Getting back in the swing of things

It was a gorgeous evening!

I’m back home (for a few weeks at least) and am getting back onto my daily schedule. I’m creaky, my bad knee is playing hell with me and I feel like a soup sandwich up there in the saddle, but nonetheless, enough good things are happening that I feel encouraged.

In my lesson tonight we were able to diagnose what I was doing that was causing some problems with left bend.  I love the fact that Christy makes “headroom” in lessons, taking time to think rather than just yelling “Bend! More bend! Come on, bend him!” as I’ve seen other trainers do.  At the walk, as we talked, I was moving Derby all over the arena, doing little serpentines, small circles and changes of direction from my seat and legs.  However, at the trot, I was a mess going left. We picked at it, and I realized that I was allowing my outside leg to creep forward, which pretty much negated my aids.  Once I repositioned myself, and made a point of keeping that leg long with the hip open, placing it a bit further back than my inside leg, things improved quickly for us.

My endurance is for crap at the moment but it’s getting a bit better each ride.  I’m hoping to be back at full strength soon.

In other news, over the last month, Derby has also had two chiro visits. Remember the awful canter video from a couple posts ago, in which he was swapping behind? I had Dr. Heinze of Fox Valley Equine see him, and he adjusted him, with immediate results.  The very next day Derby cantered comfortably both directions.  However, a few weeks later, he started showing signs of discomfort again.  I had Dr. Heinze back out,  and we’re hoping that Derbs will be able to go longer between adjustments, especially as he builds strength on his right side.

It should be pretty nice this weekend.  If I have time, I know two stinky horses that are at risk for bubble baths!

I ended the evening watching Christy ride Austin bareback.   She was having a great time – his gaits are smooth and very comfy, and according to her, his back is soft and comfy too.  Both definitely enjoyed themselves.

We also found out this week that this cute red boy can jump like the dickens.  He’s a cute and versatile horse and looks like he could be a cute children’s hunter, pony club wonder horse or a fun mount for an ammy who wants to dabble in everything.  He’s also for sale, but I get the sneaking feeling that Christy wouldn’t mind to much if he hung around for a while. 😉