Kokanee

So I did get to go riding on Thursday after all! Even though there was a whole crap load of snow.

When we got to the barn there was a choice between Zander, out in the farthest pen from the barn, or Kokanee, who is in Pony's old stall... decided not to brave the cold and wind and picked Kokanee.
I rode him once before and thought he had a super smooth canter to one direction, now I have no idea what made me think that.

He has some scar tissue on one hip so his trot is super different depending on the direction, so that takes a bit used too. And the back pain! It hasn't ever been like the time with Pony that it was almost crippling but it was worse than it has been in a while. Plus it started on the right and the moved over to the left as well. But usually it starts on the left and stays there. Not sure what to do about that.

He can also be super wiggly and pops his shoulder out if you aren't careful, which is why we ran out to the first jump.

His canter was crazy weird, very bumpy. K said just don't even bother trying to sit it. So we ended up in some weird two pointy/standing in the stirrups position. And the stirrups on his saddle don't even enough holes for my short legs, so that was annoying, but not horrible.

Jumping was good actually. Sort of? Well, the first jump, my first thought was "crap, should have got Zander." It was just the weirdest effing jump ever and I was not prepared for how low he keeps his neck!! He's more huntery than any other horse I've ridden and he's got the same long neck as Diesel so he needs a bigger release as well. The rest of jumping got better, we were practicing jumping jumps at an angle, so the four stride was a lot of work because he likes to wiggle and wanted to drop out to the right right after the jump. He also goes super well on a longer rein, which is such a weird after Rocky and Zander. And Zander and Kokanee feel so weird because they're both such narrow bodied horses compared to the others, so it's always a strange feeling when we first start riding.
But over all I quite like him, really, it's just something different now but I think we'll get on well enough. Still don't have a lease horse, but being able to ride these 3 will be interesting and hopefully I can improve a lot by the time spring gets here and me and Rocky can start working together again.