Again, I’m sorry for being such a terrible blogger and I’ve now forgotten most of my rides from the last two weeks until this past Saturday. Previously we’d done a lot of work on opening reins over the jumps to help get the horse into the corner and pick up the correct lead (which is a problem for Kokanee). Same thing with circles, opening the inside rein, steady contact with the out and using more leg. Kokanee had been improving quite rapidly even though a couple Thursdays ago we had a really poor ride, we recovered that Saturday and he did very well.
This Saturday he had loads of pent up energy because the ground in their pens is so icy and he hasn’t been ridden since last weekend. He actually bucked! I know it sounds like it, but I don’t mean it to sound like a good thing. It’s just exciting, one of the things I don’t like about him that he can be a bit boring at times, especially after Rocky and Pony, who were both delightfully insane, he’s just a bit…blah. There’s just not a lot of…fight… in him. That’s really not the best word, but I can’t think of a better one. Anyway, we were cantering on the left lead and it just felt really odd, he was on the correct lead (surprise b/c he hates the left and sometimes it’s hard to tell if it’s the correct lead b/c of the scar tissue and what not on the left side, so he’s got a pretty rough warm up canter). K said it looked like he was really under himself, rather than stretching out, then was we passed the home gate, he bucked. Despite that, he did really, really well when it came to the course! He’s improved so much, it’s fantastic. We’ve also been jumping “higher” than we have since I started riding him. Higher gets quotations marks b/c after doing 3’+ with Pony, they are a bit small. It’s to be expected with Kokanee though, he’s not nearly as athletic as Pony or even Rocky and we’re inside so the jumps are generally smaller (although that wasn’t always the case with the other two…).
I have two rides this week since I missed last Thursday b/c I got my tattoo on Wednesday! I thought it would be incredibly painful, but it really wasn’t and it certainly wasn’t a deterrent for any further tattoos, I have a few more that I’ve been dying to get, but they’re quite expensive. It means “consider the end” it’s my family’s Scottish clan motto.
I’m going on Weight Watchers and have signed up for a short 5K race this summer! Plus, if all goes well, I’ll get to go skydiving for my 19th! What else is new…? I saw the Woman in Black today, and it’s actually really scary, I jumped at everything and am expecting nightmares which rarely happen with most “scary” movies.
Tuesdays ride was not bad, but it wasn't great, we did one tiny little jump and the rest was dressage. It wasn't terrible but he's fighting a bit more and he bucked again. Only a small one, considering what Rocky can be like, but it really seems like it's just because he's so fresh from not being able to run outside in his icy pen.
Today's ride was better, "bigger" jumps and a few more than last day as well. He did well, he's actually picking up a his left lead on the straight now, which is fantastic! Overall his jumping was not bad either, he picked up the correct lead 90% of the time I remembered to open the correct rein on the land, except for the half circle/bending line down to the vertical where he always got disunited. I have to get you a picture of him soon, he's so adorable! We've also got a good show name for him (even though I'm supposed to be back with Rocky by then...) but it's going to be Kokanee Ranger, my friend wanted it to be KoKa Kocain b/c she's insane and that's the kind of thing she finds hilarious. But the ranger name is cute, even if the guy it's inspired by looks like pedo.
Tuesdays ride was not bad, but it wasn't great, we did one tiny little jump and the rest was dressage. It wasn't terrible but he's fighting a bit more and he bucked again. Only a small one, considering what Rocky can be like, but it really seems like it's just because he's so fresh from not being able to run outside in his icy pen.
Today's ride was better, "bigger" jumps and a few more than last day as well. He did well, he's actually picking up a his left lead on the straight now, which is fantastic! Overall his jumping was not bad either, he picked up the correct lead 90% of the time I remembered to open the correct rein on the land, except for the half circle/bending line down to the vertical where he always got disunited. I have to get you a picture of him soon, he's so adorable! We've also got a good show name for him (even though I'm supposed to be back with Rocky by then...) but it's going to be Kokanee Ranger, my friend wanted it to be KoKa Kocain b/c she's insane and that's the kind of thing she finds hilarious. But the ranger name is cute, even if the guy it's inspired by looks like pedo.
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