DAY 30, 31 & 32 - Good, New Challenges, and a Lesson

Okay, so it's been a few days, so remembering the exact events of Tuesday (day 30) is a tough - but I do know that Possum and I had a good one hour ride. It was windy again, and we made the usual rounds, up and around the neighborhood.

The next day, Wednesday, I woke up from a dream about riding in a horse show and getting my riding outfit in order, so I went with that and decided to ride in my breeches and the brand new field bots that I got from Brad. However, once I put the boots on over the breeches, I realized that they were too tight and too tall for me to ride comfortably, so I took them back off and went with my old brown paddock boots and the new half-chaps.

I tied him up in the stall and gave him a light brushing. He was a bit fussy, but I kept up on the correcting and soon enough we were tacked up and ready to go.

Out to the road out of the driveway, we went right and walked down towards the Dodge field. At their driveway, I ran into Donna, who was just heading out, and we chatted for a few minutes. As Donna and I talked, Possum got a little impatient, so I circled him a few times, then said goodbye to Donna and walked out towards the field.

We worked on the top part of the field right behind the house. A few trots in each direction, focusing on impulsion, collection and straightness. Then we cantered in each direction for short stints a couple of times. He was pretty good!

After that, I asked him to trot back towards the barn and around the side past the paddock and towards the road. Then we walked right onto the road and all the way down the big hill. I let him pick his path, and he walked left to right all the way down. At the bottom, I decided to try something new, so we crossed the road and walked left down Hancock Pond Road. That was fun for him!

We looked at each new obstacle along the way, and took our time along the way. We saw Sonya's chickens, mailboxes, porch furniture, firewood piles, and more!

We took a few detours onto little roads, but sadly, their wasn't too far to explore. I opted not to continue past the corner and on the Luanne's place.. I didn't want to be alone with a big horse greeting (she has four, and I knew she was probably at work.)

So, we turned back, with several cars/trucks going past us on the way. Then we took a left and walked over to the cow field, but their were no cows in sight, so then we crossed back and started making our way up the steep hill.

Oh, no. Really? At the bottom of the hill.

Ugh! We have so much more to go!

When will we get to the top already?

Less then half way up, I took mercy on him and dismounted. I rolled up the stirrups and loosened his girth, and gave him plenty of rest breaks on the way. I think I'm in better shape than he is!

Back on top, I led him over to a stone wall on the corner of Lenny's front yard and got back up. Then we walked around behind his house, and walked around a few little obstacles just for fun. Then we walked around the back of the barn and took a right back onto the road, where I asked him for a canter, then transitioned back into a trot. Up at the Dodge barn, we walked, and continued walking all the way back to the barn. We had been out just a little over an hour.

Later that night, I took him out for a half hour of hand grazing, then brought him into the stall and pulled the top part of his mane. That was fun.

Today I got up a little earlier than usual, and gave him his pellets and morning hay by 7:30. Around quarter to nine, I put on his halter and brought him into the stall. I gave him another light brushing, then I tacked him up and led him out to the paddock to mount. He was very calm and cool, and the weather was fairly mild and sunny.

We walked around the paddock for a minutes, and he was very agreeable about that, then we went out the gate and took a right to head down to the Dodge barn. Ryan was lunging Big Mack just outside of the paddock as Donna was holding Kyle, looking on. We said hello and I walked Possum all around the big field until their time was over. Donna got on Mack and walked and trotted around. That was nice to see.

Watching Donna and Big Mack in their lesson.

Then Ryan worked with me and Possum. We built off of our studies of impulsion, straightness and carriage, and we also added the concept of keeping his downward transitions "forward," as apposed to sucking back into a jolting downward transition (going from the trot to the walk, for instance.) We didn't bother cantering today, and that was fine, because their was plenty to work on with the walk and trot and back to the walk again. She said he looked remarkably better than our lesson two weeks ago! So cool!

Then, I asked her to hop on him, and she rode him around for a bit, and I got to see how things look from that angel. It's very helpful for me to see how things look on the ground, with someone who has seen me ride him.

So, a great morning, then we both got the rest of the day off (well, he did, anyway.)

After today's lesson (photo by Ryan)