I just have to tell you... So many happy things. Share yours!

It was the best. :)
And MHFQ, I gave her a scratch for you and she appreciated it. From what I could tell, she sends a mutual groom right back to you!

I'm glad other people had good rides yesterday too! I love having a good ride you just want to go tell everyone but, like MyBoyPuck said, they all look at you like lobsters are coming out of your head (very good analogy, by the way!).

And I hope that you guys who are going riding today had a lovely ride as well! :)

Well my boy decided to spook at a barrel only going one way and no amount of inside leg to correct it.. until I dropped the reins, then he started to settle into the rail and ignored the barrel.

But we had a nice ride regardless :) Here's him coming the opposite way from that barrel (dirty yellow thing on its side) he was not happy going to the left

I thought of you today Wallaby as I was hauling butt through the woods in 4th gear. (nice hand gallop) It really is fantastic when you finally get on the same terms as your horse about gait, speed, contact, and most of all cooperation. I laughed as I realized that, once those terms are agreed upon, you both have to honor the deal or it goes to crap very quickly. My horse gave me exactly the contact I asked for while I gave him the speed he wanted to go and we were both happy. I totally felt your moment today. There really is nothing better.

I love threads like these, great job everyone, my thing isn't as big, but I feel like we made progress today

I had a great ride on Bella today, It was the last day of winter camp at the barn so I took Bella out on the trail with the campers, it was super muddy and wet but she went thought all of it with no fighting, she listened to my leg and didn't leave me scratching my new boots on the trees like she usually does, She kept a nice slow pace and didn't ride up Spings butt(she's a kicker, and usually goes last, but Bella can also be a kicker so I prefer her last, I can control my horse from going up Springs butt but I can't keep another rider from going up Bella's butt) Even when she was getting left behind a bit from taking our time in the mud she was completely fine. Then when we got back I rode her in the indoor and worked on getting her collected, we had the ring to ourselves and did lots of circles and serpentine's and just cutting all around the ring keeping her focused on me. I didn't canter her because the campers were being a bit rowdy and she was a bit concerned about the commotion. Then two of the other girls rode her, Julian who owns a horse I owned like 5 years ago and Lexi who rides Bella often. Then Lexi's 10 year old sister got on her and had her trotting all over the place, it was so cute to see my 16hh TB ridden by someone so small, but Bella was in such a great mood today, Christi rode her like a pro.

Love to read these uplifting threads, isn't it great when everything goes right-such a great feeling. Happy for everyone that had great rides. I'm looking forward to a ride on the 1st`we should hve temps in the 80's-Woo-Hoo!

I found the prescription for my horse's gait issues: jumping grids!

My mare has always had issues using her hind end properly. As a result, her saddle gait is rough and she cannot canter worth anything. She would gallop, so much on the forehand at lower speeds (quick hand gallop was as slow as we ever got without breaking) that she was practically doing hand stands. In her saddle gait, she was just lazy with her butt and a bit confused.

We starting working on this when she was four-years-old. Moved her to a snaffle. Worked for a year doing basic flat work. Progress was made, but no click.

My trainer has recently decided that mixing up a horse's work day was the thing to do. So we did some grid work; bounces, one strides. I'm not really a jumper and neither is my horse, but hey. Fun!


The day after we did that, CLICK CLICK BOOM. My horse figured out how to use her butt. We cantered; like, a three beat, collected canter. No hand stands!

Today, we did some beautiful saddle gait work. Worked off her butt! She was great! I'm very glad she's starting to get it.

How interesting. How far apart are the jumps? I mean in feet?

For the bounce, we had three jumps with 12 feet between them. I don't recall the exact measurements with the one stride (I recall having to tweak it a lot to get her to canter said stride), but something makes me think 22 feet.

If these numbers are impossible, I am an idiot. This is why I have a trainer; to set up grids for me. ;P

Yknow Sky, barrels ARE horse eating monsters. Haven't you heard? :P I'm glad you had a nice ride though! It's always a great feeling to have a ride start badly/have a bad middle but become a good ride by the end.

Haha that's so true MyBoyPuck! I've been discovering that too. Things go so much better when I let Lacey have the speed she wants. It really is the best. My favorite is that little edge of fear you feel about going that fast, but then once you are going that fast/finish going that fast, you realize that your horse just took better care of you at a "scary" speed than they regularly do at a "safe" speed.

That's so great Rachel1786! I totally understand that about kickers. I do the same thing (Lacey's not generally a kicker, but she'll voice her opinion if she thinks the horse behind her is too close, haha).
Also, little children+big horses=the cutest thing ever

80 degree temperatures, cacowgirl? What?! I'm SO jealous!! We've been stuck in the 40's with rain, rain, and more rain, for the last week. It's miserable. On the plus side, it means fewer people to worry about on the trails!

That's fantastic, Brighteyes! It's so interesting how little, seemingly unrelated, things really help a horse "get it" sometimes. I'm really happy for you two. I bet she's thinking "Wow! This is so much easier now!" haha


Today one of Lacey's newest lesson kids (a girl from camp who's adorable, she says things like "This horse is good for beginners so she's good for me, because I'm a beginner!" and she knew that Lacey was gray vs white = adorable) rode Lacey in a clear plastic poncho due to the rain. Lacey was concerned about it but got over her fear so well. She didn't even jump when the girl got on! She just sniffed the poncho before the girl got on, made eyes at it, blew on it a few times, and was fine.
It reminded me of the time I rode her in a tutu. Lacey was terrified of the tutu and made that very obvious when I tried to catch her while wearing the tutu. She eventually figured out that it was me in the tutu and allowed me to catch her even though the tutu was apparently the most terrifying thing she had ever seen.
5 minutes later, she was completely over the tutu and was wearing it as a collar around her neck without a thought.

Haha oh yes how could I forget ;)

Aww.. little girls and horses are too adorable. You wore a tutu?! Just for fun or what??

Yes.. after 2 weeks of perfect riding from Sky, there was bound to be something today :P but we got over it and we finished up with no reins/only seat and leg riding.. he stayed on the rail and turned so nicely when I asked. It's a good exercise that's for sure!