It was something ridiculous like -2 degrees when I was riding tonight and Echo hasn't been ridden for two days! Bless her, she was very very good. We were in the indoor as everything else is frozen, and there were two others in there, including a novice rider on a horse that kicks savagely if you go near it. Great! Having said that, we managed to keep out of each other's way most of the time. The only sign of her feeling fresh was her desire to trot whenever I put my leg on in the walk, but when I did actually trot, she was very good.
I managed a canter on both reins, even with others in the school - we must be improving. Managed to get the correct leg each time too - amazing! I didn't ride her for very long, as I didn't want her to sweat up and then get cold. Her clip is almost non-existent now, so she's pretty hairy again! I will clip her again soon - possibly a proper trace clip this time, so her back legs don't get so sweaty. Possibly not when it is below zero degrees, however!
On the board at the yard today was a notice about a small, fun Christmas show. There will be dressage and jumping; I think it's mainly for the riding school clients as a bit of fun, but I may enter the dressage. It's only prelim 4 and it would do us good to have something to aim for. I was a little sceptical, however, as our canter leaves a lot to be desired at the moment! Perhaps it will make me work on it, if I know I'm going to have to canter at a particular marker!
It would be fun to get dressed up and do a dressage test, however unsuccessful an attempt it is! My problem is that I'm fiercely competitive. I wouldn't dream of entering a dressage test if it were anywhere else yet, as I like to enter thinking I at least have a chance of doing well, but I kind of think I might as well have a go, as long as I see it as it's meant to be - a bit of fun. I will see how things go this week. I was thinking about getting her back looked at after Christmas, when I go back to school, so she will have to have two weeks off then. It would be a nice thing to do before that. We'll see, anyway!
1 comment:
I agree it would be great for Echo to do this little dressage test. I used to be very competitive but taking young horses to first show jumping shows taught me that if I treat it as a fun, training experience more than a competition, we not only do quite well but also learn a lot.
I am still competitive and hate not being "ready" for a show but have now a clear division in my head in between my training shows and serious stuff shows :)
PS. Thank you for your comments on Hamlet's blog!
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