February 2015 Review

Well, we didn't get all the rain we were supposed to get. That means that the snow didn't completely melt (and cause flooding), but it melted enough to make it icy and too dangerous to ride.  It's supposed to get up into the 40s this weekend and stay warm-ish next week, so hopefully it will melt. I can't even ride in the paddock because the stall doors are frozen open. I don't want him to try to run in and scrape me off.  

So how did I do in working towards my goals in February?  Not so good.

Goals for Max:
Leg Yields: I didn't really work on this at all
Turning/pivoting: We worked on this once but didn't really achieve anything. Small steps
Obstacles:  We worked with an umbrella from the ground. That's something.

Groundwork and an obstacle. It's a 2-for-1 deal.

Goals for Me:
Lessons: Still too cold
Cantering: Didn't even attempt because of poor ground/not riding/trippy pony
Trail obstacles: One step forward, one step back. My husband dismantled my L, but I did work with an umbrella
Ride once per week: Rode twice in February. The last one was just a quick pokey ride in the snow.
Groundwork once per week: I tried this twice. Once was dropping his head, but my fingers started to go numb pretty quickly. I would also consider the umbrella groundwork as well.

Other Goals: None achieved, but I wasn't planning on it. They're more summer activities

So Very Cold

This week has been utterly miserable.  It's been extremely cold this week and I've been trying to fight off some kind of bug.  This is the second day this week that schools in my area have been closed due to the cold.

I tried doing an exercise from Cherry Hill's groundwork book the other evening before feeding, but my fingers started going numb even while gloved, so I tossed hay and got back up to the house. We need to go get more hay this weekend and it's supposed to snow. I don't know why D is insisting we go on Saturday. 

For everyone east of the Rockies who is battling unusual cold, stay warm and safe.

 Warmer times last spring. Think green, think warm.

I want nothing more than to curl up in a little ball under my heated blanket until spring.

Riding A New Horse

Monday, I took a day off work to go look at a horse up in the northern part of the state.  The horse isn't for me, but for the therapeutic riding center I volunteer at. 

She was a sweet paint horse that responded very well to pressure.  It was shocking for me. I've gotten so use to riding horses that don't respond to leg pressure that riding her was a challenge.  It made me feel like a complete beginner. We are taking her on a trial. I'm hoping she will work out so I can get some lessons on her.

Will move over for food, but not away.

Sadly, the weather is looking miserable for the rest of the month.  I don't think I'll be riding much.

This and That

The weather has turned nasty again. There was freezing rain on the drive home along with wind and cold temperatures.  We are staying well below freezing through the weekend at the very least with more wind.  I'm guessing I won't be working with the pony too much.  Instead, I ordered a couple of books. I purchased Equine Fitness after reading L. Williams review and Cherry Hill's 101 Ground Training Exercises.  I'm hoping these will give me some exercises to do while riding and working from the ground. 

Before it got cold, I installed a slow feed hay hoop.  Max supervised its installation.

So far so good.

 

TOABH: Wish We Could

Another great blog hop from The Owls Approve

Let's pretend that financial restrictions don't exist and logistics isn't a nightmare.  If you could do anything with your Ponykins, what would you do?

In my dreams...

 link

 Let's also pretend that I'd have a perfect, well behaved Haflinger.  Right now I want nothing more than to take Max to a warm ocean beach and run through the surf.

My reality....

Jan 12, 2015

Everything it sleeted/glazed/snowed all night, so everything was covered in ice this morning.  Apparently, Max spent some time out in the open because he was quite wet.

Otherwise, I'd love to go trail ride out west. Foxhunting is also on my list, though I'm not a jumper.

2014 in review

This is going to be a difficult post to write,  because I don't feel like Max and I accomplished much of anything.  I tend not to set concrete goals, and 2014 was no exception. There was a goal floating around in my head of getting the boy into shape. But most of them were goals made on the fly when a problem crept up.

Max came home right before Christmas in 2013. One of my goals was just to feel confident riding him out of the paddock and pasture. The pasture still isn't fenced, but the trees that grew along the old fence line provide a sense of security.  I'll have to write another post on the progress we are making on getting our property in shape.  I think I accomplished this goal pretty quickly given the crazy winter we had. 

After the big winter storm in early January 2014. Riding outside of the pasture to go see if the roads had been plowed.

Some other things we've been working on is mud. He hates it.  We have a tiny ditch that drains into our creek that gets muddy. I spent a half hour one day trying to get him to walk through this muddy ditch instead of jumping it.  We finally stopped when he took off cantering towards the pasture and I fell off. Thankfully he stopped when I managed to fall in front of him. I still don't know if he will walk through that ditch when it's muddy. Shortly after that it got pretty dry and he's walked through it without any problems. 

Then there's the creek.  I'm counting this as a true accomplishment. In the spring, we had to fight to get down into the creek.  He truly doesn't have a problem with water. Rather, I think it's the muddy bank.  He would refuse to get in under saddle, but would follow me right in when leading him.  Now he goes in without much of a fuss.  It probably doesn't hurt that there are tasty water grasses on the other side and I let him eat these. 

One other minor accomplishment that happened very recently is leg yielding.  I'm not good with working with him on specific tasks, but the last saddled ride we had, I realized he was beginning to move off my leg.  We even did some turns on the hind and fore on the fence line.  

We didn't have any lessons together, and didn't get off our property last year, but at least we accomplished something.