Mort got to go on an adventure on Saturday to a friend's arena to test out her new footing--and because field trips with Mort are fun and good for him. Many of the pictures I feature on this blog come from her so, thank you Leah!! (http://www.dressagebarbie.com/). She is a wonderful photographer who I am lucky to take advantage of because we're friends.
"I has the whip now treat dispenser"
I still cannot get over how calm Mort is when we go to new places. This farm had scary chickens that required a little bit of 'side-eye', and some snorting happened when her horses came running up from the back of the pasture to check out the newcomers. But after he had his fill of looking around (maybe 5 minutes) he just wanted to graze. We walked to the arena and after maybe 30 seconds he thought the footing looked really good...
"This footing is great--it gets all my itchy spots"
Goofball getting dirty before our photoshoot, but at least he had a good time. After this we went to tack up. Mort was pretty good except for being a little more 'looky' than normal (especially at the other horses who got to graze which was so-totally not fair). His canter was really awesome and he moved off my leg better than normal in the larger arena. Hopefully we'll get the chance for all sorts of similar, short-distance adventures this summer. I'm in the process of trying to get some dressage lessons because I'm slowly turning back into a hunt rider with my position and it makes me sad (sorry not sorry h/j riders). Enjoy the following pictures:
Someone is still shiny in spite of rolling (and someone else is in full hunter mode)
Tail swish/grump face = "Cantering slow and listening to your leg is hard"
"Trotting is way easier; let's just do more of this"
"Ugh, moving off leg pressure again?"
He's so pretty; but my dang position is stupid
Last night was probably one of the best rides I've had on Mort yet. He started the ride moving really well off of my leg. The most exciting part was that I really had the feeling of him totally being there for me. He was in my hand and it felt like I could shape his body and ask him to move in any direction and it would have been easy. These are the feelings I am always looking for so it was a wonderful ride. He even gave me some really good transitions (and some giraffe ones). We did only a little bit of canter just to work on transitions between the gaits. I need to start thinking about canter bootcamp....yuck. I have a bad habit of being too focused on smoothness and relaxation and harmony that sometimes I am not very good at tackling the less fun stuff. This is another reason I hope we can get some lessons this summer; I need someone to yell at me.
After our ride Mort got a hose-off and got to graze in the supervised grazing lot that the barn put up for the summer. I really love the idea of that grazing lot. Our ponies will be able to nom on some delicious grass and I'll be able to do other things (like clean my tack if I'm a good kid, but most likely just socialize). He gets tonight off so that I can do some finalization of wedding stuff and start packing. I'll go out tomorrow and that will probably be the last ride until after I'm back from the honeymoon. I'm sure he'll enjoy that break, though he may suffer emotionally with less treats in his life.
Someone also got a new fly sheet (because his old one was somehow destroyed)
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