Finally a Good Night

Another lovely evening for riding tonight.  First I got on Poppy and she was her usual good self.  We did a little jumping and she was still a bit full of herself but I really think she was happy to be jumping.  We stayed pretty small, 3ft is pretty much her warm up now.  I really don't jump big at home.  I will put them up a little before a show but I really try to keep jumping to a minimum and focus on flat work.  There are a few reasons I do this.  Most importantly to save my horse.  I think that most of the time we are jumping for our own learning and not theirs (unless we are talking about a greenie).  The other reasons are that I don't have a big fancy ring with expensive footing.  I jump in my small grass field (aka my front yard) so often the weather conditions dictate whether I should jump or not (ie I'm not jumping on wet or soggy grass).  And lastly, I am usually by myself.  This is also why I said in a prior post that I make it a point to show once a month.  This keeps both my horses and myself in a rhythm.  I meet my trainer at the shows and get my lessons there.  After a show whatever I learned that I need to work on I go home and do it.  I also have very basic jumps so by showing often my horses get exposed to various things and it becomes norm.  When needed I go lesson at my trainer's barn where she has all sorts of spooky jumps.  Anyway, Poppy was great tonight.  I even did a little course.  Of course riding alone there's always the question, "oh should I lower that jump?  It's a little big, we haven't jumped in awhile.  Wait that requires getting off.  Never mind, it's the perfect height."



Tired Poppy.  She sees the camera and immediately gives the "good grief" look

Next I hacked Tank.  He was really good and it was getting late so it was just a short ride.  Hopefully tomorrow will be another dry day so I can jump him around.  I've had him for 6 years and brought him along from being a greenie so he is my "steady eddie."  Other than being wild if he hasn't been ridden in awhile he is pretty consistent and knows his job.  He is super fun to ride.  His name is tank for a reason, he's 16.2 but just solid and thick.  The day I bought him and took him off the trailer the first thing my husband said was "he's like a tank."  It stuck.



Tank.  Also known as Tankeroo

I am going to drop Ketel off at camp on Monday.  Fingers crossed it goes well and my trainer makes some progress with him.  I wish I could watch their first ride on Tuesday but I have a busy schedule at work next week so I am pretty doubtful I will.  Bummer but I suppose I have to work to pay for these shenanigans...

How about Flashback Thursday!
 



This was Poppy's 3rd show, almost 2 years ago.