mid-day ride on the Big Bay

After a streak of early evening rides, the Big Bay and I got to the arena at noon today. It was nice to ride without the sun setting, although I love seeing the sky change during our early evenings together.

Yesterday's ride felt a little bit off. Keil had eaten hay while I was grooming and then tacking him up, and I think I might have tightened the girth too tightly - he felt slightly stiff through the barrel and I felt slightly stiff through the hips. We rode out of this feeling by the end of the ride, and it was a nice ride because we had Salina and the donkeys with us, but I wish I'd thought to check the girth a few minutes in.

Today everything felt normal again and Keil Bay warmed himself up and let me know when he was ready to move into a bigger, more powerful walk, and then when he was ready to trot. Today we had a really lovely working trot going to the right and eventually got it to the left as well.

I realized today that one big leap I've made over the past year has to do with shortening and lengthening reins without losing contact. I struggled with that previously - tending to throw the reins away frequently. For whatever reason, I'm much better able to keep a consistent (though very light, especially compared to the oft recommend 5 lbs. of weight in each hand) contact without thinking much about it.

I also realized today that going on the left rein down the long side Keil's counter-bending is not due to  stiffness but due to the fact that he is actively wanting to keep an eye on the woods behind the back field. I decided to stop noticing that for now and just let him keep his eye out if he wants to do so. When we go left from M to C he immediately takes up a correct bend and keeps it all the way around to F.

When Salina and the donkeys were back there yesterday, interestly enough, he didn't counterbend. So I guess he's taking herd patrol when we're riding if he's the furthest equine back there!

Best thing I've done lately: dismounted onto the mounting block. Keil Bay loved it too.

new math on november hill

What do you get when you add 1 brilliant Hanoverian in the arena, an unknown creature crashing about in the woods behind the back field, and a woman sitting calm and centered on the Hanoverian's back?

Beautiful, beautiful passage.

And a reminder that you don't need to learn how to sit a powerful stride if the horse is bringing his back up underneath you. Just put your body in the classically correct position, relax, and enjoy.

Thank you, Keil Bay, for your elegant, athletic, powerful, brilliant self!

pretend fox hunting and serious peppermint hunting with the Big Bay

Keil Bay and I had a really fun ride today, which started with me giving him another peppermint from the saddle. I can see that if I keep this up he's going to expect it, so I'll probably start saving it for after the ride. Today though, after a few "chews" he dropped it on the ground. I told him we'd look for it after the ride as I didn't want to get off and on again, and I didn't want him eating it from the arena footing. He didn't want to leave it, but with some quick urging on my part he walked on. However, every time we came around to that far end of the arena he lowered his head and scanned for the peppermint. It was hilarious. Big stretchy long and low between C and M!

Sometime into the ride the peppermint was forgotten when one of the resident gray foxes ran down the woodline which parallels the barnyard, arena, and back field. The fox was totally silent but Keil Bay went into full alert, I looked where he was looking, and we both watched the fox run the entire edge of the forest. The rest of the ride Keil Bay was convinced a pack of hounds was soon to follow, and I decided to just go with it and enjoy the alert, soft snorts and big strides.

For whatever reason my body felt really loose and relaxed today, and I felt like I was centered pretty perfectly in the saddle and over Keil Bay's center of gravity. It also occurs to me that it's just easier to ride a horse who is alert and forward. For the first year of riding Keil Bay this wasn't true for me - I needed him to notch things down a lot. Now I find that when he's really forward my body cooperates much more easily. The weird crookedness I can get into happens more when I'm trying too hard. Doing the Sally Swift whole body equivalent of "soft eyes" works well for me.

Aside from the ride itself, the ambiance was lovely.  The sky was cloudy - the sun came out briefly this afternoon, but we never really got out from under the cloud over. The light was unusual with the sun behind the clouds but shedding some brightness as it started to set. We rode until the arena lights came on and then wound down.

I've wondered if Keil Bay would enjoy fox hunting. I suspect he might, if he were with horses he liked and and the hounds were well-trained. Our pretend hunt was pretty fun and pretty easy since there was no galloping and no jumps. :)

After the ride, as promised, I took Keil back to the area where he dropped the peppermint and we found it. I dusted it off and he got a second chance. This time, as you might imagine, he didn't drop it.

goodbye 2012, hello new year!

I went out this afternoon and had a ride with Keil Bay, who was in extremely good spirits because he got peppermints after each stage of the grooming/tacking up process, peppermints when we walked into the arena, peppermints at the mounting block, and one last peppermint after I mounted. I've never given him a treat from the saddle before and he was very impressed. A fun ringing out of 2012 for the Big Bay!

He was relaxed and happy and responsive, and although there are a lot of things I could say about the ride, those are the most important to me these days and so I'll leave it at that.

There's no better way to spend a day than with one's horse, and I'm glad I got to ride on this last day of the year.

Inside, we're making a special New Year's Eve meal, and I'm thinking about the year and all the scares we've had, as well as the two beloved family members we lost: Keats and Moomin.

Right now Salina is out in the back field with Keil Bay and the donkeys. She's moving well and enjoying being out with her boys. I'm letting her out some again with the big boys but not all at the same time, as they can get rowdy and she can't help herself - she joins in.

I'm grateful she feels good enough to boss the big boys, and grateful too that in the year we said goodbye to two special feline friends we are also saying hello and welcome to two new ones, Pixie and Pippin.

Happy New Year, all - I hope 2013 is good to all of us!

newest November Hill Press project: Little Shoppe of Colors series!

My good friend and collaborator Dawn Wilson brilliantly illustrated the simple picture book idea I came up with a few years back and now, as of today, it's a book!

Go here if you'd like to see the product page - and hopefully you'll be intrigued enough to buy a copy!