Pumpkin's Progress

Monday, 25th February

4th of March. That is when I can start riding again. And I seriously can not wait. I went down to the first muster of the year for pony club yesterday, and it almost killed me seeing everyone else doing fun things with their ponies. Actually, I just checked my calendar - 1 more week!

I hadn't lunged Pumpkin in a few days, so when I went out yesterday he was full of spicy energy. I ended up working him for just over one hour, getting his walk-trot and trot-canter transitions snappy. Also I just wanted to really start getting his fitness and muscle up, so lots of trotting. Towards the 45 minute mark he had a few moments of stretching down and raising his back in the trot, which is great. He usually has a bit of tension in the trot that I can't shake but we cracked through. Once this rain leaves (we are expecting 300 mls, and for it to be raining until Saturday. Yuk.) I hope we can go right back and see improvement with more spurts of stretch and relaxation.

And this morning he whinnied when I called! And cantered! He looked so genuinely happy to see me! Haha. It seems very trivial, but he is a very non-vocal and hard to please horse, so this is actually a big deal :P

So anyway, that is it.

Have a fantastic day :)

Thursday, 28th February

I went on a SOS (Study of Society) excursion today, and we went past Fig Tree Pocket Pony Club. And wow. Getting a little jealous, hahaha. Their cross country course looked really, really, really nice.

Back in Pumpkin land we have been doing more canter/trot transitions on the lunge these past two days. He is starting to support himself more in the canter rather than leaning on the line, which is great! Only... 4 more days until I am officially allowed to ride. I have so many plans and goals for this year and I can't wait to get the preparing underway.

Alssoooooo I have a photo of myself holding Pumpkin when I was 7.. so 9 years ago. Back when it all started. Also a comparison photo from now!

Happy horsing!!

Sunday, 10th of March

I haven't been able to ride yet. Which sucks on a major level. First I was sick so I missed two days of school, thanks to the flu that has been going around. Then it has been non stop raining. Then my cousins came up from Melbourne, so no riding. It has all been very busy!
I might be able to get out and ride later on today if this rain holds off and I can get my school work done.

I did jump on him for 5 minutes after a lunging session the other day to sort out an issue. My thighs hurt. Hahaha I am not looking forward to my first 'go hard or go home' ride. I will be very thankful for heat packs in the next few days I think. I can certainly feel that he is starting to use his hind more to push, rather than drag himself along with his forehand. He is really grasping the concept of reaching forward on the lunge now, offering more and more to lift and swing his back.

Pumpkin has been however acting like a jerk for the past week or so thanks to the rain and pent up energy. Which isn't great, but what can I do.

That really is all that has been happening.
Anyway I have more peektures!

Just want to say that you guys are awesome!

I'm curious, how tall are you?

Edit: Purely out of curiosity! My current horse is a pony too :)

Aww thankyou! He is a pretty cool guy, even when he is a jerk.

I am 5'5" apparently 0.0 I just measured myself. Wow. I am shorter than I thought. That is kinda depressing hahaha.

Is that your guy/girl in your avatar? Super cute!

Jesus. I'm shorter than you.

Saturday, 16th of March

I have my exam week next week and I am at home for most of it. Which means: no excuse to not ride 0.0

I am trying very hard to convince myself to ride tomorrow and get it (the immense pain) over with. Hopefully I can get mum out to pick me apart and chase out any bad habits before they set in, however she is hesitant as she claims she doesn't know much about posture. But I will take what I can get. It has been 4 and a half months now. I threw the Frisbee with dad for 20 mins yesterday and died in my core. Hahaha. Not good.

I will try and get pictures for you all.

Our ride on mower is all fixed now and I am so keen to have the paddocks looking flat and green. All this rain has been excellent for the grass. Yay!
School has been getting full on, what with being in my last year, so no lunging as of late. The plan is for a nice bit of active trot work tomorrow. Lets get some muscle!

That is all, happy horsing!

Best of luck on your exams!

I love looking at your photos of Pumpkin :)

Thankyou! How has Sky been going lately? I don't think I have seen any updates.

Tuesday, 19th of March

Block week is here and I have already done maths, which was easy. I have today off so I might head out to ride the pony, clean his blankets and give him a bath. It is quite hot outside at the moment, so hopefully he appreciates the cold water.

I did manage to get out and ride on Sunday, and to my very pleasant surprise, I am not sore! My elbows were atrocious, sticking out all over the place. Gah. Bad habits are hard to break. I was focusing on keeping my leg turned to the inside and stable, which was going fairly well. I need to straighten my shoulders and my back, and keep my arms in a straight, solid line. His canter transitions were very, very nice. I am so glad we didn't go back to square one with those. He was a bit tight in the back during the trot, but he was nice and relaxed in our walk, reaching for the contact and using his end nicely.

This months muster is showjumping based, but I don't think I will take him. I would like him to gain a little more fitness and muscle before we do a heaped load at muster. I am trying to make riding enjoyable for him and change his work ethic, even a little bit. Or... I could just pull him out half way through.. I don't know. I'll see how I feel.

My sister came out and snapped some photos of Sunday. Some are screen shots as per usual. (There is one where I look ridiculously tall on him... I am pretty sure I was in mid rise... I hope.)
E.T.A: These screen shots are really blurry, I don't know why. Sorry about that!

Have a great day!

Oh I haven't updated because there has been so much going on in my day to day life and I can't access this site much at work and not at all at home.

He has been having issues with the bit and has just gotten cleared to trot again (he had some issues with bracing and bolting...) so now he can stay round and straight at walk and trot transitions. He is very healthy but that's really all I know. I can't wait to be back with him again.