can use that as my guide to follow her rather than flinging my body ahead of her. 

Then we headed to the water and played in that. Lyric was still randomly threatening to buck and randomly bouncing in place but I managed to laugh it off as it wasn't anything too bad. Although I few times I had to pull her head up high so she didn't go into a crowhopping spree. When we walked into the water she almost reared up and double slapped it with her front feet. What the heck girl!? Hee hee. You are ridiculous!!! Then she was pawing the tar out of it. But hey... she's playing in the water! So after we walked and trotted through it, we walked and then trotted up and down the bank. She was so good and did it on the first try. Although some of it may have been because she was following her new boyfriend and didn't want to let him get away. Beth then set up a cross rail at the edge of the water and had us jump in and out at the same time we did the bank in the water! And Lyric was great! Even when we cantered to the down bank, she dropped to a trot, which was fine. But then she didn't land in the trot so we had to rev the engine up and we never did jump out of the water from a canter but we managed a trot so yay. We quit with that because... what a super good girl!!

I headed back to the trailer while the others were finishing up because I had to get her untacked and hosed off and then home so I could grab Dan and get back in time for his session! Poor girl didn't get much down time but she got a nice bath and a few bites of hay before heading home. And cookies! Lots of cookies because despite all her emotions and tantrums, she really was a good girl!!!

But I may be investigating some regumate or something. ;)

Oh and later... they were all being silly!