# Back in the Saddle: Phantomrose's Journal



## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

My journey is restarting again, after being out of the saddle for about six years. I started taking riding lessons once again, in the summer of 2015... and what a journey is has been so far. 

I started off my lessons at first by going back to the basics of riding. I was happy to know that I still had some of the things that I learned still in my memory, and was looking forward to the upcoming lessons. My first ride at the barn was an Appaloosa gelding named Gunnar. He was a nice horse, a bit lazy, but good for me to start off with. I alternated between him, and a paint gelding named Noony at first. Since I am new to the Eventing world (my old barn way back when was more trained in Hunters), I had to learn a bit differently, and started with Dressage as the fundamentals in my training. I quickly learned to love the Dressage lessons the most, as they taught me how to be soft, and supple with my lesson horse. I love jumping as well, although to this day, jumping still makes me a bit nervous. 

Eventually, I went into my very first show in November. It was a Fall Fun Show, in which I did a Hunter Under Saddle Class, an 18" Hunter Course, a Trail Riding Course, and a Ride-A-Buck Bareback Course. I had a lot of fun at the show, and got second with Noony in my Under Saddle Class, and the Hunter Jumper class. I got fifth in the trail class, and ended up winning about seven bucks in the Ride-A-Buck, which was pretty neat. 

During the course of my riding, my lessons would vary. Sometimes, it was hard to schedule a lesson due to my work schedule, or a conflicting schedule with my trainer, but eventually, we got a system flowing. The thing that I love about my barn is that in addition to lessons, the Barn Owner also offers a practice ride option, in which approved students can schedule a 45 minute ride alone with one of the lesson horses to work on things learned in previous lessons, and to gain additional time in the saddle. I have learned to love the practice rides, and incorporate them into my riding schedule in addition with the lesson that I already take.

By April, I was riding (and still am riding) and working with a chestnut mare, called Snickers. Now, Snickers is a neat little mare. I love that she offers me a few challenges, and helps me to improve to become a better rider. She can be a forward horse, and responsive to aids and cues. Her walk can be forward moving and powerful, and her trot is simply light and fluffy. Snickers is in her twenties, and used in the lesson program, although she was (and is) primarily the BO's daughter's horse. It is awesome in that I can talk to her daughter on the aids and cues she used on Snicks to work better with her. 

Come June, I was starting to train for my first CT show. I had to learn Dressage Intro Test A, and try to gain confidence when jumping. At first, I had some doubt that I would be ready in time for the show about the jumping aspect, and talked with my trainer about it. She helped me, and pushed me in the right ways in my jumping, and I soon learned to jump confidently with Snickers. You see, when I first started jumping Snickers, I was a bit nervous and tense, because of her being forward moving. I had that unconscious fear that she would run off with me after the jump, even though she was always lovely with me, and took care of me. I had to learn to trust her, and just let go to let her do her job when she jumped... and she did that well. Now, I feel like that we work better together than we did in the beginning, and are still learning to work together. 

July 16th was my first CT show... and I did rather well. I was so proud of Snickers, and proud that all the lessons and practice rides with Snickers had payed off. I ended up placing Second, which I was pretty surprised, humbled, and elated by. That day, I think I gave Snickers numerous amounts of pats, and love for being my partner for that show. I have another show coming up August 28th, and hope she will be my partner for that show as well.

And now on to the most recent ride. So, I rode Snicks today once again. It was my first lesson in lateral flexion and it went kind of ok. It wasn't bad, but I felt like it could've gone better. My mind does this thing, when learning something new in riding, where it tends to overthink things. When I was learning about lateral flexion, my mind was going into overthink and concentration mode. I think I confused poor Snicks a bit when learning as well. I mean, she would bend correctly, but then would not move off my leg when I asked her to. Sometimes, she would actually break into a trot instead, and I think that was due to the combination of me giving confusing aids, and me overthinking the whole thing. When my trainer told me not to think about the flexion, and to just see if she would go off the rail, I would get a good result... and I think she said that she saw flexion when I did it that way instead? It's hard to explain in words. I wish I could've gotten film or pictures that way I can review my ride. I love reviewing my lesson rides.. 

So, next Sunday instead of a lesson, I have a practice ride with Snickers. I already know what I am going to work on for that practice ride, and going to watch videos on flexion, and read articles about it, that way I can get a better idea of it. I hope that I will improve with the flexion, and that I don't confuse Snickers again. I want to get that "ah ha!" moment. I love it when I get those "ah ha!" moments in riding.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

It was a very rainy day today, so I had to do my practice ride in the indoor arena. I got to the barn at around 8:40am, and quickly got into grooming and tacking up Snickers. Today already felt like it was going to be a lousy day, although I was glad that it did finally start raining. When I got into the arena, I started of with a 10 minute warm up. I walked her both ways, and changed direction by using KXM and HXF. I also trotted a bit, and did some circles over by the A side. After the warm up, I got working on practicing lateral flexion... and I still think it went kind of screwy. She didn't break into a trot or anything when going off the rail, but this time, it seems like I couldn't bend her right? When watching my video that my brother took, I think I found part of the problem is within my body. It looks as if I was leaning a bit too far forward, and getting into my bad habit of not sitting tall, and hunching a bit. When going into trot to practice, it seemed to go a bit more smoothly, and it seemed like I got a bit of an "ah ha" moment when I re watched the video. When I broke back into walk, I decided to try a different technique, which went screwy. I tried to get her to face the while, while trying to practice flexion, and it just was not happening for me. I don't know... I think all the problems of me not getting it have to do with mainly me, and my riding, and not quite getting the aids right. 

Snickers was good, and it seemed like she was trying her best to cooperate. Ah well. I know every riding day cannot be a great one, and that I will have those moments in which I feel stuck. I have a riding lesson with my instructor on Wednesday with Snickers. I think we might be working on cantering, since she wants to take me and another student Cross Country schooling on the 12th of August. I know she wants me to get more comfortable in canter... I love cantering! It's just the matter of learning how to steer, and looking ahead when in canter. I have the habit of wanting to revert my eyes down for some reason, and I have to break out of that habit too. That's it, as far as the riding update goes. I will post about how the lesson went on Wednesday. On Sundays, I will continue practicing the lateral flexion work. One of these days I will get it right! Anyway, here's a video on today's ride as well.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

welcome back to riding!

I watched bits and pieces of your video. did you want feedback or just want to share it and leave it as is?


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Hey Liny 

Feedback is very much appreciated and welcomed, as I would like to improve as much as I can on my next ride out. I might be posting vids/pics every now and then on my riding. Thank you!


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

Well, ok. it's kind of hard to see what is happening between you and your super nice mare. the video isn't that clear, but your brother was a saint to video you for almost half an hour. mine would be out of there in ten.

anyway, I am not sure what you are doing to try and get a lateral movement, and am often confused as to where you are trying to move her shoulders inward, or her hind quarters inward, as you trak along the wall.

when I took dressage lessons, we didn't work on any lateral movements until after we'd spent quite a bit of time working on getting really good forward movement, some good contact and acceptance of the bit (mostly working on MY ability to feel the hrose's mouth and get softening, without bumping or jerking), and did a fair amount of long and low, spiral in , spiral out.

when we did start lateral work, we did leg yield, and we'd start on the 'quarter line', and yield toward the wall. it is natural for the hrose to want to move toward the wall, so we take advantage of that to get leg yield. becuase forward momentum is more important than anything, if the horse got all crooked, and slowed down to a crawl, we would abandon any sideways movement and ask the hrose to go only straight forward, to reestablish forward momentum and impulsion.

I think that might be a good way for you to practice this mvement, on your own.

she'd also say, "think of it like two steps straight foward, two steps at an angle toward the wall, two forward, two at an angle." then, you'd get to "one step forwad, one at an angle toward the wall, one forward, one sideways, one forward . . . "

it helps you to not get crooked. Also, look a bit toward the wall, since you want to GO there.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Thank you for the feedback, Liny. 

In the video, I was trying to both bend, and counter bend on opposite sides of the arena, while trying to see if I can push her away from the rail with my outside leg. On one end, I was trying to gently pull with my outside rein, until she gave into the bit then I would give (my instructor would always tell me to give and take with the reins). On the otherside, I would do the opposite (with the reinwork at least, while trying to push with the outside leg), as that was how I was taught my last lesson if I remember correctly. I remember my instructor saying it was bend vs counter bend, and during the later part of the lesson last sunday (the 24th), my instructor added in to try to get the horse away from the rail while keeping the horse bent and going straight? Sorry, my mind is going a bit jumbly with trying to remember lol. I guess you can say I was trying to move her shoulders inward vs outward on the opposite sides on the arena.

I think I sort of got it at around 11min in the vid, when I picked up the trot (correct me if that is not so). I keep rewatching the vid over and over again to see where I am hitting and missing. I will definitely try the leg yield on my next practice ride. And yeah, I have a bad habit of sometimes either looking down, or not looking exactly where I am going, which I have to break. Thank you for pointing that out. 

I am sorry about the clearness of the video as well lol. My brother is really awesome in that he will come and film my practice rides. They are usually 45min. I give myself 10min warm up before trying exercises that I learned in my past lessons. I have my brother start recording after the 10min warm up. That advice about thinking of it like two steps forward, two at an angle helps as well.  Thank you very much for the feedback!


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Well, what an awesome day at the barn! 

I arrived to the barn at around seven in the morning. I tend to arrive very early on Wednesdays, and stay there until around 6:30pm, due to the fact that I currently do not have a car. So, I made a comprimise with my father, in which he drops me off very early before work on Wednesdays (it's on the way) and I will just stay there all day to help out. I love hanging out at the barn, and helping out where I can, whether it be bringing horses in, helping with feed, or mucking out stalls. 

I did not have my lesson with Snickers until 11, so I groomed and tacked her up at around 10:35am, and went down to the outdoor arena to warm her up. It was a beautiful day, in which it was neither too hot, or too cold. It was simply perfect riding weather. In the warm up, Snickers was lovely to work with. She had a wonderful walk, and picked up into a nice fluffy trot when I asked for her to trot. When it came to lesson time, I was ready. The lesson was all about canter work, and be comfortable in canter... and it simply went amazing! I managed to get Snickers to canter, and even picked up the correct leads when going over the crossrails that my instructor used to help me pick up canter. I managed to steer her, and even went over a jump while in canter, which was pretty exciting. I was happy with how the lesson went, and how Snickers responded to me. I really hope that we get more canter work in. I'm happy that my instructor was proud as well. She really is a great instructor, and helps me a lot in my riding progress. It was a really great lesson, and am already looking forward to the next lesson, which will be out at a cross country park. It will be the beginning for me with cross country schooling, and I am looking forward to it. 

After the lesson, I helped out with feeding, turning out the horses for the day, and mucking out the stalls. We prepared them for the next day, since most of the barn will be away at a show tomorrow. I also managed to get some ice cream with some of the girls, which was nice. It was just an overall good day.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

It wasn't a bad day at the barn for Sunday. The weather was just about right, and it seemed a bit quieter, which was pretty nice. I rode Snickers for a practice ride, and it went lovely.

Snickers and I worked on circles, lateral flexion, spiral in and outs, and the free walk. This time, the lateral flexion with her went better. I was happy, and satisfied with how she responded, and how she went right into it when I asked. My circles with her were nice, but could use some touching up. I will have to touch up on my circles again, since my next show with her is August 28th... eek! My free walk with her was good, and I think I improved on getting her to go with a bit more activity. In my last dressage test, I saw the comment that said the free walk was nice, but needed a bit more impulsion, and I think we made a bit of progress with it. The spiral in and out exercise also worked out well for the both of us. I liked how today was just relaxed, calming, and satisfying. 

I am grateful for a lesson horse like Snickers. She is a awesome mare that tries her best. I love her willingness, and her spirit. She truly does give it her all, and I can see why she is in the lesson program. My instructor's daughter, who is Snickers' owner really did an awesome job with her, and I am grateful for that.


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

Welcome back! Doesn't it feel great to be back in the saddle?! Nothing quite like it, and it's amazing to see how much comes back to us! Snickers is so cute! Sounds like you have a great listener horse. Nothing better than feeling like you accomplished something on each ride. & the best kind of people are the ones you meet at the barn.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Thank you, PoptartShop!  
It's amazing and so relieving to be back in the saddle. I missed it so much... and always look forward to my next day at the barn. Every time I go there, it is a learning experience, and I feel like I either learn something new, or progress little by little. Snickers is indeed a great little mare, and the crew at the barn are so nice, and friendly. I really like the environment there, and enjoy spending the whole day there.


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

That's exactly how I feel! Last night for example, I went there after work as always (I'm at work right now, daydreaming about the barn!) & I stayed there until almost 9PM! Which is usually my bedtime...but I didn't even mind, I was at my favorite place!


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

lol I agree! I usually go on my days off from work so I can spend the whole day there, and help out with whatever needs to be done at the barn. I like helping with turning out horses, mucking stalls, feeding, etc. Anything that will let me spend even more time with the horses. 

I went cross country schooling today, and it was a success! It was me, my trainer, and another student that went to the barn that had various levels of cross country courses set up. I got to the barn at around 7:30am, brought Snickers in to feed her, and loaded her tack and my gear into the trailer. I think we all hauled out at around 9am, and got to the other barn at around 9:45am. When we got there, we unloaded the horses, filled water buckets, and another bucket with a sponge and squeegee. Before tacking the horses up, we sponged them lightly on their legs, chest, and neck. It was a nice day out, although a bit hot. It was going to be the start of a long, fun filled day. 

At first, we got into the warm up ring to warm up the horses. Snickers was a delight at first, although a bit more active since we were away from the home barn. Her walk had a bit more umfph to it, and her trot was active, yet light and fluffy. Everything was going well in the warm up. I felt kind of relaxed, yet excited at the same time for what was to come. The only thing that put a damper on the warm up was three loud banging noises, which kind of spooked Snicks. The first bang wasn't so bad, as I was able to calm her a bit, but then when more happened, I started to tense up, and I think she felt my tenseness, and started to get hard and fast. After that, I kind of had to ride a bit harder and make sure to get her and me back into the relaxed, calm ride.

After exiting the flat grass arena, we went to the regular jump arena to start warming up on fences. Snickers was good for me, and took them well. She was still in that forward momentum, and I felt like I couldn't completely shift her down after the banging incident. I had to keep doing half halts to slow her pace a bit, and try to keep her at a walk/trot. Before advancing toward the elementary cross country course, we went back to the trailer to offer the horses a drink of water, and to sponge and squeegee them down. 

When we got to the elementary cross country course, we took it one obstacle at a time. Snickers went nicely over the first, and second fence at a trot. There was a bit of cantering there too, to which I just went with it, and it worked out well, and flowed well. It seemed like I had her where I wanted her little by little. At one point, Snicks and I almost cantered the whole course through! I just messed up at obstacle 5. You see, when going from 4 to 5, I had to learn to lean back, since it was all going downhill. My body just kept wanting to come forward after getting off of obstacle 4, and leading into 5. Since I was leaning forward (stupid body) when I took 5, my stupid self would be kind of unbalanced. I didn't fall or anything, but it was a crappy thing for me, and had to practice going from 4 to 5 a few times at a trot. I have to learn to lean back when going downhill, especially when doing cross country courses. 

Before heading to the bank and water, we went to the trailer once more to sponge the horses again. It was indeed a hot day out, and I am sure everyone was feeling the heat. I kept trying to offer Snicks some water every time we went back to the trailer, but she would have none of it. Instead, she preferred to munch on the grass. 

The bank obstacle was fun! Before taking the bank, I had to set Snickers up, and trot uphill toward the obstacle. This we took well, and by then I seemed to have the relaxed pony back once again. After getting off the obstacle, she did canter, but I brought her back to walk with ease. The best part of the day was the water, and going off from one of the jump obstacles toward the water. Snicks and I did rather well there, and she managed to drink then! At least I got a lot of cantering time in, and really enjoyed it. I hope to have another cross country schooling session, or even more cantering lessons. The more I canter, the more I start to enjoy it!

My next lesson is on the 21st... exactly one week before the next CT show. I am guessing this lesson is just going to be a brush up lesson on the dressage and stadium jumping, which is neat. I hope to be able to do well again.


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

Love hearing about your progress. You and Snickers are doing great! Glad when you got tensed up you ended up getting relaxed instead of just giving up. You'll get the hang of it! Cross-country is a lot of fun but challenging at the same time!


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

I hope so! I enjoyed the schooling very much, and I was humbled by what my trainer had to say about my riding. I like the challenge cross country brings, especially when going downhill. At least I know that I have to really work hard on leaning back when going on my downhills. The tricky part of the day was after the bang bang incident at warm up. It was as if she was in high gear mode all the time, and I kept having to work hard to reel her back into nice walk/trot mode. I guess it didn't help that I was also kind of anticipating for her to be very forward and high gear as well lol. While my trainer was working with another student at the elementary XC course, I had to keep circling Snicks, and keep her at a walk back and forth with more half halts in between. She would stop to eat grass here and there once she became a bit more relaxed. Usually, I would have to resume with the circles/walk right after our turn was up with the XC course, since we went at it taking once obstacle at a time, before gradually adding on the rest of the course.


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

Redz gets like that too at times- he can be a bit high-strung, antsy. A bit of grass definitely will make them relax LOL although I try to refrain from letting them do that.
Circles are definitely your best friend. I can't tell you how many times I've had to circle Redz to get him to relax, calm down.
XC is really fun. I hope to do some of it too, once I build up my confidence again. You're doing great!


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

I hope you get the chance to try some XC! 

Today's lesson was another success! The focus was mainly on canter work, and getting more comfortable in the canter. It was fun, and I felt very happy with the outcome. I had to stay in jump position for most of it, but did get a few strides in the saddle. The most tricky part of the canter is trying to swing along with the motion of the horse, but I think I am getting better with that, little by little. My trainer was very happy with the outcome of the lesson, and said next time, we are going to work more on me sitting down for more canter time. Snicks was such a good little mare in that it doesn't take her much to get her to canter. I just have to create a lot of energy in the trot, before sliding my leg back to ask for canter. After that first time of asking, cantering, and transitioning back down to trot, it was like she was rearin' to go, and knew instantly what to do when I redid the canter exercise. We would start at a nice, slow trot, then when doing a circle, she knew to pick up speed, and knew to instantly go into canter when reaching a certain point. It was fun in the regard that I didn't really have to do much work with asking. This little mare knows her job every lesson, and does it so well. She does get a bit fast, but it is getting a bit easier to ease her canter without breaking into a trot. I feel confident that I am getting this, and progressing wonderfully with this lovely lesson mare. 

I am both excited, and a bit nervous for the show next sunday... but I think both Snicks and I have got it. We have Intro A practiced, and drilled into our brains, and jumping her has been a fun ride (pun intended!) Again, this little mare knows her job both in the various lessons that we have had together, and in the show ring. I am sure that we will both do fine on sunday, although there are still a little hints of nervousness. I guess it is like that with every show. After all, every show is a bit different, in a way, and no matter what, I do not think those little nerves are going to go away until I get out there and do my classes. I always feel really good, and pumped after the first class, which will be dressage, my favorite. Flatwork and Dressage would have to be my favorite thing to do, followed by the jumping. With flatwork and dressage, there is always something to improve upon and progress that can carry over later into jumping and cross country. 

After next sunday, I have to remember to schedule a lesson in for wednesday. I hope it will be another canter lesson. Canter lessons are so much fun!


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

I'm so happy that you had another successful lesson! WOOT-WOOT! *cheers*
Cantering is seriously my favorite gait ever. I'm also working on that with Redz- my seat, going with the motions. I practiced more this weekend and I'm starting to get the hang of it. You'll get it the more you practice!  Canter circles are great. I'm hoping to canter around the entire arena eventually...one step at a time LOL. So glad she really listens to you. You guys are doing lovely!
I love canter lessons too. They're my favorite!!

As for the show, aw! You will do great and it will be so much fun.
You girls GOT IT! I know what you mean though, no matter how prepared you are or confident, there's always that nervousness that comes along before a show. But once you get there, it usually goes away. Super exciting!


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Lol, I hope so! My mood has been varying to the confident "yeah we got this!" mood to "omg omg the show is on sunday... I hope I don't forget anything, ahhh!" mood. I just have work tomorrow, and then sunday we leave the barn at around 2:30pm. I think we should get to the other facility hosting the show a little before 3:30pm. My Dressage starts at 4:47pm and my Jumping is at 5:40pm. I am kind of glad that it is a late show. Afternoons tend to be a bit cooler, and I think easier on the horses.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

The good news is that the horse show was fun... and Snicks and I got first place! Woohoo to the chestnut team! We arrived to the venue a little before 4pm, and had plenty of time to tack up and warm up before the start times. Snicks was nice and relaxed when we warmed up... maybe too relaxed, as our dressage test was a bit on the slow side. We got a score of 42, which is ok but we will do better next time. I just have to make sure to get her just a bit motivated before the dressage and it probably would've been better. That and our circles were a bit on the rough side. My trainer said it looked good, although a bit on the borderline of where it looked like Snicks could break into a walk at any moment. I tried my best with trying to get her a bit more forward, but there is always the next show. The dressage judge was a bit intimidating as well. I've heard how harsh she was from the other riders, and yup... it was a bit harsh, but at least we got through it. I was a bit surprised when she rang the bell as I was about to turn the corner into A, and panicked, thinking that I had to go down the centre line at that exact moment to which is what I did. It happened with other riders as well, where the bell was rung either around that corner, or exactly at A. Next time, I know if that happens, I still have 45 seconds to go around the ring one more time and start the test. I will be sure to do that next time. 

Jumping, on the other hand was a different story. In the jumping ring, Snicks was a little firecracker! I think she enjoys the jumping a bit more than the dressage because by then, she was ready to go and locked on to the jumps as always. It was almost tricky because I was trying to get her to stay at a nice trot for the jumps, but instead got a canter just before clearing the jumps and a fast trot in between. On the plus side, I got a lot of canter in. On the downside, I wanted to try to stay as even as possible through the jump course. In the end, we cleared it perfectly, and Snicks simmered down to a walk once it was all done. After the show, we headed back to the trailer to get Snickers washed off and loaded for the ride back. When we arrived back to the barn, I unloaded Snickers, brought her to the lower barn, and gave her her well deserved dinner. 

Tomorrow I have to call to schedule the next lesson, to which I hope we can do one this Wednesday at some point. I want to get back into the groove of more riding, and practicing. Maybe I can also schedule a practice ride in for Sunday to practice a bit of Intro A, and work on getting her more forward for the next show. Time will tell.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

It has been a few days, and almost forgot to recap about my lesson on Wednesday!

Wednesday's lesson was focused on more canter work, and finding the balance between when to push for more action when jumping, and when to ease off to get more control. The lesson felt good, and I got more canter work in. It seems like Snickers is almost always in canter mode when I ride her now. She was very active in the grass arena, and I had to do some half halts to ease her walk a bit, since she was almost to the point of prancing into trot in the beginning. When she lifted into trot, and when we started doing our circles, she was a bit fast, and I had to do a bit of give and take with her to ease her. The jumping wasn't bad, although at first in the beginning, she was rushing toward the jump, and jumping with ease. I had to work hard on backing her off, and keeping her at a slow trot until getting about two feet before the jump. Then, I had to kind of push her and let her do her thing when jumping. It was a bit tricky, but I think we got it. We did the whole exercise course while trotting. 

The second part of the exercise involved some cantering. I had to trot her all the way to the jump, and have her go in relaxed before the jump. Then, when jumping, canter, and get a nice canter to the second jump. This exercise was a bit tricky, and it seemed like we were almost back to square one, because she would do a fast trot to the jump, and then canter off into the second... almost rushing to it I think. When this kept happening, my trainer told me to ease her back even more, then after jumping just halt her before the second jump. After she halted, I had to pick her up into a nice trot over the second jump. I had to do this about two or three times, but it worked, and it felt like it got Snicks' mind thinking. After doing that mini training of halting before the second jump, it was time to see if we could have her go over the jump nicely at canter (kind of like a redo of the second part of the exercise.) This time, the results were much nicer, and it felt like that there was more control, and ease in her canter between jump one and jump two.

Overall, the lesson wasn't bad, and it felt like I progressed a bit. I think there is going to be a lot more canter work involved in my next few lessons, and learning how to be more in control and at ease at canter. I love cantering, and look forward to the next lesson, which is next Wednesday!

Tomorrow I am going to another horse show, this time just to watch and help out where ever I can. I love going to horse shows with the barn crew. It's always a learning experience, and always a great opportunity to watch the different jump courses, and the higher leveled dressage tests, to see what I have in store to the future in my riding.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

It has been quite a while since I posted. I have taken a lesson on the 7th of September, and then again on the 14th. I also have the championship show coming up on Sunday, so that should be a bit exciting.

Snickers and I have been gradually progressing with the canter work. It is pretty easy to get her to canter, although now it is a bit tricky trying to get through a jumping course nicely at the canter. I think I am still trying to figure out the right balance between pushing her, while also trying to keep everything looking clean, and not sloppy. For the lesson on the 7th, it was focused on gradually getting through a jumping course at canter. It went ok, I think, although I was often picking up counter canter instead of the preferred canter lead while doing the course, to which I had to bring her back to a trot. I think my new goal now is to trying to get through a whole jumping course at a nice canter on the correct lead. 

The lesson on the 14th was more of a prep lesson for the show on Sunday. The first half of the lesson was focused on the Dressage, while the other portion of the lesson was focused on jumping. For my Dressage, I worked on my circles a bit with circles, as well as exercises to try to get her more round. I was happy to here from my trainer about my geometry looking great, and that if I ride my Dressage test the way I ride in the lesson, then I should get good marks with Snicks. The jumping portion was okish. At first, we tried doing the jumping in canter again, then transitioned to doing the jumping in trot. For my show, I am most likely going to do the whole jumping course in trot. I am hoping that we can get through the jump course at a nice trot, without having that sloppy fast trot/canter riding like I did at the last show with Snicks. I have hope that we will do well in the Championships. I am excited for it, and so far not feeling any nerves about it, which is good. Bring on the 18th!


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

The show will be a good time!  Let us know how it goes please!
I would also recommend doing the jumping course at a trot. I, myself, am only jumping Redz at a trot because I need to work on rhythm. Plus, you don't want it to be super sloppy. Nothing wrong with trotting the jumps. You and Snickers will have a blast!!!!


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

The show... was a good time indeed! Snickers and I managed to get Champion for the show, which is awesome. This lesson horse and I have worked hard in our lessons for this moment. My nerves were actually very manageable today. I actually felt more excited than nervous about the show. The dressage test that I rode with Snicks went well, and I love the comments about how my corners were well done, and Snicks' suppleness at the 20 meter circles. The jumping portion went pretty well too! I did the jumps mostly at a trot, and it was better than last time. I did get a few canter strides in between, but brought her right back to trot. The only problem was that I was holding her back a bit when jumping, but I think that was because my mind was so focused on being in more control this time around, which is still no excuse to hold her back. I am getting better with not holding her back when doing lessons at my home barn. Now it is the matter of not holding her at shows! 

I am already excited about my lesson for next Sunday, although I will not be riding Snicks at this lesson. This time, my trainer wants to put me on a different horse. I am wondering who is it going to be, and quite excited at the prospect of learning another horse, and their riding quirks, and personality. 

Also, next year, I may be thinking of at least half leasing one of the lesson horses for the summer to get more time in the saddle, and somewhat to put my foot in the door of a bit of horse ownership. I know I will not be able to own a horse at this point in time, but putting my foot into the world of leasing seems like a really good starting point. I am already working on a plan to save more than enough money for the half lease to last for at least the summer. I will be going to England to see my husband from December to February, and by the time I come back, I will have my tax return, which will already give me a headstart in the saving department. I am getting pretty good at managing and saving my money, so we will see what is in store for the summer!









(Photo not taken by me, rather it is taken by one of the barn crew's SO! Snickers was also more focused on trying to put her head down to eat the grass, lol!)


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

It has been quite a while since I last updated this journal... and quite a bit has been going on, as far as riding lessons have been concerned. 

My trainer did end up putting me on a different horse for my sunday lesson, a horse named Patch. He is a cute appaloosa gelding, who has the build of a draft horse, with a pretty romanesqe nose. He is in his twenties, and still learning, since he was recently purchased in March. He was originally a trail horse, and is now a lesson horse, along with his buddy Louie, who is an 11 year old paint horse who is on the green side as well, as far as English riding is concerned. So far, both of them seem to be doing pretty well in the lesson program, and I am happy to get the opportunity to ride Patch. He is a sweet guy to ride, and vastly different from Snickers, to where he needs a little more push than she does, when initially warming up before the lesson exercises start. Our sunday lesson went pretty well, with us mainly doing spiral in-spiral out exercises, and a bit of an intro to leg yielding, to which is something new to him, and a bit new to me, even though I've tried a bit of leg yielding on Snickers. I do like that he is a good ride, and that I get to help in his schooling. 

I had another lesson last wednesday on Patch as well, this time focusing on circles, leg yield, and a bit of jumping. The circles and leg yielding went well enough, and it seems like he is starting to get how to bend, and relax his body to become supple. The leg yield is still a learning process for both Patch and I, but I think we both got it. My trainer was happy with my riding with him, and moved on to the jump portion.

Now, the jump portion was quite an experience with Patch! We were doing ok, although Patch is still learning to jump properly, and where to place his feet. What really surprised my trainer and I was that we managed to get a jump out of him during the jumping portion of the lesson! According to my trainer, she has never seen him jump properly, and it looked as if something clicked when he did an actual, proper jump, and she was elated that I got a jump out of him. I was both surprised, and humbled myself at how he responded, and how my trainer reacted. In some way, I cannot believe that I got a jump out of Patch, and some part of my mind is saying that maybe it was just being lucky or something. Maybe it sounds silly to say that sometimes I like to downplay my riding? I don't want to say that I am good, and I don't want to say that I am terrible. I guess I can safely say that I am happy where my riding is at this moment, and hope to improve even more. 

My next lesson with Patch is next Saturday, and I am pretty excited for it. Patch has been such a gentleman to work with so far, and I am looking forward to more rides with him!

Oh yeah! I also went to a horse show with my trainer and her horse... and she got first in her beginner novice class! I am grateful that my trainer gave me the opportunity to go with her to her horse show, and to learn and help out where I can. It seems like things are really looking up, and I hope to join my trainer in more horse shows, to learn, grow, and to help out. There is always something new to learn at a show, and it is always an exciting time as well.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

I know it has been months since I have updated this journal. A lot has happened since my ride back in October, and a lot of changes has happened. I am going to try to recap everything has happened since my ride in October, and get things up to date on here.

After my lessons in October, I rode Patch in the Fall Fun Show on November 16th. I remember it was quite a cool day, and that I entered him in the Hunter Flat, and two Hunter Jumper classes. We didn't do too bad in the Hunter Flat, and I think we got second. It was his first ever show, and I guess I could feel that he was quite nervous by the time the Hunter Jumper classes came around. For the first Hunter class, he refused almost every jump. I had to eventually coax him over each one, with encouragement from the audience. It was pretty amusing, hearing the little kids go "You can do it Patch, come on Patch!" and eventually, he did manage to walk over the jumps. In the second class, he was a bit better, but by the time the fifth jump came he went back to refusing, and I could tell that he probably had enough, so I pulled him out, and gave him a pat for a good try. I think it was the combination of both our nerves during that day, but it was alright. We got fifth and sixth for those respected classes. After they were done, I brought him into the barn, where I gave him a well deserved grooming, and brought him down to the lower barn for a well deserved rest. 

On December 2nd, my father unfortunately passed away. I was a wreck during that week, as my father was my main supporter in my riding. He was the one who booked my very first lesson when I was younger, and bought my first pair of boots. He would also watch almost every lesson, and was the first to see me fall. I told my trainer, to which she, her daughter, and two other women that I know from the barn came to the funeral, which warmed my heart. I think of everywhere there at the barn as family, and it was comforting seeing them there.

From December 14th to February 24th, I then went to England to visit my husband and in laws for the holidays, and to go to his cousin's wedding in January. My husband helped me a bit with the grieving process, and it was a fun time being in England with him. It's always a nice time seeing him and his family (he's a British Citizen, and we're working on getting a visa so I can eventually live with him.)

When I came back to the States, I then found out that my mother and brother have brought a new house, and was then in the process of moving. So, it was back to trying to get settled with more changes, going back to work, and trying to help with the move. During this process, I would inform my trainer on what was going on, and when I would be riding again. It wasn't until May 10th, that I would be back at the barn.

May 10th rolls around, and I finally have a lesson at the barn. I rode Noony, a paint gelding that I have ridden before, funnily enough when I first started riding at this particular barn. I worked on my position, and trying to get back into the hang of things, riding wise. I would do some no stirrup exercises, two point exercises, and working on my free walk with him. It was nice getting back in the saddle again. My brother also came on that day to join me. It was his first lesson, and he rode Snickers on the lunge while I practiced on my own thing. 

May 24th was another lesson, this time on a Grey Arabian mare called Ophelia. It was a combination of both a lunge lesson, and riding lesson. I learned to lunge a horse for the first half hour, which was a fun experience, and hope to do it again. Ophelia was in heat, so she was quite hot on that day; prancing around, calling out to the other horses when she can, etc. For the second half hour of the lesson, I rode her in simple circles, and got a bit of a feel for her. She felt quite light and dainty. My brother, once again came and worked with Snickers. 

We were suppose to go for another lesson that following Tuesday, but then got word that my grandfather was in the hospital. So, my mother, brother, and I left PA to go down to CT to stay with my uncle, and to be there for my grandfather. Unfortunately, my grandfather passed away on June 1st. We had the wake and funeral following that Sunday and Monday, then it was back off to PA around June 9th.

Now, as it stands, I am back to riding once again. I have a lesson schedule for June 28th, and I am beyond excited to get back into the swing of things. My trainer has assigned me to Patch, to which I am happy to be riding once again. Patch holds a special place in my heart. This particular horse reminds me of my father, because my dad came to one of my lessons back in October, and amusingly commented that Patch was a "Rookie Horse." Now, when I see Patch I think of my dad, and think of Patch as dad's "Rookie Horse." When I go to the barn Wednesday, I hope to spend a lot of time with him before and after the lesson. I also hope to spend some time with my trainer, to talk about the things that have been going on.

I will most likely make another post on Wednesday, after my lesson.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Today was my lesson day with Patch, and it went rather well! I was so happy to see him today, and gave him two peppermints after the lesson (note to self: by more peppermints as treats.) My trainer had me do an exercise that consisted of going down the centre line with ground poles in place. At each ground pole, I had to circle him, and work on my diagonals while doing so. At first, it was a bit sloppy, but got better near the end of the exercise. Patch is such a good gelding to work with; we mostly kept in rhythm. I think I do have to work a bit on my half halts, and making my circles neater. Near the end of the session, my trainer had me cantering him for a bit. The first two tries, I got a counter canter, and the final try I got a canter on the correct lead! Cantering was fun, although I still have to get used to it a bit more, though I am sure that will come in time with more lessons and improvement in my balance while doing so. My next lesson is set for the 19th, since next Wednesday is fully booked, and on the 12th my mother has to go to a Doctor's appointment, so I have to watch my nephews. I cannot wait for the next lesson, and looking forward to what we will be working on next. I am also really glad to be on Patch again... I missed him so much.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

I had another lesson with Patch, focused on flatwork in the Dressage Ring. We worked mainly on centre lines, downward transitions, and upwards transitions. I think we did pretty ok, and trainer said so, although she noticed that I was slumping a bit in the saddle during the lesson. I think it was due to a bit of tension, although I do not know why I had that problem today. I am usually good with sitting tall in the saddle. It was a rather hot day out, and it seemed like the flies were out to get both Patch and I; when I had to halt Patch to stand still, he just would not stand still, and wanted to keep walking a bit. He was being a bit fussy over the flies... poor guy. My trainer and I made sure to cover him in fly spray before the lesson, although it seemed like it didn't help much. I hope next week will be a bit better. I did feel a bit out of focus today as well during the lesson, which is an unusual feeling for me. I am looking forward to what next week will bring, and hope it will be more flatwork and trying to improve on that more. 

After the lesson, I gave Patch a good hose down and put him back with his buddy, Lou. Man, I do really enjoy this lesson horse. He almost feels like my buddy while riding him. I hope that one day, if I ever get the chance to own a horse, I will have one with his calm temperament and smooth movement. Even though he was being fussy today, he still went on with his job. It's always a joy working with him.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Today’s riding lesson was focused on jumping, and it was awesome. Patch was very forward, which was something a bit surprising about him. It just seemed that he just wanted to go today and do the task at hand. The jumps were little cross rails at first, and we did fine on them… very well, in fact. I was a bit nervous with jumping them, since I haven’t jumped since November but it all went rather well. Patch went clean over them, and I actually got a canter stride or two out of him, which was neat. In the latter part of the lesson, my trainer changed the cross rails to verticals, and we did the whole course clear. When talking with my trainer after the lesson, we both agreed on that I have to work on making the aftermath a tiny bit neater. After going from first to second jump, and third to fourth jump, I felt a bit sloppy in between… just need to learn to make that a bit cleaner. 

After the lesson, my trainer wanted both my lesson partner and I to take the horses on a hack. The hack was enjoyable, although cut short when we discovered some loose string on the trail… Patch did get his hind leg caught in it, but I kept him still, immediately dismounted, and took it off his leg. I walked back with Patch in hand back to the barn to notify my trainer, as the string (thin rope?) was laying loosely on the ground in a big loop, and it seemed attached to something (after getting it off of Patch, I pulled it to see if there was anyway to get it off the trail, but it seemed caught on something.) I doubled checked his leg after we got back to the barn, groomed him down, brushed out his mane and tail, and turned him out with his paddock mate Louie for the rest of the night.

On another note, I am going with my trainer to North Carolina to support her as she competes in the USEA championships at the end of August. I am excited for it, and cannot wait!


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Wednesday's lesson was focused on canter work, and no stirrup work with Patch. It went rather well with the canter work; my trainer had me go into two point, and canter around the ring, first going left and then going right. It was fun, and I kept Patch going in his canter! Woohoo! The no stirrup work was a bit more tricky for me. It has been a while since I did no stirrup work, and with Patch have such big movement, I was bouncing around in the saddle at trot. A few times, I had to slow him down to a walk when I felt like I was out of balance, and then get back up into trot and try again. I hope that we do more lessons focused more on no stirrup work, and canter. I know that she wants us to get cantering while staying seated for next time, and I know that in the future, for our warmups, she wants to have Patch and I cantering. 

I am going next Wednesday to help with the Kids Camp, and maybe get a practice ride in. Hopefully I can ride Patch, and just work by myself on riding with no stirrups, and canter work. I am also off work Saturday, so I am going to see if I can fit a practice ride in there, since my trainer might be booked for lessons. Good news is that there's 11 more days 'til I get to go to Tryon Equestrian Center! I cannot wait for that.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Today, after I was done helping out with Kids' Camp, I took a practice ride on... Louie. Louie is an eleven year old paint gelding, who I rode for the first time today, and it went rather well. We trotted along over trot poles nicely, and he was a pretty good boy throughout the ride. My trainer saw me riding him, and said that I looked good for him, which I am happy about. She also said that from now on, I am going to be riding Louie for my lessons instead of Patch. I am ok with this, although I do love riding Patch. Hopefully Louie and I will work well together in our lessons. I have another practice ride with him next Tuesday, and then it is off to North Caroline for a week with my Trainer. I am excited about the trip down there. I have to remember to pack a book or two to read, and some clothes for the weather down there. 

After my practice ride next Tuesday, my next lesson is set for the 13th- a semi private with Louie. I asked my Trainer if I should canter Louie when I ride him for my practice ride, and she said I should wait until lesson day for canter, which I am ok with. I hope our cantering goes well, when I have my next lesson.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Louie the lesson pony, from today 

So, it was an awesome time at Tryon, and at the AEC Championships. My Trainer and her horse ended up taking 7th out of about 38 riders in her division. It was amazing, seeing multiple levels of riders competing in the Championships, and being stalled across from Jennie Brannigan, and four stalls away from Dom Schramm. Jennie is nice, as well as her grooms. One of the horses, Ping was quite a character in his stall. It was funny watching his antics.

Dom was also pretty cool; it was a great experience watching him in the Training Level division, as well as watching him coach in the Warm Up Jump arena.

All in all, it was a wonderful experience, and made me realise how much I hope to someday be at that level where I will get to go to the Championships as a competitor. It makes me determined to get better in my riding.

After coming back on Monday from North Carolina, I went to get Louie out for a ride. He was a good boy during the ride, and a charm to work with at walk and trot. I slept over the house, and rode once again on Tuesday, where Louie gave me the tiniest by of flexion at the trot. At that, I was happy about, and he went nice over the ground poles that I set up for him.

Last Wednesday, we worked on no stirrups for the whole ride. He was a good soul, as I rode in both walk and trot. My trotting with no stirrups sucked, and I did it in short intervals, until I could at least trot a whole lap. I think I need to do more no stirrup work in the trot to get more comfortable.

Also, last Wednesday, my Trainer offered me a working student position at the barn, and I gladly accepted. For every three hours of work, I get a practice ride on any of the lesson horses, of course, depending on the availability of that lesson horse for that particular day. So far, I have been riding Louie the most for my practice rides, and working on improving my riding with no stirrups. Again, I felt like my riding with no stirrups still sucked, and I could feel myself tensing up a bit in the trot. I do not know why I am tensing up lately when doing no stirrups. I think I need to learn to relax at the trot. Walk is no problem, it is when picking up trot that things get a bit tense at times.

Today, I went to the barn early to get started on my duties as a working student. I scrubbed out the feed pans, and made sure to get all the grime and insects off of the windows. I do have a fear of spiders, but managed to just suck it up and deal with it, and as I did more of the work with the windows, the spiders did not bother me that much. I just flicked them off with my dry, dusting rag, and continued on cleaning. I started at around 9:10 with everything, and got done by 11:50am, so I still need to get 20 minutes in there before I can ride again. I did use my last ride today (I had five rides for helping out at the show last week) for Louie, and again, worked on no stirrup work with him. Still could use some more improvement there.

Since I rode Louie for my practice ride, when it came to my lesson, I rode Patch, and did ok I guess? We worked a bit on jumping exercises, and trying to get the canter after the first jump. That was hard, and it seemed tough getting the canter after the jumping. I did manage for a bit, for one or two rounds, but then got back into jumping, followed by trotting to the next jump and just trotting around for another go. My thinking is that my leg is not strong enough still to push him into canter at the jump. My trainer got on him near the end of the lesson, and he was doing well for her, but again kept trotting along after jumping the first jump, seeming to not want to break into canter? My trainer said that he's probably been used to little kids plodding on him, and may have to be retuned again so we can get that canter in, but also that my leg could be stronger as well.

Unfortunately, I had to cancel the lesson for next week because my mother has a doctor's appointment, however, I did tell my trainer that I can come in to do work on Tuesday, and also on Friday, or even work one day and do a lesson on the other day. I am just waiting for a response back. If anything, I might just do work on Friday, since Tuesday looked all booked up on lesson horses available to ride. I mean, I guess I could take out Ophelia, but I only rode her once, and even then had to lunge her before riding her. If anything, I think I want a few lessons on her before taking her out to ride her on my own. That would probably be the best decision, since she can be a spunky, spirited little mare. I already know that I am either going to ride Louie, or Patch for my practice ride, if I do one on Friday. Maybe I can get away with riding Louie on Tuesday for a practice ride, since he would be used once on that day. Usually, the lesson horses get used just twice, and then done for the day. They never get used more than twice a day for lessons, and get an off day, which is usually a Monday for them.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

I ended up doing a lesson on Friday, as I was feeling unwell on Tuesday, which sucked. I really wanted to go do barn work and practice ride, but had to get sick from my brother. I rode Louie again, and the lesson went pretty well. The whole lesson was mainly focused on Louie, and how to address it when he tried to pop his shoulder and drag a person to the rail. According to my Trainer, I did rather well with him at walk and trot, which I am humbled about. Now, my biggest thing is that my toes point out when riding, instead of in more. I need to train myself to get my feet in the more correct position when riding. It seems like it will be hard. I think I’ve had this habit ever since I started, but now, after watching my lesson video today, I’ve noticed that it is now beginning to look weird. My trainer says we will work on getting the feet to point in more, and my body will get it eventually; I hope so. According to her, even she rides with her toes pointed out sometimes, and it is just the matter of correcting it, and time to improve my lower leg into a more correct position. 

Another thing that I had to do was go into two point, but this time lift my hands a little. I am so used to having them on the horse’s neck, that I felt a bit unsure when lifting my hands. It is another thing I am going to have to work on in my practice rides.

My next lesson in Wednesday at 4pm, then I go on Saturday for my working student day (and to sleep over for another horse show that my trainer is going to next Sunday.) I’m also going to do another working student day on Monday, since I am sleeping over that Sunday as well. I hope Louie is available so i can work on the things I need to work on for my next practice ride.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

On Wednesday, I had a lesson with Louie, and well, it could have been better. The lesson wasn’t that great, if I have to be honest.

When initially warming him up I was fine, although my trainer noted that I was a bit tense, and that I needed to relax a bit. Ok, so I took deep breaths, started to relax and it was going smoothly, so far. When it came down to the exercise, it seemed that’s when it all started to go downhill.

The exercise consisted of trot poles on the ground. The point of the exercise is to balance, and flow with the horse. First, the rider would ride out with one hand holding the reins, and the other hand out while going over the poles. Eventually, the rider would go to no hands on the reins, while flowing and balancing with the horse over the ground poles. My initial thought was “Ok, this will be no problem. I have done the exercise before with Noony, and it was a lot of fun!”

But then, another thought creeped into my head. I kept hearing how Louie tends to get fast over poles. “Oh god what if he gets fast over the poles, and I cannot control him.” The logical thing to do would to just half half, and flow through while using legs and seat. I know I have to do that. However, I was not thinking about that. That thought stayed in my brain, and it turned into a worry at the other thought of eventually dropping my reins.

When it was my turn to do the exercise, I tried my best to feel relaxed, but my mind and body betrayed me. I tensed, and locked up when I got close to the poles, and it just went horrible for me every time. My flow with Louie was messed up, I felt unbalanced, and kept drifting to the right. It was as if I felt locked, and lost. My trainer even noted that I stopped posting at one point during the exercise, as if I forgot how to ride. She also noted that this told her I was probably relying on my reins too much, which I can see.

The thing that annoys me though, is that I did this exercise before, back in 2015 with Noony, and had no thoughts like this before, or even panicked about losing my reins. The exercise even went well then!

I guess my mind was locked with worry, and that ****ed me up. Now, with Louie, a person has to be relaxed. As long as that person is relaxed, everything will be fine. He picks up on someone being tense, and rigid. He himself will become tense, fast, and rigid and it will all just be a mess.

When I rode him on my last lesson on Friday, I was relaxed and the lesson went rather well. Wednesday was a different story.

On Saturday, when I do my practice ride with Louie, I will attempt the exercise again, and get to a point of relaxation. I am determined to do this exercise correctly, and to flow with Louie. I am determined to get this right, like I did two years ago with Noony. It is something I have to work on. I want to be good at this. That stupid thought just has to stay out of my head on Saturday. I need the thoughts of my trainer to breath, and relax to enter my head on Saturday.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

The weekend was a pretty fun time at the barn. On Saturday, I came by the barn and helped out with the Kids Club that was going on there. Man, the little barn kids can be so cute! It is enjoyable watching the little ones get on and learn to ride on the lesson horses, and how they fawn and love over their favorite lesson horse. I remember doing that once, when I had my first riding lesson when I was fourteen. Sure, I was on the cusp of starting to be a teenager, but I did have my favorite lesson horse when I rode. The very first horse that I rode for my lesson was a horse named Midnight, and I loved riding him. He was a perfect choice for a beginner rider. 

Then, there was Cobalt. Man, I loved that horse. He was the one horse that I wished I could buy, and would dream about owning him. When I went to pick his feet, he lifted each hoof nicely for me. When I put on his bridle, he grabbed the bit into his mouth. A walk to trot transition was smooth with him, although I always had a bit of trouble getting him to canter. That was a young girl’s dream though.

Anyway, on to the weekend. After kid’s club was done, I got Louie out to ride in the indoor, to work on trying to not to rely on my reins and hands too much. The ride went well, and I was happy about it. I started with the warm up first, to get everything flowing nicely. Then, once we were both warmed up, I tied the reins, and started at the walk over the poles. I did the exercise at the walk, with one hand out, then the other hand out, then eventually both hands out. When I was comfortable enough to do it at the walk, I moved on to the trot and did the same, starting with one hand, then the other, then both.

Man, I was so glad that my mind was clear in that moment, and that I didn’t feel like I was overthinking, or stressed like I was on Wednesday. I felt like Louie and I flowed nicely over the poles, and like I could actually ride without relying on my reins. At one point during the ride when I slowed down back to a walk, I managed to almost walk the entire arena without my hands on the reins, just mainly using my legs to keep Louie straight, well at least on the long sides. I was so happy, that I gave Louie a big hug and kiss, and felt as if I was about to cry from happiness in that I found that I could do it once again, like I did with Noony two years back. I wish my trainer was down in the indoor at the moment to see. I wanted to show her so bad! Maybe next time, since my next goal is to do the exercise in the outdoor arena. 

As for the show on Sunday, it went ok. My trainer came in 10th, and was satisfied that at least she got through the day. It was a nice day at the show, with it being warm out by noontime. When we got back to the barn that night, we turned her horse out, gave him some grain, and went back to the house to rest.

Today, my trainer and one of the barn staff members (who also instructs and rides at the barn) went to get the barn staff member’s new horse. That was an enjoyable, smooth ride, and when we got back, the new horse seemed pretty calmed and settled into his new stall. The girl that has him was so excited, and I am excited for her! I am looking forward to seeing her ride him. 

That’s how the weekend went. Now I have eight days ‘til I go to the barn for my lesson, and to see Louie. I cannot wait.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Wednesday’s lesson with Louie went rather well! It was a lesson focused on diagonals, and how to feel when you are on the right or wrong diagonal. I am surprised that I was pretty spot on when doing the exercise. The exercise was to sit the trot to get a feel of how the horse moves in the trot, and then start posting when you feel it is the right time to do so. Without looking down, I had to tell my trainer whether I was on the right or wrong diagonal. She also said to sit a bounce to get a feel of both the right and wrong diagonals. This lesson was very helpful and informative, as truthfully, I have been lacking in paying attention to my diagonals when posting. I think in the last two or three lessons, my trainer had to remind my group about the diagonals, which is not that great lol. It also started to rain during the lesson, so we stayed riding in the rain, which was a fun experience!

I also did my three hours of work at the barn, tackling down all the cobwebs in the stalls, tack rooms, grain room, and the lounge. I think I got almost every single spot cleared of the things. I made sure to go over every spot once more, after I was done with the first round. That earned me a practice ride, which I will take on Monday with Louie. I will most likely work on some sections of Intro Test A, as well as work on my diagonals more.

Oh, and another good note! My lower leg has improved a bit! My trainer noted that I was a bit more flexible there this week, and that I was not bracing, so yay for that! I am looking forward to riding the Louie mobile on Monday.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

I rode this adorable butt again on Monday for my practice ride. I came in around 3pm, got him from the lower barn, groomed him, tacked him, and off we were in the indoor arena. I practiced a bit on my sitting trot, while also practicing on my post work (making sure to post on the correct diagonal. I also worked in circles with him, my free walk, and some centre line work near the end. We did pretty good together, and it felt as if my lower leg in a good position; it felt more flexible, and not as tensed or locked up as before. I think being more aware of how my lower leg is helped in that- I just wish that I had video of the ride to see if it really is looking better than it did beforehand.

Louie was a good boy, and I feel like I am getting more used to riding him, and feeling him out. I can now tell when I have to apply more leg, and when I need to relax with him. I can also tell when I am tense with him because when I get tense, he gets tense, so I do like in the fact that he is helping me recognize that, and to learn to become relaxed, and grow confident with him.

Today was the cantering lesson, and it was pretty lively, to be honest. I… ended up falling off Louie after the second time around cantering him. The first time around went a bit shaky with him, and had trouble trying to stay up with him. The second time, I got him to canter, and did rather well with keeping him flowing, until turning a corner then I just lost my balance again, and actually ended up eating dirt because he was getting rather ****y. I’m ok, and he’s ok, and I know that had I kept up in the saddle, I most likely would have been alright. It’s all in the process of learning. My trainer was really worried the second time around, but I felt alright. I was more upset at myself for collapsing forward when we turned the corner. I think I really need more time practicing the canter, and staying more balanced in it.

I’m going to the barn for my working student hours on saturday, and to get a practice ride in. I want to ride Louie for the ride (I won’t do any cantering to be on the safe side) but my trainer wants me to get on a different horse, but we will see. I know that when doing canter work, I probably have to ride a different horse until I can get my body in check. I’m not scared of falling off again or anything, I am just more determined to get it right so I will be able to ride Louie better.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

I went to the barn Saturday to get my working student hours in, but didn't ride on that day. By the time I was done with my chore, I had an hour before the show team meeting started, and knew that I wouldn't have time to take my ride in. So, I went to the meeting, and by the time it was done, my mother came a bit early to pick me up. I told my trainer that instead, I would take it Thursday (which I did, more on that later) and she was cool with it. I am thankful that she is cool with me doing my working student hours one day, and taking a practice ride on another. I think it's because she knows how crazy my schedule can be with work, that and I make sure to keep track of everything in my working student log book, so I know when I earn a ride, when I take it, and how long it is 'til I can earn the next ride. 

On Wednesday, I rode Noony for my lesson and it was a fun, yet tough one. The lesson was focused on canter work, and while I did decent doing canter work in my jump position, my sitting position in canter kind of sucked. My trainer had to really drill me today to keep my butt in the saddle. Near the end, she had me holding the pommel to push myself in and back in the saddle, while trying to keep Noony going in canter. Noony has become a bit tougher for me to ride as well. He’s a bit more stubborn with the aids now, and I really have to have leg on to keep him going.

Man, I did hate my body a lot today. My trainer noted that my problem of leaning forward has been pretty prevalent throughout when trying to sit canter, and I know I have to work on letting go and leaning back, otherwise I will be stuck. Therefore, I am adding on to my goal- the goal being to actually sit the canter properly.

I believe I also have to really work on my body position in general. I have to work on hunching forward less, and focus on trying to stay tall. The good thing is I can practice that at home, walk with more tallness and opening up my chest, breathing through my diaphragm, etc. I hope I can improve and rework my body.

Today, for my practice ride, I rode Louie, and worked on walk-trot-halt transitions, as well as work on my body position with him. I feel like the ride went pretty well, he was moving smooth, and forward for me, and he did the transitions well. Now, he does get heavy on the forehand, so I have to make sure to half halt him so that he got lighter in my hands. I love riding him, and wish that I could canter him, but know that I can’t due to him requiring someone a bit more balanced, and confident in the canter. I still have a lot to work on with my sitting in canter. 

I ride again next Wednesday for my lesson, and am also going to do my working student day on Wednesday as well so I can earn another practice ride. Hopefully, with the next practice ride I can work on my canter. I have the choice of either taking out Patch, or Noony, provided that either one of them are available for when I go do my ride. I kind of hope Patch is available because he is a bit more forward moving than Noony, and in a way, I feel like I kind of mesh with him a bit better? We will see what I can do for my next ride.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

It was quite an eventful day at the Fall Fun Show. I rode Noony for all seven of my classes, and got two fourths, three thirds, a second, and a ribbon for Reserve Champion. I also did a Dressage Test as well, but did not get the chance to pick it up, as I had to leave for church with my mother. I think Noony and I did pretty well for the show, and am pumped for what will come next year during show season.

Oh and... another thing. I overheard my mother and trainer talking about purchasing a horse for me as a birthday/Christmas present and I do not know how to feel about that. When I walked toward them and heard the conversation, a mixture of emotions came flooding into my mind. I was surprised my mother was even thinking about purchasing a horse, and already talking about her budget for purchase. Since I heard the conversation, I decided to join in on the conversation and asking my own questions, cost wise for farrier, vet, horse insurance, and other essentials. I know I can easily afford the board, and adding everything up seems to come to a somewhat reasonable amount, an amount where I can work enough hours to afford the cost of the horse. However, I still worry and still am nervous about the prospect. I told both my mother and trainer that I had to think about it first before heading into such a big decision like that. I want to be able to write a spreadsheet out of expenses and emergency fund money, as well as talk with my mother about this decision further. I already talked to my husband overseas, and he seems to be very supportive about it, even telling me to go for it. I also wanted opinions from his cousin, and my own brother and they are telling me the same thing. Of course, my husband did bring up the half lease option that they have at my barn which is a viable choice to get a dip in first. I'll just talk to my trainer more about this when I go in for my practice ride on Friday. It's just a lot to think about.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

So, I have decided to go ahead and search for my first horse. I have made this decision, after getting opinions and advice from friends, coworkers, and other family members. So far, the search for the new potential horse has been overwhelming. There are so many ads, and places to go to search, and I have to keep in mind of the budget, which is $1500 or less. I have found a few that caught my eye, three from the descriptions, and one on the photo. I sent an email and text to the other two ads to see if I can get more info, as well as pictures and videos of the horses. I hope I get something back.

Oh, and I made an offer on my first saddle. It's a wintec, so it's a start, and thankfully with wintecs, I can always change out the gullet. I hope my offer on the saddle gets accepted, and hope that I hear back about the horses. If I do, then I will tell my trainer the good news. If not, then the search continues.

Now, as for the horse, I know I want something that has a calm demeanor, yet willing to work with me. I need a horse that can walk, trot, canter, and at least go over crossrails, as I am still an intro eventer. I hope to find the perfect horse, or that it will pop up.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

So, my dream finally came true. Today was the day I brought my pony home! His name is Honky Tonk Jet, or "Jet" for short, and the whole process went rather smoothly! He has a great personality, his walk and trot were smooth, when guns were going off in the background, he didn't shy or spook, he loaded on to the trailer nicely, unloaded just as nicely, and settled in the paddock with Virgil quite well! I am just happy to have a pony to call my own, and to work with. There is so much I want to do with him, and so much I want to do to get to know him better. 

I walked him around the property for a bit, and in the arena just so that he could get of taste of everything, little by little. He was alert, and felt excited, yet had a curious and calm demeanor about him as well. When being turned out with Virgil, he walked around for a bit and grazed on some grass, then broke into a nice flashy trot straight toward Virgil! He started to herd Virgil around for a bit, with ears perked forward and necked arched. After he had his fun, he settled down again for a nice roll in the dirt, and went off to eat some hay. 

Tomorrow, I am going to the barn after work just to see how he is doing, and maybe to take him out for a bit to the indoor, just to walk him around again and to get to know him. I want the process of him settling to be smooth for him. I think the transition will go nicely in the next few days. I just can't believe it, that I actually own my own equine to care for.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Going to see my little guy tomorrow to see how he's doing. I saw him on Wednesday, and tried lunging for the first time with him. I needed help, so one of the barn staff came to help, and then my trainer came to also assess my pony. He was a little off on his left that day, so I soaked him with an epsom salt/warm water combo and put him in to rest. The farrier came Thursday to put front shoes on him, and according to my trainer he was a super star for the farrier! I actually can't wait to get the farrier bill tomorrow to pay that off. I also get paid on Tuesday, so I will take the money out that morning for my board for December, and my pro board so that's all paid and over with. The vet is coming this Wednesday as well, so have to remember to pay that off. Tomorrow I am thinking of trying my hand at lunging him again just to see how he is feeling, and get another good grooming session in with him. I am really looking forward to seeing my pony tomorrow; he is what gets me through my days at work now.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Went to see my little pony boy earlier today. When I went to get him, I saw him in a huddle with the other two ponies; Jax and Calvin. It looks like the three became best friends over night or something! When I went to take Jet out, both Cal and Jax wanted to follow. It was a bit tricky getting him out at first, but I managed. I groomed Jet up, brushed out his mane and tail, and went into the indoor, just to hand walk him, and trot him to see how he was doing. I have good news on that; the little guy looks sound again! He does have quite a fun little attitude when trotting as well. His tail will curl up, when he does enter trot sometimes, and it’s just the cutest thing to see when he does that. My nephews wanted to come into the barn as well, and see Jet. I got one of them to feed him a treat while he was on cross ties.

After walking and trotting him around, I brought him back to the crossties to be brushed and picked before putting him in his stall for dinner. I didn’t want to ride him quite yet, even though he’s looking good to me! The big day is Wednesday, and I cannot wait (his new bridle is also coming in either tomorrow or Tuesday, so I get to try that out on his head!)

Also got his farrier bill today, so I need to go to the bank to get a Cashier’s check to pay that off. I am also taking cash out to pay his board. Both items are coming to the barn with me on Wednesday. Oh yeah, and his vet is coming that day too! I swear, sometimes everything happens at once in the horse world. 

Man, I do look forward seeing this little pony as well. He is what gets me through the work day now, and actually motivates me to work more to provide for him, and even motivates me to actively study for my written test to get a driver’s permit. I still have the nagging fear about other cars on the road, but now I have to get over that, for Jet’s sake and to be able to make more frequent trips to the barn. At the moment, I go Wednesdays (my day off of work), going to start going Saturdays after work since that’s the only day I am working ‘til 3, and Sundays (with Sundays, I made a compromise to go to Church with my mother 9-1pm if I get to spend time with Jet that day as well. She’s happy to hear that at least.)


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

So the horseforum did an oopsie on monday and deleted my two previous posts about my little nugget. Lol, gotta love forum glitches! I'll try to make this a summary about last wednesday, sunday, and this wednesday about my little bean and his progress. 

On Wednesday, the vet came for Jet’s check up, and I rode him for the first time in my lesson! The lesson went pretty well; I do love that he is forward in the walk. It does take him a bit to get trotting, but once he does trot, he has a big step to him! Now, he does like to break into walk… so I have to work on keeping him trotting and to not break until I ask him to. I have to basically practice on better upward and downward transitions with him, so that he doesn’t outright do the downward on his own. He’s got quite a bit to learn, but he does seem to catch on fast, which is good. With some time and patience, he will make a lovely little eventing pony. We will be the little dynamic duo!

On Sunday, I rode Jet in the indoor. He was a bit scared of the back door in the indoor, and was refusing to go by it, so we had to work on getting him by the back door. I think he wasn’t used to seeing the door closed (when I rode him on Wednesday the barn door was slid open.) There was also bits of snow and other noise going outside that door, so I think he was distracted by that. I got off of him, and hand walked him by the door, to which he was flaring his nostrils, and prancing, but got through it. Did it a couple more times on the ground both ways, until he was semi ok with the door, then mounted back up to give it a go in the saddle. Little by little, he started walking closer to the back door, until it didn’t phase him as much as it did before. We did a few upward/downward transitions once he was fine with the back door. All in all, it was a good day and I was proud of my little boy!

On Wednesday, I saw my little nugget, where he was enjoying his time in the snow with his paddock mates; a little mini called Calvin and a Halflinger called Jax. I swear, the three make quite a cute pony squad! I noticed that Jet and Cal like to play a lot, while Jax prefers ease it out in the paddock while the other two frolic, and dance in the snow. I didn’t ride him because it was too cold and very windy, but I did play with him a bit in the indoor. I walked him around, played a bit with halts and walks, and walked him over some ground poles that were spread in the indoor. On the first round, he stopped, hesitated a bit before sniffing it, and slowly walked over each one, after watching me walk over it. By around the third round, he walked over them as if he didn’t have a care in the world for them, and was getting a bit confident with it too! I cut the playing around a bit short, when the wind started to get bad, seeing that he was starting to get a bit spooky because of the noise of the wind against the indoor, and echoing in the barn. I was proud of Jet that day, and can see that he has a very willing mind, after he investigates, of course. 

Now, Saturday after work I am going to see little Jet again, and also go to a party hosted by my trainer (she's also the barn manager). It should be an exciting day. I am happy in the fact that I get to spend time with Jet that day before the party starts. I am also sleeping over her house, so I get to spend time with him on Sunday as well. I'm going to ride him around, and most likely work on transitions with him. I'm a bit nervous about him being a bit spooky again about the indoor if it gets windy outside, but I know it's just something we have to work on; the indoor arena scene is quite new to him, and we are still getting to know each other. I want to make sure to set my little guy up for success. I hope I am doing a good job with him so far.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

It was a pretty good weekend at the barn. I went to the barn after work, got to see how Jet was doing, and was off putting the bit on his bridle. The party at my trainer’s house was fun, and a great experience! I got talking to one of my trainer’s students, who is going to have a horse on trial come January. She’s a very nice person, and was fun and interesting to talk to! I am crossing my fingers on her luck with this potential candidate. After the party was over, we all cleaned up and went to bed. 

Earlier today, I woke up, and went down to the barn with my trainer and her daughter. Before going out to ride, I made sure to help out with barn chores. I went to get Jet when he was done with his hay and grain, and went to try out his bridle for the first time. Good news: it fit him and it looked adorable on him! When taking him to the indoor, I noticed he was being a bit flighty and nervous. Before mounting up on him, I walked him over to the back of the indoor, where the dreaded big sliding door was. He was aware of it, but didn’t dance or jig in fright, so I decided to try my hand on mounting up on him… and riding him bareback for the first time. Now, it went well for about 10-15 minutes before he had a spook, and I ended up falling on my butt. After that failed attempt, I decided to just walk him around, and try to work on the dreaded back door fear again. This little pony man, he was being a bit of a spook peanut today. I think he was also trying to get used to his new bridle and bit, because he kept chewing, and shaking his head, and blowing. I decided to call it a day with him after few rounds of walking him to the back door. He was doing ok with it, but then it felt as if I shouldn’t push him too much. It felt as if I pushed him too far, he would bolt. After all, this is also his third week at the barn. He could still be trying to get settled and used to everything still. So, I took his bridle off, gave him a brush down, and turned him out with his pony buddies in the paddock. Even when walking him toward the paddock, he was looking at every open door in the barn with perked ears, blowing, as if sighing. He spooked a bit at the muck bucket, and also hesitated at the dogs, even though he has seen the dogs around all the time. 

After putting him away, I went to help with the rest of the morning chores; mucking out the stalls, and helping with emptying the water buckets, and clearing the ice from them. I also asked the trainer’s daughter about the back door thing, and found out that all the horses tend to get nervous and anxious about that, especially around the winter time. In fact, there was a rider who took a lesson whose horse was acting a bit spooked over the same thing, but she worked it out of him. When listening to her trainer, I found that it is better to nip that fear as soon as possible, rather than waiting for it until it gets worse. I am determined to work on that with Jet through the winter, and to drill that there is nothing to fear from that sliding door. 

I go see Jet on Wednesday. The vet is coming around again, and he has to get his West Nile due. I also have a lesson on him that day as well, so hopefully my trainer and I can work on the back door spooks. I am hopeful.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Today the Vet came, and it was lesson day. I got the West Nile booster done for Jet, so he’s all set with that! As far as the lesson, it went rather well. Initially, when warming up, he was acting spooky about the sliding door again at the back of the indoor. By the time my trainer came for the lesson, and she wanted me to show her how he was spooking, he was acting perfectly fine. She did catch him once, however, and just said that I handled it well, and to just keep contact and move him forward, and to get his mind off of the back door so that he focuses on me. We stayed in a circle around that part of the arena, and worked on his tempo at walk and trot for a bit. Since he doesn’t quite understand tempo, he does tend to get fast in both gaits, and just wants to go go go now. I had to teach him that he doesn’t have to go fast, and that he could have a nice, relaxed, even walk and trot when going. She wanted me to have a soft contact, but to still keep my leg on (well at least in the trot because he does break if you don’t have enough leg on him and you just keep contact.) 

Overall, Jet did pretty well, and I could see some improvements in him. There were some moments where his trot was nice, floaty, and steady. 

After finishing up with circles down the back of the arena, she then had me on the rail with him to work on tempo. Now, he does get fast when going down the long side, so I had to work on keeping him steady through there. Again, there were little moments where I could feel a small change where he has a nice, relaxed flowing gait in walk in trot. There were small moments, but good moments. 

My homework with Jet now is to focus on tempo on my own, and trying to get him to where he has a more relaxed trot and walk, rather than trying to power trot and walk around the arena. It’s the little steps toward success that counts, and he does tend to get things fast, if the riding is consistent with him. I am hoping I can make it up on Sunday to get a thirty minute ride in… we’ll see. My uncle and grandmother are suppose to be coming over the house. They haven’t seen Jet yet, so maybe a trip to the barn might happen. I am crossing my fingers on that one.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Merry Christmas everyone! So far, both Christmas and Christmas Eve have been eventful holidays.

Yesterday, I got to go see Jet with my uncle in tow. He wanted to see what all the fuss was about over my little Jetpack. He got to see how I groom and prepare him for a ride, got to see me ride Jet, and what I do with him after a ride.

The ride with Jet was ok; I have a feeling the sliding back door issue with him isn’t going to go away. I find that it’s something that I have to work with him every ride for at least 10-20 minutes before getting into my other training with him. His spooking is not at dramatic as it was the past two times, which is an improvement, and he does eventually go over there, albit with perked ears and alertness the first round, and then getting steadily more ok with it the next few rounds. 

I decided to work him near the back door, instead of using the whole arena, so I did my workout with him down at C, and just did circles. It was just walk to trot transitions- mainly managing his tempo into a more relaxed one. He still wants to go go go, and my trainer says he needs to learn that it’s ok to go in a more relaxed rhythm at the walk and trot. Again, there are tiny improvements here and there; all baby steps. 

For Christmas, my uncle and brother gave me a whole slew of grooming supplies! I have stiff brush, face brush, three hoof picks, two mane and tail brushes, one mane and tail comb, two curry combs, a brush with a sponge in the middle (for washing?), bands for braiding, and a braiding tool kit. All of this will be very useful to me! Now, I just need to learn how to braid!


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

I went to the barn after Church today, and man, it was freezing today. It was so cold, that my face hurt the minute I walked outside. According to my weather app, it as 4 degrees, but felt like -2 out. Instead of riding Jet, I just walked him around the indoor ring and worked on some little things with him, like getting him to stand at the mounting block instead of doing the "mounting block dance," where as soon as I step on the mounting block, he will turn around in a circle. Another activity that I did with him, was walking him near his spooky spot- the back door of the indoor arena. He did pretty well in both areas- no spooky alert face when walking by the back of the indoor. I notice that when has ears perked forward, and wide eyes focused on the back door of the indoor, that that is his signal that he is about do spook a bit. Instead, his attention was focused on me. He was licking his lips, and looked pretty relaxed. With the mounting block, I practiced with him just standing there for as long as I wanted him to stand there, until I wanted him to move off. I practiced with just laying my hands on his back, putting a bit of weight on his back, and just generally touching him while standing. He did well in that area as well. 

After having the light session with Jet, I brushed him down, put his blanket back on, and put him away to eat his dinner. I helped my trainer and her daughter with last minute sweeping up of the barn. Apparently all the horses were staying in for the night because it was suppose to be freezing cold. I mean, it was so cold today, that some parts of the ground in the indoor were hard as a rock. 

I go to the barn tomorrow, to drop of the board money for Jet, and then again on Wednesday for my lesson. This next week is suppose to be cold as well. At least Wednesday is suppose to be in the 20s. Anyway, Happy New Years everyone!


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Today was lesson day for me and Jet. It was 30 minutes of lunging, plus 30 minutes of riding. I liked that we did some lunging today, because I asked my trainer for a refresher on it since I only did it twice, and when trying to lunging with Jet on my own, he kept turning into me.

The lunging went pretty ok. As per my trainer’s words, Jet has a little spunk to him when lunging! He did not want to go for my trainer either at first, when she took over. She showed me just how much pressure I need to get him going. Once she got him going, he was doing pretty ok. I was watching carefully to see what she was doing, and how she was doing it. Once she handed me the line to try it out, I tried to mimic what my trainer was doing, and Jet went without hesitation.

We then switched sides. I got him going again at first, but then he started to turn into me again, and it felt like it was almost back to square one. My trainer came over and showed me again on what to do, and said that I just needed a bit more pressure, and needed time to learn when exactly to apply pressure. She said it’s something I’ll get in time. Maybe I’ll lunge Jet on Sunday before riding him to practice on that.

For the riding bit, Jet did a pretty good job! We had to keep the trot in a circle, before moving on to ground poles. There was one ground pole, one set at each quarter line of the ring, and I had to first walk Jet through them, and then trot him through. This pony did really good through them! He was a bit fast at first, but with some deep breaths, and a little contact before the pole, he started to ease and relax. I have a feeling this little guy is going to try to be a rusher, so better nip that now!

After the lesson was done, I brushed him, and tried my hand at giving him a peppermint- to which he spit out! Well, now I know that little Jetpack does not enjoy peppermints. He does, however enjoy apple nuggets. I put his blanket on, and put him in his stall for dinner.

All in all, today was a good day at the barn. I swear I fall in love all over again every time I go see my pony. I love his personality, and just love everything about him.


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## ChasingDreams (Nov 14, 2017)

I feel your pain with the lunging woes, there's two videos I just posted in my journal that were particularly helpful to me to help keep my guy from stopping and turning in. Of course, I'm not working with a trainer so you have one up on me there!

You're guy is adorable, I know what you mean about falling in love every time you see them. I feel the same way, even after I've just left I'm thinking about going to work with him again. My husband is getting a little jealous of all the attention my horsey gets  He thinks it's ok to just do chores and come right home sometimes without ending up spending several hours there. Psh...


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

ChasingDreams said:


> I feel your pain with the lunging woes, there's two videos I just posted in my journal that were particularly helpful to me to help keep my guy from stopping and turning in. Of course, I'm not working with a trainer so you have one up on me there!
> 
> You're guy is adorable, I know what you mean about falling in love every time you see them. I feel the same way, even after I've just left I'm thinking about going to work with him again. My husband is getting a little jealous of all the attention my horsey gets  He thinks it's ok to just do chores and come right home sometimes without ending up spending several hours there. Psh...
> 
> ...




I’ll have to check out your journal and watch those videos! I always like learning as much as I can and taking those tools to the barn. 

Lol, sounds similar to how my mother feels about the barn. She thinks it’s ok if I just ride, put Jet away and call it a day. Me, I’d rather spend as much time as I can with him, whether it be riding, grooming, just doing groundwork in the indoor, or just hanging with him in his stall. He’s my little ponyboy. My husband sometimes teases me with how much I talk about Jet, but he understands. 


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Today was a nice day out, it wasn’t so cold that you burn your face off, and it was sunny out. When I brought Jet out from the paddock to the crossties, he was very calm, albeit wanting to be a bit mouthy and try to play with the hanging blankets and crops by one of the stalls. Grooming him and tacking him didn’t take too long- he wasn’t really dirty, and he stood fairly still during the tack up process. 

When we got in the indoor for the warm up before the lesson, I made sure to walk him by the back door a couple of times because there was something new there; the door wouldn’t shut so they put a vertical jump as a barrier, and I knew that Jet would see that and be like “Nope not going near there.” He looked at it while walking, and hesitated but went through. I thought everything was peachy keen after a few rounds, so I mounted up and rode him. Nope, he tried to refuse to go near that door. I mean, we would inch a bit closer to the vertical barrier, but he would still try to veer off and get his way. I think my trainer was watching in the view room, because when she came out, she was like “I see you’re having a little trouble with your pony.” So, she helped me through the process, to which by the time she came out, of course Jet went over there, a bit hesitant but actually went through the corner I problem. Thanks Jet lol. My trainer did note that I was doing the right thing with him though- taking contact through the spooky spot, and putting leg on. Just needed more leg. Tip of the day: always more leg! 

The lesson went well! We did a tear drop exercise, and some ground pole work, as well as working at the trot in a circle. Jet was more or less a good boy, with his stubborn pony moment today. When doing the circles, he was trying to pop his shoulder and make his way to follow Louie. Eventually the little instance was nipped in the bud, and he did his circles smoothly.

The ground pole exercise was fun, and Jet went through the single poles like a champ. It’s funny with him, since he is still learning, when we pick up trot and go through the poles, he tries to make an effort to do a little mini jump over them. It got my trainer laughing at his eagerness at the trot. Eventually, after doing the poles a few times at the trot, she wanted me to take a bit of contact, so he goes through them more nicely. This little pony man, he does learn fast at times. When I took the contact before the pole, and shallower my posts, he went over them very prettily. I can see some small potential in him, and I can see him actually working and thinking and learning throughout the lesson, and even throughout our solo rides together. 

The thing I do love about Jet is he really listens to me and my aids (when he’s not being a little stubborn) and really tries his little pony heart out. He knows what the work entails, and he just tries and puts in the effort. Man, I feel like when we are in synch, and working together, the ride is beautiful. His trot is even improving, bit by bit. My trainer noticed that his trot was more consistent, and less racey than it was when I first started with him. 

I feel really proud about my little boy, and how he is learning and growing. I am happy to see him every time I go greet him in the paddock, and love how he just comes up to the fence to get his pets in. When getting him from the paddock, he eagerly takes the halter, and follows out, more calmly now that I think he is getting used to everything. Before he was very marchy in his step when leading him, and curious about everything around him. Now, he just walks along, more at ease. I think this month, this change is due to him getting used to his new home here. He also made some friends with his little herd group. He lives hanging around with the Halflinger, the Mini, and the Standardbred. When I see him outside, he is off in his group, either socializing or calmly grazing on the hay. He does get into playful bouts with the Mini, which is cute to see! 

I am just really happy about seeing Jet happy, and couldn’t ask for a better place to keep my little boy.


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

I am so glad to hear you had a good lesson. Yay! :smile: I would be very proud of him too, he sounds like he enjoys having a purpose & is such a good boy. And a happy horse!
Ground poles are fun too. Aw, that's so cute he comes right up to you. I love that!


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

@PoptartShop - He's such a good boy, and I love him to bits! He was previously used as a trail pony, and before that, used to race in Trottingbred races. I too think that he enjoys have a purpose, and having work to do. I think he also enjoys it more when I change up my riding- working on different patterns or even adding ground poles to the mix.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

This is going to be quite a long post, as it is just something that I have been thinking about and wanting to share and get off of my chest. I also wrote the same post on Tumblr, as I keep another equestrian journal on there about Jet, and my riding progress, along with other topics. 

After my father passed away, I felt almost lost, and like I was in a rut. My thoughts were dark, and brooding. I would go into different states, from being happy one day to being depressed, and thinking about why. Why did that have to happen to my dad. The one who supported me with my riding, and my other goals. The one who was calm in most situations, and could take a joke and laugh. The one who was easy to talk to.

I felt like I was going in autopilot for most of last year. Visiting my husband in England helped a little bit, shortly after my dad passed, but after coming back to the States, I fell into a rut again. I was depressed about having to endure the distance until the next visit, or until we get our lives in order. He was stuck in a rut, with no success in securing a stable job in England. I was stuck, working at a job that just made me more moody, still not in the mindset of getting a license because of my fear of cars, and of driving, convinced that I was going to die in a car crash due to recurring nightmares of such events happening to me. The relationship with my mother was rocky still. We would either be good one day, or fighting the next. My brother and I would often hide in our own areas, confiding in each other.

The barn, horses, and riding made me somewhat sane, and talking to my trainer helped a bit with my state. I had a good relationship with my trainer, and felt like I could talk to her about almost anything. However, last year, with my riding there was also some bumps. She noticed that I was more tense in the saddle at times, and that I was hunching forward sometimes. This was most noticeable when I was getting back into cantering. Some days were good lesson days, and other days felt like I was just not there with my riding.

Then, when June hit, my grandfather got put into hospital, and passed away. Another hit. Just when things were going okish for 2017, another event just kicks me up the rear. I was numb during my grandfather’s funeral, having experienced my Abuelita passing away in 2013, and my father unexpectedly passing away in December of 2016. I just wanted this stuff to be over with.

My husband lands a job in July… great. Maybe we can get the ball rolling on me moving to England. Then October comes around, he loses his job. Back to the drawing board. Back to waiting and visits and stagnancy.

November. I get back into the horse show game, with a Fall Fun Show at the barn. Something surprises me. I overhear my trainer and Mom discussing about horse ownership. My mind is overwhelmed about it, and unsure. I join the conversation with a level head, saying that it is something I had to think about. I know what it takes to own a horse, and the financial responsibility it requires. Of course, owning a horse is something I’ve always wanted. However, I want to be able to provide the best care for the horse.

I think about it, hard and talk to my husband, my friends at the barn, my coworkers, my in laws, and my brother about it. I start writing out a budget, to figure out exactly what I need month to month, and how much it would cost me a year. I take a breath. Think more. I can actually make it work. Ok, let’s go.

I inform my mother and trainer of my decision, and start the process of horse shopping. First ad? Sounds too good to be true, and it was. It was a scammy ad, meant to bait unsuspecting buyers. I found the same ad, posted around the same time, about every year, just change the horse’s name up. Another ad? Horse sounded good, so I responded and the horse was already sold. Another ad pops up. Hmm a Mustang. I’ve always wanted a Mustang. However, found out he had trouble trailer loading, and had trouble picking up canter. Got sent a video, and saw him throw a mini buck when the person got him to canter. Too green for me. This horse shopping business is tough.

Another ad. A nine year old Trottingbred gelding. Bombproof, crossties, loads, 13.1hh, was used as a trail pony, stands for farrier, good feet, easy keeper. Is this another too good to be true equine? And what’s a Trottingbred. I decide to give it a shot and to contact the seller. I find out more about him. I ask if he canters. She says he canters, but it takes him a bit to get to that point. I ask all other necessary questions bustling through my mind that a first time horse buyer should ask. He was introduced to cross rails, and did a bit of arena work. He has the potential to make a good little Eventing pony. I get his pictures, and a video of him. I send them to my trainer. My trainer fishes over him, and gives him the thumbs up. My gut is giving me a really good feeling and my heart is telling me to go for it.

Eventually, with trainer and my mother in tow, we go to see him, and to pick him up. At that point, I was thinking “I want to work with him, I have a strange feeling he’s the one.” We arrive to the seller’s place. I see the little chestnut gelding in his stall, poking his head out at me. I give him my hand to sniff, and he blows softly into my palm. I start to stroke him, staring into his brown eyes. My gut is still telling me to go for it, and I have a feeling of calmness, and a filled feeling in my heart. One that was gone when my dad passed away. I ask for him to be led out, and watch him being led. I ask if I can pick up his feet, groom him. He picks up his feet, like an angel. I groom him, and he stands there, calm as I do so and fuss around with him. I lead him out to the trailer to get him tacked. He stands and tacks up perfectly. I mount him- I can mount him from the ground. I walk him. He is forward, that is for sure, but calm about it. I trot him around. He had a good, strong trot about him. The feeling of riding him- I just felt right sitting on him. Everything about him felt very right. My trainer comes to my side and talks to me about him, confirming my feelings. About the right age, right temperament, just the right size for my small self, lovely disposition. I decide to go through with it and get him. The seller’s fiancé comes along with a bag of stuff that belongs to the gelding- his halter, two western saddles, two bridles, two cinches, and a stable blanket. We write out the bill of sale. I lead him to the trailer to load. He stops for a moment, looks down to sniff the trailer before calling walking in. He is mine.

We get home, and I walk him to the indoor arena. I lead him around. The gelding looks more alert, after being moved to a new place, but has a soft, kind, learning eye about him. I talk to him gently, and muse about his name. Honky Tonk Jet. It was quirky, and I liked it. His barn name? I called him Jet. I turn him out, and see for myself how fancy his gaits are. He breaks into a lovely trot, before transitioning into a canter. When he settles, he rolls, and eats hay set out for him and the donkey that he is turned out with.

My first ride is in a lesson with him. Jet is a curious, inquisitive little fellow. We just walk around the arena, then get him into a trot. His trot does indeed have a lot of power, and he is a bit fast in it, but something we can work on. All in all, the lesson went great, and I find out what to work with him at his skill level.

Fast forward to now- I have a lovely little pony, whose personality is one that I love. He could not be more perfect for me if he tried. He really shines when he is working, and I could see him thinking, and learning as we work together. We are working on ground poles, and getting him consistent in his trot and walk. Already, his trot has improved to be more smooth, and his walk is more at ease. I feel more connected to him, like we work as a team.

This year, I am working on getting my permit so I can work toward my license to see Jet more often. When I wake up for work, I go, knowing that I am doing it to provide for my pony. I am less moody about work, and feel more happy. I am also working on getting my husband to the States, since acquiring Jet. He wants to support me in my riding endeavors with him. He has also recently landed another job right after the new year, so he can start saving money. The relationship with my mother has improved somewhat. She even made a nameplate for Jet, and comes into the barn at times to watch me ride him. I feel like I am not walking on eggshells as much when talking to her. I feel like there are at least some things I can discuss with her.

Even though I have only owned Jet for about a month now, I feel like he has filled an empty hole in my heart. Maybe it was a sign from my dad, or a gift from my dad, but that is silly thinking. Maybe I just happened on Jet by chance. Because of Jet, I feel happier. He has made me more stable, and gives me that drive to want to improve myself for him. I want to say, thank you Honky Tonk Jet, for being my first pony, and for being in my life so far. I feel like that together, we can get through this year easier. I feel like together, we can get through anything.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Saw my little nugget today, and got to ride him. Good news on the saddle- it finally fits Jet perfectly! I had to exchabge the black gullet plate for the blue one. So yay!

Before I got on him, my trainer showed me the proper way to train him to stand still near the mounting block. When I got on him, he was being a bit stubborn at first. He tried to get his way by trying to refuse to go near the back door again, but I was having none of that. I put some leg on, kept contact, and drove him through to where I wanted him to go. This time, instead of fighting me for minutes on end, he followed suit and went toward the door. Good on ya little nugget! I circled him near the back door, then, when I felt ready, moved on to a bit of trot warm up. I trotted him around the whole arena, and trotted him in circles. His trot feels like it’s getting there, in regards to smoothness and tempo. It feels less clunky and more together. It seemed like today, he was really listening.

When I transitioned down to a walk, I wanted to see if he would listen more to my seat and body. For his downward transitions, he did a good job. I was actually feeling really proud of him during our session. Another thing that I did with him was the tear drop exercise that I learned on Wednesday, and some diagonals at a walk.

When exercising him on the other side, it was starting out fine, but then he spooked, veered and I went the opposite direction in emergency dismount fashion. It wasn’t a hard fall at all, and not a big spook. It was actually silly where he did it as well. Not by the back door, but my the side door, shortly after another rider and her horse left the arena. I just brushed myself off, walked over to Jet, who was standing there, staring at me, and brought him over to the block to get back on and ride him some more. I rode him at a walk at first, in the same direction a few times, before moving on to patterns. I did the tear drop exercise in the same direction where he spooked, and did a few circles down there. To end the session on a good note, I picked up trot, and circled him a bit more, then eased down into walk, and halted him around the center of the arena.

Before walking out with him, I wanted to practice him standing still at the mounting block for me. He was doing well in that department, to which I only had to mount and dismount twice without him moving.

After that, I led him to the crossties to brush him down, and to try to take the above picture! Let me tell you, every time I pulled the camera out, he put his ears slightly back. When I put the camera away, his ears would perk forward. I finally got a picture of him where his ears were kind of forward! Silly goose.

I led him back to his stall where he had his grain, blanketed him, and waited for him to be done so I can turn him out with the rest of his herd buddies. This little pony is like a vacuum when he eats! He was still trying to lick the feed pan clean, even when it was all empty.

All in all, the riding session went ok today. I am looking forward to what my trainer has for us in store on Wednesday!


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Today was an ok day. I went to the barn after church to go see Jet. I didn’t ride him because I was feeling pretty unwell. I felt lightheaded, and just stuffed and congested. I fear that I might be getting what my mother had about two weeks ago. 

All I did today was hand walk him in the arena. There was a ground pole set up, so I went over it with him a few times in both directions. I’ve noticed that Jet seemed pretty mellow too. Usually, when we enter the arena, he will have an alert look to him. Today, he just plodded along... well, he plodded along until he heard some snow falling on the side of the indoor. At that, he jumped a bit, then continued on walking. 

I would say, for a walking session, today went pretty good. I saw him stretch out as he walked, and he now goes over the pole with ease. I thought he would give a funny look to the standards, but I was wrong about that. So far. So good. My little nugget seems to be coming along nicely. 

I have a lesson day on him this Wednesday, and it is suppose to e partly sunny out. I’m just going to amp up on taking some vitamin C and stuff, so I do not feel as run down as I did today.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Today’s lesson with Jet went ok. It was just an eh kind of lesson. Before the lesson, at warm up, he was spooking at the back door again. When my trainer came in, we had to work on getting him over the door thing. Then, when crossing down the centre line to change directions, he would try to get his way and drag me in the direction he wanted to go. So then my trainer and I worked on that. I did have to ride a bit different today; I had to learn to be tougher with him since he was trying to pull a lot of pony sass.

At trot, he was doing ok. It wasn’t the best nor worst trot, and my trainer told me to keep him trotting as long as I can and to just see if I can half half him just a tad while keeping him trotting. That part, it seemed to slowly ease and work ok. Trotting around the arena was no problem. When trying to trot in a circle, however he would break at walk then try his trick of getting his way. 

At that point, my trainer told me to leave him on a circle at one end of the arena at walk, and to just focus on getting him going where I wanted him to go. The one thing that stuck out for me, and changed the lesson around was when she told me to look as if I am determined to go where I want to go. So, with that I changed my own tune, looked up and actually determined to where I wanted to go, and focused on that. At that moment, it seemed like Jet was listening a bit better to me. He was responding more to my turns, and him “wanting to get his way” seemed to become less desirable, as I was focused on using leg and rein, as well as looking up to go where I wanted to take him. 

As we continued on circling at the walk, I could also feel his attitude change underneath me. He felt a lot more calmer, willing, and less in a challenge mode. My trainer noted that his walk looked a lot better compared to the beginning of the lesson, and that she noticed that I gave him a long rein when I felt him go more nicely, and following the bend. She watched me, and told me to tweak a few things just a bit to improve bend with him, and Jet went along smoothly. That was basically the end of the lesson. 

I realise that I do sometimes have to be the tough person when riding, and that I have to learn to be more assertive in the saddle at times when I am getting sass. Both my trainer and Jet are helping with that. My trainer knows that I am a passive, soft person, and she has been helping me improve on that trait, and I am thankful for that.

I ride Jet again on Sunday, and hopefully this next month I will be more consistent with my riding. I really didn’t ride him last Sunday, and I missed out last Wednesday due to the snow, so Jet technically had almost two weeks off of riding. I am also going to see if maybe I can get a ride in next Friday, before the meeting at the barn starts, and then maybe again on Saturday. I just need to ask my trainer to see if it would be ok stay over her house. 


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

It’s Sunday and you know what that means… I want to the barn to ride my little nugget. The ride today went pretty well! 

I got Jet out of his stall and he was pretty mellow today when grooming him. When I got his tack, he peeked his little ears up and waited as I tacked him up like a gentleman. 

When I got into the arena, I noticed that both the back door and side door were open. Before hopping on, I made sure to walk Jet in both directions by the door to see his reaction. He did not bat an eye at the back door. Wit the side door, he was a little leery but walked on. Deciding that it was a good time to hop on, I tightened my girth, hopped on Jet (well hopped on Jet after the third time of doing the mounting block tango,) and off we went.

He did not spook at the back or side doors under saddle! He walked by the back, no problem. With the side door, again he took a look but did not side step or try to refuse to go near it. I walked him around, practicing on getting his marchy walk to something more calm and relaxed. This little pony man, he likes his marching walk, like he has to be somewhere. With a little give and take, his tempo changed a bit. Down the long sides he was pretty marchy, with some tempo change when I half halted him. 

I decided to walk him in a circle, and turned him around to walk him in the other direction. Now, one thing I did notice is that he did trip in a few choice spots in the indoor. That psyched me out of trotting him, since I was kind of nervous about him tripping on trot. Walking him in the other direction was not problem as well… well, no problem until one of the girl’s with her gelding left the indoor. He was doing ok until I think he noticed he was alone. When he did notice (we were walking pass the side door at the time) he let out a small whinny, and did his turn around quickly, jump to the side, I’m scared tactic. Naturally, I could already sense that I wasn’t going to stick to his back, so I pushed myself off him and landed on my butt. Jet gave me this look after I butt-landed, as if to say “What are you doing on the ground” I rolled my eyes, got up, and walked him to the mounting block to mount up again. I walked him around once in the same direction he did his trick at, before calling it a day when he tripped again. 

I unpacked him, groomed him, then, to make sure I was not acting crazy, asked my two barn friends if there was anything they noticed wrong with Jet’s walk, as I could not feel anything under saddle, or didn’t notice anything strange when walking him around the arena before mounting up. Both said nope, that he looked perfectly fine, and that it could just be the footing in the arena after the big horses were ridden in it. Since the big guys take bigger steps than my smaller guy, there is some uneven footing in there, which can cause a pony like Jet to trip. My trainer’s daughter, and friend told me that the Miniature Horse, Calvin also sometimes trips in that arena, and that the footing can suck sometimes in there. 
My trainer asked me how everything went, and I told her that in all, the ride went pretty well. She asked if I trotted and I said no, because I psyched myself out. She gave me this look, and I knew that she was a bit disappointed that I didn’t trot. We did have a talk on my last lesson on me being more assertive and confident in my riding, which I know I have to work on when riding Jet alone. Today though, I did feel a change; I felt a bit more confident than previous rides with Jet, which I think also traveled down to Jet, and why he probably didn’t take a second glance at the back door. Now, I just have to work on trotting him without second guessing or psyching myself out of it.

I have a lesson on Wednesday, then I am staying over my trainer’s house on Friday for the Show Team meeting. On Friday, after the meeting, I plan to ride Jet, and I am determined to get everything right and stick close to my Riding Plan that I have written on my Notes in my phone. I did not stick to that today which made me feel kind of bad. 


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Today’s lesson what eventful to say the least. I was in the arena a bit early before the lesson to warm up Jet and work out any issues we had before starting. He was trying to get his way about the back door again, but I nipped that in the bud first thing. He was good when walking, and trotting in going left. When going right, he was also ok walking. I was going to trot him, but when my trainer came in, he took that time to walk into the shaving pile, and tried to climb it. Immediately, I had to back him out of it, and put him on a circle. When he was on the circle, he was eyeing the pile, but didn’t go near it. Thinking everything was ok, my trainer and I continued on with the Semi Private lesson. 

The lesson was going to get into Intro to Canter, since both another rider and me were riding horses (a pony) in my case that weren’t too experienced with canter. First, we trotted around in our own circles, getting a feel. My guy felt ok, but again he was trying to push a pony trick by dragging me toward the mounting block. I had to ride him a bit hard at first, and then soften up when he got the message that it wasn’t ok to do that. For the rest of the circles, he did well in his walk and trot.

Now, cantering him was another experience entirely. First, we tried going left. I actually got two canter strides out of him, and gave him a bit pat for that. We went a second round and got a bit more out of him. Slowed him down and patted him again. 

When going to the right, we did pretty ok too. I got a bit of canter out of him before he broke into a fast trot. I patted him for that.

We switched to the left since it seemed like he had an easier time going to the left. This time, he broke into a canter for two strides, but then I got bucked off on to the ground. I dusted myself off, got back up, and walked over to the mounting block to try again. This time, he ducked out after two rounds in the arena. He would go into the fast trot, and then, at the spot where I had to ask for canter, he would duck. I fell off again. I had to get back on, and this time put him on a circle at the furthest end of the arena.

He tried getting his way, by trying to refuse to go over there. I had to get on him to go over there, and then put him on a trot circle. During the trot circle, he tried dragging me to Hopper and the other rider. I had to stay focused, and ride him a bit hard to keep him focused. My trainer was getting on me (in a good way) to get on him right away. She wanted me to keep him circling, and to play around with him since he was amped up and flustered. I had to work to get his trot calmer, and to get him to listen more. When he eased into a more relaxed trot, we ended the lesson there. 
After the lesson, I walked Jet around the arena. He was still trying to march forward at a walk, but I had to half half him to get him in a more relaxed pace at the walk. When I felt that he was cooled, I dismounted, led him to the crossties, untacked him, and groomed him. He felt a bit sweaty, so another boarder let me borrow her cooler. I went back into the arena to walk him some more, sans tack until he was drier. Then, When he was done with that, I put on his turn out blanket, and put him in his stall for dinner.

I told my trainer my biggest fear with Jet, which was possibly ruining him. She shook her head and said that I am not ruining him, and that he’s come pretty well in over two months. Now, it’s just the matter of getting a canter sorted, when the time comes to do another canter lesson.
So yeah, today’s ride was eventful. It was a ride full of lessons taught, and full of me slowly gaining the confidence to become a better rider. It taught me how assertive I have to be sometimes with my pony. My trainer was happy with how I rode him, and I am happy as well. It wasn’t the best lesson nor ride, but it did teach me a lot. 

For now, my trainer told me to focus on circles and patterns with Jet, since he gets amped up easily. So that’s what I am going to do when I ride on Friday and Saturday. 


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Last night, and today went rather well, Riding was for me and Jet. After the Show Team meeting last night, I went down to the barn, got Jet, groomed and tacked him, and rode him in the indoor.

We had the indoor all to ourselves, so I could really focus on working with Jet without any distractions. The barn was quiet, since there was no one else there. Just me and Jet. We walked around the arena both ways, trotted around the arena both ways, and some circles at trot. I kept switching directions to keep Jet from getting bored. The ride? It was awesome! No spooks, no trying to refuse to go to the back door, and no trying to drag me. He was a good pony, listened very well to my aids, and felt relaxed through his body. He took contact rather well, and trotted around the arena without breaking into walk, until I asked it of him. I was proud of him, so finished up, untacked him, and put him away for the night to join my trainer at her house.

Today, I got up, read one of my trainer’s books for a bit, then hiked down to the barn to ride Jet. This time, the arena had two other people using it, but I was not bothered. When I got in the arena, my main goal was to get his walk as relaxed as possibly since he was so marchy. He gave me that, so then I bumped him up to a trot and tested out his downward transition from trot to walk. He went lovely! So, I ended the session and gave him a break, that is, until the Saddle Fitter came.

My trainer convinced me to try one of the saddles with Jet, and to get the Saddle Fitter’s opinion on my Wintec, since both my trainer and I were still slightly unsure about the fit. According to the Saddle Fitter, the Wintec is good for now, with the bumper pad combo. I tried Jet in a Voltaire Saddle, and it fit perfectly on him! When I went to get on him to try out to Voltaire, the seat felt heavenly! It felt like I was riding on a couch! Jet also felt a lot more mellow with the Voltaire on, though I wonder if that was partly due to me riding him earlier in the day. I rode him at around 9 earlier in the day, and for the Fitter, I took him out at around 3 I think. 

I loved the feel of the Voltaire, on both me and Jet. It felt comfy, and like both him and I were moving effectively. Too bad that it’s over 3k. If I had the money I probably would’ve snatched it. However, the Fitter said that they are looking into payment plans in the future, and if any other saddles should come up, she would let me in the know. I have her card to contact her, if need be as well. I know a Voltaire isn’t possibly at the moment, but maybe in the future... or go the Devocoux route and try out a Devocoux saddle, like most everyone else did today! After all, Devocoux is the maker that will be sponsoring my trainer, and I would love to support her (note to self: get started on a saddle fund.)

All in all, I am very happy, and proud of how yesterday and today went with Jet. It seemed like he was a very good boy, and listening very well. Now, let’s see what Wednesday has in store for us!


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Today’s ride with this little nugget went really well! I got to the barn before his meal time, groomed, tacked him, and off to the arena we went.

There were two other people using the indoor, as well, so I made sure to stay close to the rail, since they were doing circle work. He didn’t pull any pony antics, or spook at the back door which is awesome! His walk was also very relaxed; an improvement in my eyes. His walk at the start is usually marching, as if rushing to go somewhere. Today it was very chill, and mellow.

When we got into trot, it was nice as well! There was no rushing in trot, and he seemed forward, yet consistent. The best part was that both walk and trotted him on a longer rein for most of the duration of the ride. He was going rather well, and listening to my half halts, and my aids on a longer rein. I felt there was no need to shorten up, as he was listening well enough on the longer rein. 

We mainly worked on trot to walk transitions, back up to trot, and he did rather well with them! There was no breakage in his trot, and he listened when I did want him to transition down to walk, or when I wanted him to transition up to trot. Today’s ride felt like we were working together, which I am happy about. It did not feel like a battle today. Usually, our rides start off with him acting funny about the back door, or something else in the arena and we end up working on that before working on stuff that my trainer told me to work on in previous lessons. Today, it felt like I can actually focus on things my trainer wanted me to work on.

I threw a few circles in as well, but at the walk. I probably should have trotted them, but I also didn’t want to be in the way of the other two people working on their circle work in the arena. I only did my circles went I felt like I wasn’t getting in the way of their work with their horses. 

My trainer also came, near to the end up my ride to work on her horse! She commented earlier when she saw me on Jet on how well and relaxed he looked! I was happy about that.

Tomorrow is Farrier day, and Jet gets his pedicure! I’m also going to ride him tomorrow, and do a bit more. I really want to work on circles and diagonals with him at trot. Tomorrow is usually a day off for lessons, so I think I might have the arena to myself. Now, that could either go really well, or kind of ok. I’ve noticed that Jet works well when there are other horses in the arena. If he notices horses leaving, and realizes he is the only one in the arena, he will try to pull his pony antics… then again, when I rode him last Saturday in the arena alone, he was a good boy. I am hoping tomorrow will be another good riding day.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

The farrier appointment for my little nugget went well, and the ride in the indoor with him went well as well, although it was a short ride!

I came to the barn at around 8:45am, and helped out while waiting for the Farrier to pull in. Once he pulled in, I got out Jet, and off the Farrier went to work on his feet. My little pony was a good boy for the farrier, and stood still fairly well. He did not try to take his foot away, or do any funny business. He stood there like a gentleman, and patiently waited while he was getting his pedicure. All Jet ended up getting was borium shoes, and snow pads, since it has been snowing on and off. It will most likely continue to snow on and off 'til late March at least. Plus, with the constant change of temperature, the ground gets fairly hard, and icy out, so he has a bit more traction put in his shoes as well. The farrier bill came out to less than I expected it to be, and I am happy with that! Now, all I have to do is get a check out to him as soon as possible. I did bill pay on my mobile about ten minutes ago, but I don't think it went through because I have nothing that says pending payments on my bill pay. Oh well, I will wait to see if it shows up tomorrow. If not, then I will try again.

There were three other people using the indoor, so I didn't do that much with Jet. I walked him around, both ways, and just worked on small circles, and large circles to keep him focused. I also made sure to change direction after every circle, to keep things a bit interesting for him. He went rather well in his walk; he was a relaxed little nugget! It was another day with no pony antics, or spookiness. He was cooperating well, and listening well as well! I am happy about that little bout of victory and progress. Just one step at a time for the little guy.

As always, I untacked him, brushed him down, put his blanket back on, and put him in his stall for dinner time. My lesson is this Wednesday, and I am looking forward to it. I am mainly looking forward to what my trainer will do for this lesson!


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

I spent Valentine’s Day at the barn with Jet, since it was Lesson day today. The lesson mainly focused on a small cross rail, and seeing what he would do, and he did rather well!

At warm up, his walk and trot felt like they’re improving. He’s more consistant in both walk and trot… I can even get him trotting around the whole arena without breaking, and trotting in a circle without breaking! I am happy about that.

Before starting the cross rail, my trainer had Jet and I go over the pole on the ground first, at both walk and trot from both directions. Jet felt good, and consistant both ways, and even tried to jump it!

Then, my trainer set it up as a cross rail. This pony man, he put effort into jumping it the first direction. The second direction? It kind of went downhill, but it wasn’t due to him refusing or anything. It was due to me, and tensing my leg muscles. I had too much tension in my leg area, which caused me not to use my leg effectively on Jet, so right before the jump, he started to regress to walk. So, my trainer put me on the rail, and told me to just practice being more fluid, relaxed, and light with my body. She also told me to ride without my stirrups to get a better feel of hug. When I thought about being fluid, relaxed, and light while riding, it seemed like my body changed. I could feel more flex in my lower leg, and I could feel Jet change as well. He felt lighter in my hands, and it seemed like he was flowing better in his walk and trot.

The lesson ended there. My homework for my solo rides is to practice being more relaxed, flexible, and light, and tons of no stirrup work at walk and trot to get a better feel with my lower leg. I’m going to work on that both Sunday, and next Wednesday.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

It was a beautiful day out at the barn! The horses and ponies were outside without their blankets on, and it was very warm. I didn’t even have to wear the sweater that I was wearing today.

I saw Jet, happily munching away with his herd mates, and brought him in to be groomed and tacked for the day’s ride. He was acting pretty mellow during grooming, so I thought that today might be a chill day to work on some no stirrup work.

I misjudged. 

Once he was all tacked up, he was standing at attention, and alert. I led him to the indoor, where he stood nicely as I shut the gate, and led him to the mounting block. He did not do the mounting block tango, and stood quietly while I mounted! That was a good thing. 

However, as we started to walk toward the back door, he started to act funny, and try to do his little thing where he would try to refuse to go near it. I thought nothing of it, and thought it was just his usual test, so I encouraged him through it. He went by, although he did jig a bit. The second time around, however, he dropped his shoulder and trotted off to the center of the arena, as if something spooked him. At this, I was thinking “Hm, he hasn’t done that since December, when he was more frisky.” A friend suggested that I dismount and try to lunge him, as most of the horses and ponies were acting a bit frisky due to the warmer weather. 

So, I dismounted, got out the lunge line, and started to lunge him at walk and trot. It seemed like he was going along fine, and he seemed to bit a bit mellow after the lunging session, so I tried again with riding him.

He was… a bit better? But also not much changed in his jumpiness. Instead of working the whole arena, I decided to work in one area, and just to focus on doing circle work at the walk. My goal was to at least get him to not be so jumpy. I wanted a calmer walk out of him, and also wanted to ease him to working the whole arena.

It seemed that my plan was going ok. There were a few times where he tried to side step, and tried to go his own way, but I nipped that in the bud as soon as I could see him thinking about it, and he went nicely. I worked him on a circle in both directions, but only at a walk. 

Working the whole arena? I did manage to inch him out to walking the whole arena twice, but he was still acting very alert, jittery, and snorting about it all. I decided to end the ride by doing two more circles on the half of the arena I was working on with him, until I got him a bit calm.

I dismounted, untacked him, groomed him, and led him to his paddock with his herd mates. When I was leading him, he even shied away from the Kabota that was parked outside, even though he has walked by the vehicle a million times before. 

I talked to my trainer about the ride, as she asked me how it went. She told me the same, in that the horses and ponies will tend to be a bit friskier when the weather changes, and to just work through it, even it means some work taking a back seat. I am happy in that she was satisfied that I worked through the ride with Jet, even if it was at a walk. 

I was satisfied with my ride, though kind of bummed that I didn’t get to work on what I wanted to work on with him. I am happy in that at least I did get mostly relaxed walks out of him when I did ride him. 

Sunday is going to be another riding day. I hope that everything will be ok then, and that I can work on no stirrup work at walk and trot with him.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

It was a rainy, muggy, foggy day and I felt a bit sluggish. 

I got to the barn, took Jet out to groom him, and tacked the little guy up. Again, he was pretty mellow throughout the whole process.

When I went in the indoor with him, he stood pretty still at the mounting block for me to mount up, and off we went. How was the ride?

It was… ok. Not good, but not bad either. Just ok.

He was being stubborn and trying to fight me about not going near the back of the arena, but eventually got him through it. Once that was out of the way, I walked, and trotted him in both directions, and then got to work on my no stirrup work at the walk.

I didn’t want to trot him, as I didn’t want to be in the way of the other riders working in the arena. They were doing some ground pole and canter work, so I was just sticking close to the rail. 
At the work, he felt pretty marchy and alert. I eased him back with some half halts, working on trying to get him a bit relaxed while I had my feet out of the stirrups. Again, he was ok. It felt like he was indifferent to the whole thing, though he did have his attention on me, which is good I guess. 

When I finished riding him, instead of dismounting him at the front of the arena, I decided to do it near his problem area. I’ve read somewhere that you should make the problem area seem like s good place to be, so the horse would want to go there more. For now on, when I am finished with the ride, I am going to dismount him near the back. Hopefully that will improve him being resistant about going there, and stop with the testing every time I get on him.

After riding him, I untacked him, groomed him, and gave him a good scratch on the forehead and behind the ears before putting him away. He seems to like his forehead scratched, as he almost seems to fall asleep when I do it. Cute pony.

I asked my trainer if Wednesday’s lesson could focus on no stirrup work, and she said yeah, so I am excited about that. I think I am going to incorporate as much no stirrup work as possible to improve my leg. My legs need a lot of work.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Don’t let this cute face fool you. Behind the cute face is some naughtiness waiting to come out.
Yup, today was an eventful lesson with Jet. We rode in the outdoor for the first time. Before riding him, I put him on the lunge line to see how he was. He was relaxed at walk, trot, and I even got him to canter a bit. 

When I got him, he was looking around a bit, but for the most part he was pretty chill. He was pretty chill walking on the long side, and trotting in the long side as well. (Did my walk warmup with no stirrups yay!)

Now, my trainer asked for us to do a circle. Ok, No problem I thought. We did a circle around my trainer, but for a split second, Jet dropped his shoulder, went in the opposite direction and I was off, in the dirt I went.

My trainer saw this as well, and exclaimed “Oh what a dirty move!” Dirty was right. So, I had to hop back on him and do a circle again, this time, my trainer telling me not to give a chance to drop his shoulder, and to be wary of it and to correct it in the bud. So, I trot him around, saw that he was thinking of doing it. We corrected the behaviour, and put Jet on a walk break, waiting for the next task.

The next task was putting him at a trot circle at the other end of the arena, but this time, to feed out a bit of rein while half halting him a bit. I also had to make sure to push with my leg to get him more forward. This time, he did the job beautifully, and had a lovely trot to boot! I felt it, and my trainer was happy with it! She then said that next time when we do it again, she was going to film it. Walk break time.

It’s near the end of the lesson and my trainer asks me for a trot circle at the end where he dropped his shoulder. I start the circle, I could feel him trying his shoulder dropping trick, and I try to nip it fast. My trainer asks me for more forwardness. I try to get that, but also feel Jet trying to drop his shoulder and pull his trick. I try to correct him, and listen to my trainer with getting more forwardness from him, but I could feel myself losing control of the situation. He ends up dropping his shoulder and I almost fall. I am told to pick up trot and try again, going back to trying to correct his behaviour. It steadily gets worse, as my mind gets flustered. I guess he could sense me getting flustered because by this point he was basically winning at this point, and going his own way, which was to the gate. I shout in frustration at it all, and look like a lost puppy at my trainer, who can probably see the frustration in my face and see my hands shaking. 

She gets on Jet, and I watch her as she rides him, how she leans back, and corrects him at the right time, nipping his behaviour in the bud. Something that I still need to learn. When she gets him to a more relaxed, obedient state, she dismounts him and explains to me what I should work on with him. Forwardness and getting my corrections right. 

So yeah, I need to work on getting him forward so he doesn’t have a chance to pull his antics, and if he tries, or has the thought, then to correct him right away. 

This pony, man. I love this little nugget… he can be a testy ride. He will make me into one heck of a rider.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

I want to say, I am beyond excited about being able to see my little guy tomorrow. 

It's been a whole week since I last saw Jet, and I am simply aching to go to the barn tomorrow. With the nasty snow storm, it was impossible to see him last Sunday, and Wednesday, and it makes me feel a bit upset, like I am a bad horse mom for not going out to see my little pony. The good thing is, at least I know that he is getting the proper care he needs. I know that he gets turned out with his buddies, that he gets a good supply of hay, that he gets fed in the AM and PM, and that he gets blanketed when necessary. I can rest a bit easy on that notion... but I still feel bad about not being able to see him during the week. I work about five days a week with two days off- my Wednesdays and Sundays. With my hours, I usually work from 10/11am until about 4:30pm. By the time I get out, the sun is pretty much already going down, and my mother and I usually have to make a stop at the store, or we have to get home to prepare dinner and help my nephews with homework. Things sometimes tend to get pretty hectic around here, with my mother, brother and I working together to raise my two nephews, and having a stable household. It sucks that my time is limited during my work week, but at least with my two days off, I can spend all the time I want at the barn with Jet, and I try to use that time as wisely as possible. 

With Wednesdays, I usually have a riding lesson (although now I am making my ridng lesson every other Wednesday, so that I can also have the time to ride Jet on my own.) I stay at the barn from 9am 'til around 4:30pm. On Sundays, I ride Jet on my own, or do whatever else I can with Jet. So far, my Sundays are mostly ride days. I usually ride for about an hour, working with whatever I have to work on, and then I discuss with my trainer on how the ride went, and either get advice, or give her an idea of what I want to work on with the next riding lesson. 

I hope tomorrow will be a good riding day; my last lesson with Jet wasn't really a good one, and my trainer had to get on him near the end. I know I also have to ride in the indoor, and the back door thing is still a bit of an issue some days. Will it be a testy ride tomorrow or will it be a ride where I can focus on transitions? Hmm, I wonder if I should lunge Jet as well to get a good feel of him before hopping on. He's not a hot pony by any means, but the weather has also been crazy, and sometimes crazyness in weather can get horses and ponies a bit funky. I will find out when I go in the barn tomorrow. For now, deep breaths, and strive for a good ride!


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

So I forgot to update about the ride on Sunday, and I had a lesson today so I will do both in one go!

With Sunday, the ride was pretty ok. Jet was trying to pull of his tricks with not going near the back door, but I started doing small circles whenever he would try to turn away from that area. Eventually, he walked passed the back door with no problems. 

My ride on Sunday was mostly focused on walk/trot transitions. Everything seemed to be going well. Jet was circling nicely at the trot, and he listened when doing his transitions from walk to trot as well.

I was about to end the ride with Jet on a loose rein, when he spooked by the back door, and I fell on the ground, eating dirt. My trainer was riding her own horse, and asked if he dropped his shoulder and dumped me. I said nope, he spooked. 

She advised me to mount back up, and get him through that corner. What she advised me to do was have more contact on him, and to not give him a chance at even looking at the door. I did so, and he walked through fine. He snorted a bit, and had his ears alert, but went through without a hitch. When I saw him start to relax, my trainer told me to then give him a longer rein, and to ride through again. I rode through the corner on a longer rein without any problems. I shouted back, “it’s working, no problems now!” and ended the ride by dismounting near the spooky spot, where he stood quietly.

Today, my lesson with Jet was focused on just getting him to stretch out when trotting on a circle, and to see if I can time my correctiveness right with him (as in, if he starts acting naughty, can I correct it on time.) Well, this lesson went rather well! Jet was a good boy, for the most part. There were instances where snow was falling off the roof, and there was a spook that I didn’t expect and I came off. Got back on, and went about my business. Guess where the snow fell off? The scary back corner where the door was! 

My trainer wanted me to do my trot circles near the gate, since the corner was spooking a lot of the spookier horses there today. She wanted me to trot Jet on a long, loose rein, and to use my leg to encourage him to stretch into the bit. Well, I trotted in a circle and he was going nicely for me for a while. I was happy with how everything was going, so my trainer left me to work with Jet while she worked with another fellow student.

Now, when My trainer asked how I was doing, I was going to answer “fine” but then, Jet dropped his shoulder, and off I went! Of course I had to fall off with her watching! So, I mounted back up and went back to work on my circles, this time my trainer watching me. He was about to do his trick again, but this time, I wouldn’t allow him to. I sat back, put my leg on, and forced him to go forward, not giving him the chance to drop his shoulder and get me off. He was a bit annoyed, but he went along without fault. I kept working him at the trot, correcting him where I should. 

My trainer went to focus on me, and reminded me to make sure to get my corrections right. She watched, and I think she was pleased with my timing because she kept saying “Good.” She then wanted me to come to the other end, the spooky end to work on something different.

I had to put Jet on a circle, but this time halt at C, then pick up trot again to halt at C again. The exercise was a bit tricky, the trickiest part being getting a trot from a halt, but Jet and I got through the exercise! He was listening well to me, and we didn’t have any battle of wits going about!

My trainer then told me to switch direction, circling the other way and halting at X. So, we did a figure eight, going in the other direction. This time, Jet tried to pull his shenanigans of wanting to go to the gate, but I wasn’t having it, although my timing was a bit off with correcting him. He went in the direction that I wanted to go in, and we continued working without a hitch! 

We ended the lesson on a good note, and again, I dismounted near my pony’s spooky spot. I wanted him to get into the mind set of associating that spot with good things, like him getting to relax, rather than him wanting to spook at it every time. I think it’s working, little by little?

I’m going to ride again Sunday, focusing on my transitions, and getting Jet to relax and stretch down. At this point, my trainer’s and my goal is for me to be more assertive with Jet, and just getting him more relaxed and less ampy and trying to think of pony tricks.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Guess who was a good little nugget today? This guy right here!

Today, when I rode Jet, he was being a good boy throughout the whole ride! He did not act silly about the back door, and he did not try to drop his shoulder, and get me off. I was relaxed, and held a nice, quiet demeanor in the arena. I could actually focus on working on my transitions, and work on getting Jet to stretch through his back at trot. I could pretty much ride him on a loose rein! 

So yeah, today was a success with little Jet. I am so happy to have had a good ride on him, and happy that it was a nice, relaxed ride just focused on work. The best part about it all? I had the whole arena to myself, so I felt like I had no distractions, and I could just focus on me and Jet.

Man, I am looking forward to what Wednesday will bring for Jet and I. I was so proud of him today! 


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

So this came for Jet on Wednesday. I could not go to the barn that day, due to another snow storm. Hopefully that will be the last snow storm of the year, and things will really start to warm up. The snow seems to be melting, bit by bit which is good. I am hoping that soon, the outdoor arena will be usable again. I really want to try riding Jet outside again, to see if he will try any of the tricks he tried last time we rode outside during a lesson. I am ready for it... and ready for him. I am just ready to ride!

Tomorrow is a riding day for Jet and I. I will get to try him in his new saddle pad. I am also hoping that tomorrow will be another good ride, like last Sunday. I am keeping my chin up about it!


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Riding the little nugget was a good experience today!

When I came into the barn, the first thing I did was shed him out as much as possible. Boy, this little pony has a lot of pony fur to shed! I think I had enough fur on the ground to make at least a scarf or a small child’s sweater. I am sure there will be more to come with that as it gets warmer out.

When mounting him, he did try doing the mounting block tango. Other than that? Nothing… no drama at the back door, and no other shenanigans with him. His walk was a bit marchy, but I got him to a relaxed state. His trot was nice, flowy, and I felt like I could ride him on a loose rein. Usually, I have to ride pretty defensively with him, especially since he likes to pull some antics when starting out. Today was very different… it was almost as if I was riding a different horse (well… pony.) He was moving off my leg well, and did not hesitate going into trot.

We did trot to walk to halt transitions, as well as trot circles, and trot to halt transitions. I have to say, I was very impressed with him today! I decided to call it a day, and dismounted him by the back door. Hmm… I wonder if he is starting to associate the back door as a good place, now that I am focusing on actively working him and stopping him near there?

After the ride, I used the shedding blade on him once again, and brushed him out. The only thing that concerned me a little was the dandruff he was producing. When it gets warmer out, I want to give him a good bath. Ugh, I could only hope for a warmer day!

I am looking forward to what Wednesday will bring for me and my little guy. I actually cannot wait now. I am hoping this good ride trend will keep going!


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

My little guy was a good bean yesterday! The whole lesson went well, for both of us. 

We started out by warming up, and boy was he ready to go. He practically wanted to trot the whole arena, but I managed to get him to walk for a bit, before letting him move on to trot. Again, no shenanigans about the back door. He was perfectly fine... I could even ride him on a loose rein throughout the whole warm up process! He felt relaxed, and confident in himself. I did not get any feeling of nervousness, or anxiousness out of him. 

After warm up, my trainer came into the arena, and told both my lesson partner and I that we were going to practice our leg yielding, and do an exercise called the “circle of death” (also called the pinwheel of death.) don’t be alarmed by the name, though! In this exercise, the rider starts with four poles, laid in a circle format. The rider has to go over each of the poles, while keeping the horse on a bend. The key is balance, and having a nice bend throughout the exercise. 

Well, first we started with leg yielding, and Jet did wonderfully! He got the concept quickly, so my trainer told me that since he’s getting it, to try to slow his walk a bit more, to see if he can do it in almost a step-by-step motion. So, I did as my trainer said, slowed him more in his walk, and asked him over. Again, no problems! We did leg yielding at the trot as well, and he was still such a good boy! I gave him praise, and lots of scratches for a job well done. We continued with the leg yielding, both going toward the rail, and off the rail, while my trainer set up the exercise. 

As for the circle of death? Again, Jet did rather well, although he had a bit more trouble with the concept (moreso with his rhythm, when trotting the exercise, but he will get it in time.) We did the exercise at the walk first, before moving on to the trot. By the end of the exercise, it seemed that Jet was getting where to put his feet and how to use his body, little by little. Baby steps, Jet!

My trainer was happy with Jet, and how he was coming along... and I was happy as well! I was proud in that he was such a good little pony, and that he seemed to be more confident in this lesson. It felt like he was carrying himself differently, and that he was ready to just get to work. I know that not all rides will be like this, but I hope I get most rides with Jet going like this. I know that he could progress nicely if we keep up the good rides!

With Easter Sunday coming up, I am not going to be able to see Jet until next Wednesday, which is my own riding day with him. My trainer told me to incorporate the leg yielding into his riding routine, and the circle of death exercise in there every now and then as well. 

I actually love doing the ground pole exercises; I think I am going to incorporate the circle of death, and other exercises into his routine on some days, to get him better with his little feet and rhythm when going over things! 


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Today’s ride on Jet went ok. He was sir spooksalot today, with the wind blowing hard against the indoor and the rain pouring as well. Instead of going by the back door, I worked him by the area where he felt most at ease (I didn’t want to spend the whole ride fighting him to go by the back door.) 

I worked on small trot circles would him, and would change direction to work both sides. He was a bit worked up, glaring his nostrils, and had his ears at attention. He felt a bit tense, and wary when I started, but seemed to ease a bit as the ride continued on.

My goal for the day was to get him relaxed, at least. I did get a nice trot out of him, and in the end, I did get a good walk out of him too. I even managed to inch him closer by his problem area without him really taking notice. I call the ride an ok, kind of laid back ride. 

I am hoping this Sunday will be a bit easier with the weather. All the horses seemed a bit frisky today, even in the paddock. Sunday, I am hoping to get back on track with working with leg yielding. 


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## crazyredchestnut (Apr 3, 2018)

Just started reading, and I'll be subbing to this! What a gorgeous little chestnut you have!


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

crazyredchestnut said:


> Just started reading, and I'll be subbing to this! What a gorgeous little chestnut you have!




Thank you  he’s an awesome little red headed man at times  


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

So I didn’t get to see the little nugget until today. Sunday, I was down and out for the count. I got sick over Saturday and decided to stay home Sunday, because I was feeling nauseous, dizzy, and just plain horrible.

Today started rough, but we finished off well! It was a lesson in the outdoor arena. Before getting on Jet, I had to lunge him to get all of the friskiness out of him, since it was only his second time out, since the snow melted and since it warmed up. He was doing rather well on the lunge line, and even went over some ground poles that were on the ground. When he relaxed a little bit, I mounted on him, and decided to work him over the ground poles, as per my trainer. Well, he was going well at trot, then he dropped his shoulder, I hopped off, and he started to have a ball around the arena, getting out some bucks. 

We all waited, and stared at him. In my mind, and I am sure in my trainer’s mind we were thinking “Welp this is how it’s going to go today.”

After he calmed down and stood by the grass, I remounted him, and took him over to the ground poles again, this time riding in a more defensive position, as my trainer likes to call it. I was not going to take his shoulder dropping act again.

As for Jet? He surprised me a bit. He went well over the ground poles at walk, and at trot, he went over them like his episode never happened. My trainer watched him as well, and commented on his... better behaviour. 

After the ground poles, my trainer wanted me to put him on a circle and to play around with getting his trot more organised, rather than doing a pacing trotter trot. She then wanted me to take him along the rail and practice with getting his trot bigger on the long side, and smaller on the short side. 

I kind got what I had to do in my mind, but it seemed like my body wasn’t really paying attention? I got his trot bigger on the long side, but it felt disconnected, as my trainer likes to put it. 

So, she had me go on a circle again to practice getting him to move better. I had to half halt and use leg, half halt and leg. She told me to really feel for that nice rhythm when I get him there, and to keep that in my mind. I got him going very nicely, felt, and counted the rhythm. He was listening, and going well! No shoulder dropping or funny business.

We changed direction, and worked him on the other side to, but it seemed to be his more difficult side. We eventually got him nicer here and there, but my trainer could tell that he was having a tougher time getting it nice going right rather than left. 

So, we ended the lesson there. Besides the small episode in the beginning, he was a good pony. 

Tomorrow if farrier day, and another day to ride Jet. Since it’s raining, unfortunately we’re stuck to using the indoor. I’m going to work on his trot I think, and even try to get some leg yielding exercises in there. 


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Today was farrier day, and Jet got his new shoes… yay! He was pretty good for the farrier, and I took the chance to get on him.

Since the outdoor was being used, I stuck to riding Jet in the indoor and it went…ok? I confess, I did not do a lot of work with him. My main focus was getting him to go near the back door. I did circles at a walk, with a little bit of trot by the gate, constantly changing directions, and gradually pushing him to the back door where he often spooks. He did well enough, and only shied away when he realized how close he was getting to it. We almost got to the back door; when I was satisfied with how close he was to it, I decided to give him a small break, untacked him, and brushed him down before setting him in his stall momentarily.

I wanted to lunge him a bit over some ground poles, so I set some ground poles in the arena, went to get Jet, put his halter on, and started to lightly lunge him over the poles. He did well! He was going over them eagerly at walk, and at trot. I think I spent about twenty minutes with him on the lunge line, before calling it a complete day for him. He seemed happy, and satisfied, so I led him back into his stall so he could enjoy his dinner for the night. 

I ride again Sunday. and I think I will be riding Jet in the outdoor arena. I do want to work on his trot, and putting him together. He seems to work a bit better in the outdoor arena, than the indoor. I just need to remember to lunge him a bit before riding him to get all the friskiness out of him, then I think we should be golden!


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

I didn't go see my pony on Sunday... I woke up, and felt dizzy so I decided to stay home.

Ugh, I hate it when I feel sick and dizzy. It gets in the way of pony time, and sometimes working. Cross Country Schooling on Sunday may or may not happen as well. My trainer got back to me via text today saying the facility is all booked up, but she's going to look into another one to see if it would be possible to ride there. I hope it is possible. It would be nice to take Jet on a nice little hack around, and to have him watch the other two riders that are going to be schooling on the course. Maybe this is me humanizing him a bit, but I feel like he would get a good look at what's in store for him in the future. When he is ready, I have hope that he will take to eventually schooling Cross Country like a champ. He already shows interest in jumping over things, and goes at it with enthusiasm. Only time will tell.

Going to the barn on Wednesday, and it's suppose to be a partly sunny day out. I am going to ride him in the outdoor if it's not in use. If it is? Then looks like a bit more Indoor time with Jet.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

I had a good ride with Jet in the indoor today. It was cold and chilly out, and felt like it was a good day to just get on and have a somewhat laid back ride. Got into the indoor, and everything went rather well. I took a very laid back approach with him, and before mounting on, decided to walk him by the back door a few times. When I mounted, I walked him over, again doing circles and gradually making my circles wider. He was alert, but at least he was walking by the back door. In between walking him by his problem area, I trotted him in circles for a few round now his comfortable spot, focusing on getting him more under me. When I would walk break him, I would work on getting him near the back door.

There were two times he hesitated at first, but he walked on. He didn’t drop his shoulder to run in the other direction, nor did he try to refused to go near the “spooky” door. It felt like a successful session with him, and I was happy with how he went.

When I finished my session, I dismounted him near the “spooky” door. Again, he was a bit alert, but he didn’t feel like he was going to spook out from under me. He stood, calm, and waiting to be dismounted. When I dismounted him, I walked him by the door again, before exiting the arena.

All in all, I call today’s ride a success. I am quite happy with how things went today. As for going out on Sunday? My trainer is waiting to hear back to see if we will be able to go. The facility said they would inform her Saturday, so we are waiting to hear to see if we are set to go or not. If not, then I’ll just look into the weather for both days, and either ride Jet in the indoor or in the outdoor.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

I managed to sprain my ankle while out horse riding yesterday.

We all went out to the Horse Park, some to school, and others to hack out. I was one of those who wanted to hack out Jet. Everything was fine at first. He walked nicely, and listened with no problem. Then, went I tagged along with two other riders, things went a bit south. They picked up a trot, and I wanted to keep Jet at a walk. I could feel he was getting excited under me, but I kept trying with keeping him at a walking pace. When he saw that the other two horses were getting a bit ahead of him, he broke into a trot, then canter, and bucked me off. I tumbled, and I guess landed on my ankle in a funny way. When I got up, and went to retrieve Jet, I was limping a little bit, but ignored the limp and got back on.

He was good for the rest of the day, well pretty good. All he did was walk and eat grass for the most past after that fiasco. When we got to the water, he wanted to try to roll in it, but nipped that in the bud. Near the end of the day, my ankle was bothering me a bit in the saddle so I dismounted and walked back to the trailer with the group.

When my trainer heard what happened, she was concerned. She had me take off my boot to reveal a swollen ankle. Yup, sprained. And it started throbbing a bit. After I took care of Jet (I wanted to make sure he had his drink of water, was untacked and took a break before tending to myself.) we all loaded the horses up, and started to head home.

When we got home, I was trying to insist on bringing Jet to his stall myself but my trainer wanted me to try to get off my ankle. So, she unloaded Jet and brought him in. While she did that, I started to unload my tack, grooming bag, and other stuff. When she came back, she was concerned about me being on the ankle, but I insisted it was better for me to walk a bit, as I felt a bit stiff during the car ride, and needed it to move around. So, I brought all my stuff in the tack room, and as per trainer’s orders, went into her house to elevate my ankle a bit. It was throbbing a bit more, and seemed like it hurt a bit more when I was elevating it? It was weird.

Anyway, got picked up from the barn, and went home with a compress wrap and ankle brace on, feeling like a lame horse. I went to the doctor today, and the good news is that the ankle is just sprained, no broken bones! I just have to rest it for a few days, then I can go back to work on Thursday. As for horse riding? The doctor suggested I wait I week before getting back on. I am pretty bummed about not being able to ride for a week, but it just makes me more determined to be a better rider. Maybe Sunday I can at least do some ground work with Jet, and then next Wednesday? Hopefully back in the saddle. I am not going to let a sprained ankle bring me down!


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

My ankle is feeling a lot better today. I could actually walk on it without looking like a zombie. Tomorrow I go back to work. Am I looking forward to it? Eh… I am looking forward to finally getting out of the house. Still frustrated that I didn’t get to ride today, or see my pony. I really wanted to head out to the barn today, but have to follow doctor's orders. In the mean time, I have been doing a lot of reading, and watching equestrian related youtube videos. Even when off the horse, I still have horses on the brain, and still want to soak in as much as possible. I do not think I will ever get tired of looking up things relating to equines.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

I feel kind of like a crappy person. The last time I went to the barn was last Tuesday, to drop off Jet’s board. I haven’t been there to ride since the sprained ankle incident. Seems like a lot has been going on last week and this week. Was meant to go yesterday, but hubby wanted to spend some time with me on skype, since our schedules have been so busy, and he had a three day weekend from work (bank holiday in the UK.) So, I stayed home yesterday. I was meant to go today, but woke up with a migraine and decided to stay home…

Wedneday is lesson day with Jet. I feel bad about not seeing him since last Tuesday. At least Wednesday I’ll be at the barn most of the day. I am wondering how the lesson with him will go, and how my ankle will work when riding. I have some flexibility in my ankle, although it does hurt if I flex it too much. I mainly hope that I could do posting trot. Anyway, that’s all I have to write.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Lesson day with Jet yesterday went swimmingly! I got to the barn at around 11, and decided to give Jet a nice bath, since I didn’t have to really prep for my lesson until around 2. This pony came out looking nice, shiny, and had a really soft coat by the time he was done drying off. At around 12:30pm, my trainer asked me if I wanted to have a lesson at 1:30pm instead of 2:30, because her other student canceled. I went ahead and said sure!

So, by the time 1:15pm comes around, I bring The freshly cleaned and dried Jet in to get groomed, and prepped for our lesson.

We went outside for the lesson, and my trainer suggested that I lunge him before we start. I had all the equipment set to lunge, and got straight to it, with my trainer watching. He was looking good on the lunge, but my trainer wanted me to try to get him to canter. I tried, although without much luck from my end. My trainer then took over to show me how to more effectively get him to canter. Boy, this little pony man. It takes a lot of effort to get him to go into canter. Instead of cantering, he would do his classic trotter trot. When he did eventually canter for a few strides, my trainer rewarded him. She got him cantering for a few strides, and then would reward him. I listened to her intently, and watched her body language as she got him to canter. She told me that I had to be less rigid and more fluid, and open, and to reward when I get the canter on the lunge.

With the lunging all done, it was time to mount up. When getting on him, he still had the pony alertness, but when I got him to walk, he seemed to walk in a somewhat relaxed manner.

For warm up, my trainer had me do something a bit different with him. Instead of going on the rail for the usual warm up, she had me, instead go through a series of ground poles on the ground in as many different patterns and combinations as possible on a loose rein. In fact, she told me to focus more on steering with my body this time around, and with leg and to try to not touch the reins at all.

The warm up? It was pretty frickin awesome! She would catch me whenever I would slouch, and would let me know how I was doing. She was pretty pleased with how it was all going, and how Jet was responding. I was rather pleased as well! The little guy was relaxed, and going through the whole warm up with interest!

My trainer also taught me another skill, as far as half halts go. For half halting, she taught me more about using my body to half halt. That way of half halting? It went very well with Jet! He responded well to all that was going on- no dragging, no funny pony business… it was as if we were working together.

After we were done warming up with the ground poles, my trainer had me go to rail to practice walk to halt, again with the intention of using my body more. That went pretty well as well! I think Jet was more responsive when using my body more, although he would turn his hindquarters to the inside slightly. For that, my trainer told me to using my inside leg when halting to get him a bit more straight. On the next to halts, I used my inside leg a bit to coax him to be more straight, and you know what? He got a bit better.

The next task was to pick up trot, and go over ground poles at the trot with him, again with using as little rein as possible and using my body to guide him. I would go over the first set, wonderfully, then turn to go over a set of four. When going over the set of four, he did die down a bit to walk, which means that I had to use more leg when going over the four. We went over the ground poles a few more times, my mind focused on getting him over the four set at a trot. He would go over the first set fine, but then try to die down at the four ground pole set up. I had to encourage him not to die down, and you know what? He got it eventually! According to my trainer, Jet has to figure out how to use his body correctly, and these exercises will help him.

The lesson ended on a wonderful, successful note. I was happy, my trainer was happy, and Jet seemed very relaxed and happy throughout the whole lesson. I even rode him back up to the barn!

All in all, I was ecstatic with how everything went. I’m not going to be back at the barn ‘til next Wednesday, but I am already looking forward to it.

I think my trainer and I unlocked the key to Jet’s mind. Focusing his mind on other tasks during warm up helps tremendously. My trainer told me to incorporate ground poles, with constant change of direction into the warm up so his mind can get more focused on listening to me, rather than trying to go the old way of going around in circles on the flat. For next Wednesday, I am going to go in, with setting up groundpoles and working my warm up and exercises around the ground poles, rather than doing straight flatwork. It keeps Jet in a more interested and focused mood, and helps me to have a better plan for my solo riding days with him.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

It was a rainy day in the barn yesterday, and I had a bit of pony time with Jet in the indoor! The ride went pretty well.

I asked my trainer for suggestions regarding ground pole placing and set up to warm him up and exercise with. She suggested that I set up four ground poles in a circle and to work on different bending patterns with those, such as a cloverleaf pattern, going over them in a circle, circling over each pole, and others. 

When I got into the indoor with Jet and mounted, I started immediately at the walk over the poles. I would switch directions and switch the pattern up a bit, sometimes going in a full circle, other times doing a cloverleaf pattern over the poles. The good thing was that Jet was focused on the warm up, and not paying attention to the rain outside.

When I felt that he was feeling good at the walk, I bumped his gait up to a trot, and went over the ground pole I laid in the center. He was doing rather well in the trot, did not break, and went over the pole in a smooth motion. I felt like he liked doing this type of work, he seemed to have a good step to him when going over the poles. I then thought of doing trot to walk to halt transitions as different points in the arena. The little nugget was being pretty good about all of it, focused, and attentive to each phase of each exercise. 

Now, when tracking left, it seemed like his trot was a bit tougher than going right. It almost felt like he was doing his trotter pace, in a way, though it could be due to uneven ground in a certain corner of the arena. When getting to that corner, he would toss his head, and felt a bit funny. So, I modified the riding a bit. I would trot after hitting the ground pole in the center, then transition him down to walk around his funny corner. He seemed to go fine in the walk at the funny corner, and picked up his trot fine after going over the center pole. Hmm, maybe for next time, it would be something to ride through. 

I was pretty happy with how the whole ride went. I didn’t use the whole indoor, as I honestly did not feel like going to his spooky corner today, so I stayed on his good half of the arena to do the exercises. I’ll probably work on his spooky corner on Sunday, since it’s suppose to be another cloudy, mucky day out.

Jet seemed very content with the ride as well. He was licking and chewing his lips, at the beginning of the ride, and did not throw any funny pony business while working. When I felt that we were both done with the exercise, I dismounted him, and ended it all on a very good note. 

I am looking forward to what Sunday will bring for the two of us. 


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

It seems like I am having some bad luck on Sundays because I woke up this morning, feeling the absolute worst, so I was stuck at home instead of going to the barn. Sometimes I regret what I say in my posts because things just don’t go the way as planned. On the plus side, I am getting paid on Tuesday and I am really happy with what it’s going to be, with all the hours that I have been putting into work. Been working some long hours this week too, so I hopeful that my June 5th paycheck will be just as good, and that I can finally buy the girth that I have been desperately wanting for Jet. 

Also, husband is coming to the States from June 5th to July 7th. I am looking forward to that happening, and introducing him to Jet. 

This Wednesday is lesson day, and Thursday, Jet is getting his teeth floated. 


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

I would consider today’s lesson a successful one.

For the lesson, our first focus was the “mounting block tango” dilemma that has been happening. My trainer showed me a more effective way of getting Jet still for the mounting block, and had me practice the technique a few times before beginning the warm up for the lesson. It seemed like I was getting the technique down, and Jet stopped with going around in circles on me, and stood still even after I mounted.

Next was round two of the lesson after warming up; circles. We went alright tracking right when doing our circles. When going left, Jet was trying to drag me and turn to go right when getting to a certain corner in the arena. I had to catch him early, open my inside rein, and continue on until he got the concept that no, he could not choose to drag me and change direction to go right instead of left. Again, it seemed I was getting to concept of correcting him down, and Jet was moving good for me with no issues, so on went went to the next exercise.

My trainer set up four ground poles in a square. My job was to go through the center, then track either right or left and go through again in the middle in a cloverleaf-type pattern. The goal of the exercise was to get Jet’s tempo even, and to slow his trot so he wasn’t barging through the exercise. It took a bit of work on my part; I felt like I had to fully concentrate on how my body was when riding. I had to do tiny half halts, while slowing my posting, yet gently pushing with leg so he did not die. I felt like my whole mind was focused on getting everything even, slow, and right. Surely enough, Jet soon started to improve, and respond to the way my body was reacting. He slowed his trot down, and, did not race through the poles. His rhythm felt different, more even. The thing that helped as well, was I was focused on my breathing, and getting that to a tempo I wanted, and trying to tune it to where I wanted Jet to be with his trot. It seemed like things were starting to come together for me, and I was starting to understand what I needed to do more of. My trainer said I did a good job, and like this every lesson so far, things always seem to come full circle and together near the end of the lesson. 

Now my job is to put this more into practice when I ride Jet again. Tomorrow is teeth floating day, and Jet will be a bit sedated while the Vet goes to town with his teeth. I am hoping to get a small ride in before the Vet arrives so I can practice the exercise. Who knows? Maybe I will get lucky! 


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

It was teeth floating day for Jet and it went smoothly! The vet was running late, but no worries. Jet managed to get plenty of turn out time on the grass pasture, and the dry paddock before the vet arrived. 

She examined his teeth, gave him a light sedative so he could go to his happy place and got to work. The good news? His teeth look very good, and the same with his body condition! She told me it looked he trimmed down a little bit since December, and now just need to work on trimming his belly a tad. She asked what I was doing with him lately and I told her ground pole work, to work on his bending and rhythm. She said that was good, and to also incorporate some backing as well. 

After he was done with his teeth, I waited until the sedative wore off to do some mounting block work in the indoor. I just wanted to work on him standing at the mounting block, and standing after I mounted rather than walking forward. The session was a short, but pretty successful one. He was getting the idea to stand more, and got better with not walking off right away as soon as I mounted. It is a work in progress, but I realised it is something that I cannot be neglectful of working on. 

After the session, I put him back in his stall for his dinner. It was just a good, nice, lazy day today.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

It was a hot, sunny day out, and a perfect day to ride. This guy was a little champ today! 

I went to ride in the outdoor ring with him to work on taking him through trot poles, working on his rhythm and bend. Before getting on him, I lunged him a bit to see how he was, because he seemed a bit alert and looked ready to go go go. The lunge only lasted about ten minutes before I hopped on. He got his little wiggles out of the way, and looked more soft and at ease.

There was hardly a mounting block tango today. He stood better this time around, and I mounted. He walked a few steps, but stopped as soon as I halted him. Then, it was off to do some walk warm up over the poles. 

The poles were originally cross rails that I lowered down. It just looked like a course of ground poles laid in the ring. I took him through each one at walk, bending him and changing direction, keeping him engaged. He was easy going, yet had a forwardness to him. He did take notice at the mares in the front paddock by the ring, but I noticed his attention was solely on the task at had. 

When I felt he was good at walk, I picked up a trot with him, and again, over the poles we went. I also incorporated some circles in the work as well, to see how he went. 

The whole ride just felt perfect today. He picked up his trot right away, and went over the course in a lovely manner. It felt like his trot was an actual trot, rather than a funny mix between a pace and trot. Over the poles he went, without rushing to them, yet being eager about them. I would switch directions with him, testing him on either side at trot. He took no notice of the mares still, and felt solely focused on his exercise. I felt pretty accomplished with him today, like we worked toward something today- a trot that was trotty, and him carrying himself over the poles without rushing at them. 

I ended the ride, and gave the little guy a light hose down afterwords. He was a bit sweaty, mainly around the saddle area. I led him to his little grazing/drying spot, where there was shade so the bugs wouldn’t bother him. 

I am really happy with how today went. Everything just seemed to fall into place. I am looking forward to what the next ride will bring for us.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

I rode this little guy both on the fourth of June and and the sixth of June. On that Monday, I got an Uber to the barn after work to be in time for a Lunging Clinic. Before the Clinic started, I got him and rode him for a bit in the indoor. He was going well for me at warm up, but my overthinkingness took over when we hit trot because he was struggling a bit to sneeze. I got off him, and hand walked him around the arena. He was doing ok with that, so I walked out of the arena with him, untacked him, and put him out I. The paddock. Before putting him out in the paddock, I asked my trainer about it and she assured me that it was probably the dust in the arena or allergies.

The clinic after the ride with Jet was a fun experience. I learned quite a bit from that Clinic!

That Wednesday was supposed to be a lesson day, but, while watching my trainer ride one of the horses set to being for sale, she unfortunately had an accident and had to go to hospital. The horse reared and flipped, causing my trainer to hit her body hard against the fence, breaking the fence. She hurt her leg pretty badly. She could move it, but could not put weight on the leg. 

I rode Jet a bit after I helped one of my friends with the rest of the barn chores. Jet was pretty good, although a bit spooky in the indoor. We worked on some ground poles in there, but when I noticed that he was still being a spookster, got off of him and lunge him for five minutes before ending the session. I managed to get him to canter a few strides before ending the session, which was good!

I really hope my trainer takes it easy and gets better. I hope for a full recovery for her.

Husband also came down from England, and he's still here until July 7th, then I go back to England with him for a month. He has yet to see the pony... I haven't been to the barn since my trainer had the accident on Wednesday, other than to pick up Jet's farrier bill this past Thursday. I was sick and dizzy last week, and today was a no go because of Father's Day. Hopefully going to the barn this Wednesday coming up, and bringing the husband with me to see Jet. I cannot wait.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

It’s been quite a bit since I posted, and to be honest, quite a bit since I rode last. The last time I rode was the 21st of June, a Thursday in the indoor and Jet was ok. 

I worked on getting him to stand at the mounting block, and a little bit on getting him close to the back door. I set some ground poles up so he could be distracted by ground pole work. Everything was going well that day, although the lawnmower outside were a bit bothersome and he was a bit anxious about hearing them from the indoor. He probably could have felt my anxious energy on that day as well. Nonetheless, the ride went ok. I lunged him near the spooky area before riding him, and he seemed to do ok there, although he did pick up the pace every time he went to the corner where the door was open. Maybe he doesn’t like when the door is open because there a side view of the driveway and whatnot? In any case, riding him was a bit of a different story.

The ground poles helped keep his mind focused a bit, but he was still antsy, tossing his head and mouthing his bit. I decided to end the ride swiftly on a good note, as I didn’t want to get him too worked up. 

Other than that? It’s been pretty tough getting up to the barn. Seems like activity in the House has shifted and things just seemed... I don’t know, busy I guess. Either mother had RA flare ups, or there was something else going on.

In any case, this Wednesday will probably be my final day going to the barn to see the little guy before I leave for England on Saturday. Oh yeah, husband bought me a plane ticket to go back with him for a month. I guess I am a bit excited about it, although sad that I will be missing out on Jet time. I already talked with my trainer about it, and she assured me that he will be fine, and just enjoy his vacation, and that things will be picked up right where I left them when I get back. I am going to be returning on August 11th, so it’s not too bad I guess? At least I know that Jet is at a wonderful place where he will be well taken care of. It’s been also really hot and humid as well. Both Sunday and earlier today, it was in the 90s as far as temp goes, but it felt hotter. 

As far as other news? Trainer is going to be out of commission for quite a bit. She found out she tore her ACL after the accident, and has to do some physical therapy, surgery, followed by more physical therapy. She texted me, suggesting that I work with another trainer at the barn, as she doesn’t know how long she will be out for. I will text the other trainer when I am due back to come back to the States, and get right to doing my lessons again, although I am a bit nervous about it, starting with a new trainer while my trainer heals. I do like the other trainer though, she’s nice, approachable, and I found the clinic that she taught valuable and educational! We will see how it goes. 


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

It was bittersweet for me today. Today was my last day to be with Jet before I set off for England with my husband for a month. It was an easygoing day, although very hot out. Since it was so hot out, I was stuck to riding the pony in the indoor, since it was a bit cooler in there.

I didn’t do much with him, just a lot of walking with him when mounted. He did very well at the mounting block, and did pretty good when riding him too. He didn’t seem anxious, and was rather forward today, but listened well at walk. I didn’t want to work him up to a sweat, so it was just a light, easy going ride with him. When I dismounted, I walked him by the back door before untacking him and sponging him down to cool off.

It’s going to be hard to not think about my pony or the barn while I am away for a month. My friend assured me that she will take him out just to groom him a bit, and will take pictures and updates to how he’s faring. I am sure Jet will enjoy his vacation of not being ridden. He’s such an easygoing pony at times.

At least I’ll get back in August. It’s not too long of a trip, and I can get right back into riding when I come back. I am just going to miss Jet while I am in the UK... the UK is great and all, but I feel like my pony completes me.

It’s funny. Before I got Jet, I was all for moving to the UK to live with my husband. Now that I have my pony, plans have changed and my husband is going to move here. He’s here at the moment (he’s been here since June 5th on a visit), but he bought me a ticket and wants to take me back to spend another month together.

I feel all kinds of things about it really, I guess I am kind of excited about going back to London, but not happy about missing out on a month of riding or horsey time. Now that I have Jet, I feel like I have to work toward getting both him and I better and in the game so that we are both ready by the next show season to do some small schooling shows. I feel like being away for a month is going to set me back a bit, even though my trainer assured me that everything will be fine. Well that’s that, and I am going on Saturday. Best bet is to enjoy my time there and being ready to ride again when I get back to the States. 


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

I know, I know. It’s been quite a while since I posted, but I am back at it again. I came home from England about two weeks ago, and just now settling into the normal routine again. Well... as normal as normal could be. There have been quite a few changes in the household. 

My brother moved out as of Tuesday, so it’s just me, my mother, and my nephews now. I am still a bit upset about it, as his move was so sudden and just a shock. He moved in with his girlfriend, after only dating her for seven months, and it’s not like he moved into an apartment with her. Both him and her are renting a room out from one of her friends I guess? I do not know... seems like it was just too quick and too rash of a decision from him. 

But enough about that. I do want to talk about how England went, and how things as far as Jet are going. Honestly, England was awesome. I got to experience going to the Longines Global Champions Tour in London and that was a lovely, and eventful time with my husband. Watching all those top riders compete, and jumping those jumps was amazing to watch. It was also a special treat to watch the Household Calvary to do a Musical Ride. That was the main highlight of the whole English trip. I took way too many pictures of the Competitors and musical ride but I will post a few below to give you guys an idea. 


































So yeah those were the pics from the Tour. I also have video of the ride which was awesome to watch! 

As far as getting back into the grind at the barn, it was smooth. My trainer is still out of commission due to her injury, so she suggested that I start with the trainer that she has for herself until she gets better. I was nervous about it, but set up the lesson and had one yesterday with the new trainer. The lesson itself? It went well, and I was proud of Jet. Then again, I was proud of him even before the lesson. Let me get into that. 

So, yesterday, went to the barn, and gave Jet a bath, a bit of massage, and shared some of my apple with him. My friend and barn manager was doing The last Summer Camp of the season with her helpers. Well, when camp was over, she, the helpers, and I went on a trail ride, and I took Jet along. I was nervous as first, because it would be his first time on the trails as this property, and I was nervous about how he was going to act. 

The result? I had nothing to be nervous about! Jet was a good boy, relaxed, and I could ride I’m pretty much on a loose rein. The ride was short, just a walk to the creek and back since one of the lesson horses had to be used for a lesson. Man, I was so proud of my little guy. He kept a good pace, and was calm, and didn’t act antsy or do any funny business when out with the other horses. When heading back home, we took the way to the lower barn, where there was a little hill. Each one of us took turns going up the hill. The riders ahead cantered up the hill. As for me and Jet? We cantered up the hill as well! I was amazed, happy, and surprised about it! That was the first time I got a small, solid canter out of him, and he settled right back down after reaching the top, instead of being hyped, like when we went Cross Country. He wasn’t even bothered about the other horses being a little ahead of him. 

He did act up a little, near the back paddocks when walking through, but I managed to keep control, and he settled right back down (lost a stirrup during this too, but everything went amazingly smooth! Usually I start getting nervous, but this time was different. I felt like I was actually being a leader with him, instead of being nervous and antsy myself, and he actually listened to me!) I was beyond happy and proud of both Jet and I. I told my trainer, about the ride, and told her daughter, win a wide beaming smile on my face, my eyes lit like Christmas lights, showing my happiness about the whole thing. 

After the trail ride, I untacked Jet and put him in his stall for dinner. He and I had about an hour break until I started my lesson. He didn’t have to be warmed up when I eventually took him down to the outdoor. He was ready to go, but also looky looks at some spots, mainly by the left front corner where the dog was sitting in the shade, but we got over it with the help up of the new trainer. 

Before starting the lesson, she had me explain our story, Jet’s background, and what have we been working on. I told her how Jet used to be a harness pony, then trail pony before purchasing him. I told her about how he’s pretty green, in a way that he has only done small cross rails here and there with his previous owner, and that canter for him is tough, since he likes to get in trotter mode when trying to go for canter (with the exception of earlier during the trail ride, good Jet! So proud!) I also told her of his little pony tricks and quirks, like dropping his shoulder, and trying to get out of work by trying to take charge and dragging me to the other side of the arena at times when he gets into his working trot. 

After going over his background, and story, she had me start by walking on the flat, performing various patterns and exercises to keep his mind busy. She had me to do half circles, tear drops, and then reversing, and bigger 20 metre circles. One of the main exercises was doing. 20 metre, then going down the long side, doing a tear drop, and changing direction to do another big 20 metre and tear drop on the other side. This really kept Jet’s attention; she told me to keep track of his ear position, and to make sure that he has one ear on me. We both noted that he was a bit alert where the dog was sitting in the shade (which is where she helped me get over that quickly, by communicating with him effectively.) She told me to always have active communication with him, and to practice, when working alone on doing various patterns to keep him busy, but to not spend too long in one direction or one pattern. Switching it up keeps his attention! We did the flat exercise in both walk and trot before moving on to the next exercise.

The next exercise involved poles laying in a curved angle. I had to go over them at walk and trot. The goal here was to have Jet pay attention to his feet placement, and to have me keep that bend with him. At first, the exercise was tricky because the pole were so close together. I felt like his engine and my engine was dying a bit around this time, but we kept at it. We did pretty ok at walk, then moved on to trot. Trot was more tricky with feet placement, and keeping that bend. Every time we would get to the poles, we would break into walk in the middle, and our bend would be less bendy and more straight. So, the trainer explained to just have a stronger outside rein and leg “keeping the door closed” and having the inside rein and inside leg more active so he understands that we want a bend and not straight, and that we actually want to go over the poles! Well, that worked! We managed to keep our rhythm at trot, and go over the poles. Now, this was done traveling left. When traveling right, we again did the exercise at walk, but hit a small snag. When getting to the poles, Jet decided to try to pull the dragging trick to get out of work. That was unacceptable, so I sat back, and remembered what to do to get him to travel where I wanted him to go. The trainer also put another tool in my toolbox to use, which worked effectively! If I felt him trying to act up like that, just wave the crop so he can see it, and that should keep him on the right track, in suck up to my other aids. We continued on with the trot, where I could feel him trying again, but managed to catch him before he went for it, did the new crop trick, and all was well! We ended the lesson on a good note, where he trotted over the poles, kept the bend, and did not try it with his tricks. 

I was elated with how the lesson went, and with how I handled everything with Jet. I felt anew sense of confidence coming over me, and that yes, I can do this, and that Jet and I can work as a team! I did gain a new perspective with the new trainer, and gained more tools to use. I felt like I was using my leg and body more effectively with Jet, and that he was listening and focused for most of the duration of the lesson. 

I go see the little guy on Sunday, where I plan to do more exercises with him, and then again on Wednesday. My friend said that, if I wanted to, we can go on trail rides together just to get Jet out more, and to work with him. I love that idea, and am definitely down for doing more trail rides with Jet, after seeing his behaviour yesterday. I am really looking forward to Sunday with the little nugget, and next Wednesday! There is no lesson next Wednesday (I alternate so that I can have more practice time with Jet.) Hopefully the weather will be nice and warm. 


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

This little guy was a champ today in the indoor!

The outdoor arena was being used for a lesson, so I rode Jet in the indoor to practice on the bending exercises that I was taught in my last lesson. He was a good little pony, and did nothing at the back door at walk. No shying away, ore refusing to go by that area. I kept his attention focused on me and all was well! 

I did my trot work down the long sides, and he kept a good pace. His transitions felt smooth, and he just felt really good today. 

Before ending the ride, I wanted to push the little guy a bit more and see if we could trot by the back door. How did it go? Eh, he tried to drop his shoulder, but it wasn’t as dramatic as previous months. So, I circled him, and rode by the back door again at a walk, and he was fine. So now it seems just trotting by there is going to be the next step. No biggie. Today was a good ride, a successful ride, and a good day. 

I gave him a bath to cool him down, and let him graze while waiting for him to dry off. As he was grazing, he “dropped” and I noticed that he needed a cleaning down there! So, after he was done drying, I put him back in his stall, helped my friend with waters, and asked if we had gloves around. It was a no go for the gloves, so I brought out my Excaliber, led Jet into the wash stall, and got to work! 

He was such a champ about it. He didn’t try to kick, nor did he act out while I was cleaning. He did look a bit uncomfortable when I was working on getting the “bean” out, but I would stop, wait, and go back to getting the “bean” out again. He stood still, and was quiet for the duration of the clean, although he did look a bit wide eyed after I was done with him. My friend and I laughed, and I commented that he looked as if he felt so violated! Well, when you own a Gelding, sometimes you have to do the uncomfortable things in life to make sure he’s clean! I wish I had some treats around to give him, but he had hay in his stall for lunch, so he was all good to go. 

Sunday is my nephew’s birthday, and I am going to surprise him with a small pony ride on Jet! Probably just two circles around the arena, with me leading him of course. I could also give my nephew a little lesson on grooming Jet, and preparing him for the ride. It’s something that he’s been asking to do, and I feel like it’s the right time to do it, and I feel he is ready for the pony ride, as well as learning a little bit about horsemanship. I am pretty excited for Sunday, and excited for my next lesson as well, which will be next Wednesday. 


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Today, I surprised my nephew by having him ride Jet for the first time. It was just a pony ride, so a few times around the ring at walk with me leading Jet, but it meant to much to my nephew.

Jet was a little angel and champ for the whole thing. He was patient, had a kind eye, a listening ear, and was going at a good walking pace while I led him around. As I was leading Jet around, I was explaining to my nephew about sitting up straight in the saddle, and relaxing his body, and lower leg. My nephew was a good little student in the saddle, sat up straight, was looking ahead, and was relaxing a bit more with each circle. I even had my nephew do some arm exercises, like raising an arm high in the air, switching arms, and spinning each arm around in a circle to further relax him and loosen him up.

During all of this, Jet was an awesome little pony. He was a real champ today with my nephew! I was really happy, and proud with how everything went. What was really heartwarming was the smile on my nephew’s face after the ride, and how he talked about how much he enjoyed the ride, and wanted to do more.

Maybe I will do more pony rides with Jet and my nephew. I could see that my nephew really enjoyed it, and that my pony was great at it!

On Wednesday I have a lesson with Jet, and am looking forward to it. It will probably be a lesson in the indoor, since it’s suppose to be muggy and a bit stormy that day. 


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Totally forgot to update about last Wednesday’s lesson. I feel like a busy bee sometimes, with doing work, taking care of house and nephews, barn, and trying to keep contact with my husband on Skype. 

Last Wednesday, our lesson was a success! We did both flatwork and poles again, although this time the poles were set in a course and at least two were raised a tiny bit for him to get over. The flat work was focused on getting him more under himself when trotting, and trying to produce a better, more balanced rhythm. It seemed like we were both on a good track, so the next part was the ground pole/raised pole course. It was a bit tricky, trying to get Jet centered on some of them while keeping the momentum going, but we pulled through in the end. 

Speaking of pulled, he somehow ended up pulling his shoe I think sometime during the lesson, but there was no change in pace for him, or change in his gaits. Both my trainer and I did not notice until after I brought him up to the wash stall to give him a hose down. Sure enough, shoe was gone! Luckily, the farrier came on Friday to fix it. 

Today, I was going to ride Jet, but surprise! He had thrown another shoe, this time on the opposite foot (he’s only shoed in the front.) So, instead of riding him, I did some lunging and ground work with him. Again, no change in his gaits and no soreness. Thank goodness for tough pony hooves. Had to call the farrier again. Hopefully he will be out again to get Jet done. Maybe I should just forego the shoes now since he seems to be doing well anyway? I was thinking of leaving him barefoot for the winter at least, since it’s more difficult to get up there at times with the snow. He won’t be in as much work as in the summer, so seems reasonable to have the shoes pulled. I know it’s something to discuss with my farrier, but I think it’s worth it. 

Next trip to the barn will be on Sunday, hopefully, provided that nothing else happens on that day.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Today the little guy and I had a good lesson. We worked on his manners, as well as getting him more put together, so to speak. When I walked into the ring with him, he started to do the mounting block tango, so I had to repeatedly get off the mounting block, make him move his feet, and then woah him and try again. The little pony was being quite the stubborn guy today. When I tried to back him up, he would not back up, and insisted on pushing forward, so Trainer got in and showed me how much pressure I should put on him to make him back up and to make him more sharp to listening. 

Eventually, I mounted up, and he stood. For warm up, we worked on his spooky corner in the indoor (oh yeah forgot to mention we were riding in the indoor!) My trainer told me to make sure to have a constant communication through that corner, and to make sure to breath, relax, and not think about there corner. We went through without a hitch, and worked on the next set of warm ups, which including trotting on a twenty metre to work on his bend (well this was also part of the main exercise as well.) 

He was going rather well, and kept it all together at walk and trot. Next exercises involved trotting big on the long side, and half halting around the short side. Again, this exercise went without a hitch, and everything was going smoothly. We even managed to trot by his scary corner, without any issues! Woot!

The final exercise in the regime involved a twenty metre circle in the centre of the arena, with ground poles set up by B. The goal was to trot over them. By now, Jet was getting a bit tired. The first three times he walked over them. By the third and forth tries, he trotted over them successfully, so we ended the lesson there. 

After that, I walked him around the arena to cool him off, dismounted bear the scary side (I wanted him to associate that side with good things) and did the usual; untacked him, brushed him down, and sponged him since he was a bit sweaty. 

I was happy with how today went. No antics (other than the mounting block tango) and everything went off to a good start! There was even a little tiny moment where he dropped to reach for the contact, and rounded his back. I felt it for a minute or two, and it felt nice! Hopefully we can get more of that... baby steps. 


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

Hmmm, you may be able to leave him barefoot. I agree, the winter may not be a bad idea especially since he won't be worked as much. He may feel better without the shoes. Check with your farrier of course, but I don't think it's a bad idea. And him throwing shoes is not fun either! :lol: Silly boy! Glad you at least got some groundwork done though.

I am so glad you had a good lesson. Manners are important, & making him stand still at the mounting block is too. When I got my mare, I had to do box school for at least 1-2wks straight until she learned oh, I need to stay still. :lol: That's right, you have to act like it's nothing, there is no scary corner, etc. It will help you relax & him too. So glad it went smoothly!! YAY! 

That is great. Baby steps indeed. Little wins. :smile: He is so cute! Great job!!


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

@PoptartShop - Thanks! Yeah the little wins make a big difference and really helps with the small progression in things.  Farrier is coming to the barn on the 18th, so I can discuss the option of going barefoot with him then! On the plus side, it would be a bit cheaper than getting borium shoes and padding like last winter! On the other side, the ground tends to be a bit hard and icey. Another plus is that his hooves are pretty strong, and we will be riding in the indoor anyway when doing work.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Sunday, Jet was an angel in the indoor. We just worked on transitions, and going back the back door. Throughout the ride, he felt relaxed, and willing. There was no sign of tension anywhere. For warm up, I walked him around the arena, while constantly changing direction, making sure he was focused on the task at hand. Then I trotted him down the long sides on a loose rein, getting him all loosely goosey.

For the main part of his work, I did twenty meter circles at the centre of the arena and near the gate in both directions. He felt really good, and felt like he was getting it together in his trot. Next, I left the circles, and did a big trot down the long sides, then transitioned to walk on the short sides. His transitions were lovely, and he seemed to not pace or feel disconnected, if that makes sense. When getting back up to trot again, his response was immediate, and he put out a nice working trot. 

After cooling him off, I halted near the back of the arena and dismounted. 

It seems like we are making little bouts of progress in the indoor, and that he is becoming more confident in himself. I am proud of my little guy. 

Today, I woke up, and started to feel shakey and jittery. I laid in bed for a few minutes, and waited to see if they would go away. When the shakes wouldn’t let up, I decided to stay home. 

I tried to sleep it off a bit, but the tremors just wouldn’t let up. I looked it up on the web, and it could be just a symptom of anxiety (I know I have that) or low blood sugar. 

I am used to getting these tremors once in a while, every time when I wake up in the mornings. But this one was lasting a good while, on and off. When my husband messaged me saying he was home from worked, I Skyped messaged him back, explaining what was happening. He told me to eat something sweet and rest some more. I followed his advice, ate something sweet, and now I feel a lot calmer than before. Thanks hubby. So it was probably a low blood sugar thing. 

It sucks because it’s a beautiful day out, and I missed a day of spending time with Jet, but I know there is always Sunday. Now, I just feel kind of crappy, but calmer. 



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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

(Photo courtesy of my trainer)

So, both Sunday and Wednesday were fun lesson days! On Sunday, Jet and I had a Mounted Gaming lesson, and it was awesome! We learned a bit about what Mounted Games are, what they entail, and played a few of them. We played mug shuffle, flag fliers, two flag, the litter game, and two more other games. 

Jet was enjoying himself, until it got to the litter game. When I finally managed to pick up the carton with the pole, he started to dance and get scared about the noise of the carton again the stick. I had to drop the stick, calm him, and the instructor and I walked him through showing the carton, and stick (letting him get used to it), and walking both over to the bucket, carefully placing the carton in the bucket and dropping the stick right away. He was a good sport about it all, and loved the other games. He didn’t freak about the flags, or the mug shuffle. It was just the litter game! 

Near the end of that lesson, the instructor taught us how to do a Standing Vault. I tried with my pony, and so far have failed in successfully executing that move. We will get there though. He’s such a good boy that he’ll stand and just look back a bit to be like”Whatcha doing.”

Yesterday’s lesson was also a success andJet was an awesome pony! We did some work at his trot, and trot pole work, as well as position exercises for me to try out. There was one where I had to sit for two beats, then stand for one beat at trot, and another where I had to stand for two and sit for one. Both exercise felt a bit awkward, but I got a bit used to it as the lesson went on. 

Jet’s trot work was amazing! He felt like he was really coming together and lifting his back, and I felt him in my hands, almost like he was carrying himself better. He felt smoother, and floatier, and less Trotter racey and choppy. My little dude is growing up! 

Trot pole were a challenge in itself in that he would die down right when reaching them. I had to make sure to keep my leg on and to encourage him to keep the trot. Eventually he got it, and we ended the lesson on that note. 

It was a good day, both Sunday and Wednesday. I feel like a proud pony momma. On Saturday, I am going over my trainer’s house to watch the World Equestrian Games, and spending the night over there. For Sunday, I think I am going to work on my Standing Vault with Jet, as well as do some more trot pole work, and my position exercises. These two lessons really motivated me for the next ride with my pony. 


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Sorry for the lack of updating! Last Saturday, I stayed over my (original) trainer's house and had a girls night with her and the other women from the barn. We had a grand old time watching Cross Country, and a bit of Vaulting from WEG. Then on Sunday, I joined my original trainer, her daughter, my current trainer, and my other girl friends from the barn to watch them school over Cross Country jumps. Didn't get to ride my pony at all on Sunday, but that's fine. I learned a lot just by watching the girls Cross Country schooling. I always like going out with the barn crew, when I get a chance. It's a fun learning experience, and pretty exciting watching them school over some of the jumps!

Thursday, Jet finally got his shoes pulled for the winter. The pony is now going barefoot, and he feels as great as ever. No soreness, no ouchyness. He went through the transition beautifully. After he was done having his pedicure, I decided to take him out in the indoor to practice the standing vault (still a big fail on that), then I took him to the outdoor arena to practice his standing at the mounting block, walk him a bit while mounted, and then decided to play with him a bit! After walking him around, I dismounted, and encouraged him to follow me from the ground. He willingly followed me over the ground poles, and over one small cross rail, and continued to follow me in the ring through various obstacles. It was just an overall easygoing, chill day for him and I. I just wanted to play with him, and hang with him, rather than work on something (even though we are technically working on something anyway during the play!) Oh yeah, I also took him up to the Dressage Arena and hand walked him up there (it was his first time in that arena and I wanted him to get a feel for it!)

No go for the barn today, as I had to babysit my nephews. Wednesday is lesson day, and training day before the fall fun show on Sunday, providing it doesn't get rained out. I am thinking of asking my trainer to see if we can head up to the Dressage arena; as per my OG trainer, and current trainer's advice, I entered Jet in the Dressage Intro A test. After all, I have done the test plenty of times, and it would be a good start for him! I also entered him in a Hunter walk/trot flat class, and Hunter special test class. So, just three classes for him. Nothing major; just enough to get his hooves wet. But yeah, I want him to get used to that arena, while mounted this time. I'm hoping Wednesday will be a good day, and hopefully not as chilly! The weather has taken a chilly turn!


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

So it’s been a while since I updated again! My lesson went well, the fall fun show was awesome, and today was gaming day with my little guy. 

The last lesson that I had with Jet focused on doing a course of crossrails. He did really well with it, and even managed to jump a few! It seemed like he was really getting into the whole jump course thing. I can tell he enjoys going through the course, ears perked and looking for the next target. At the end of the lesson, we tried to get him to canter. He almost gave me one, but we were both holding back a bit. My trainer told me to just practice at trying to get the canter and if I don’t get it, just go back to trot and work on it another time. She also said that she would have a go on him near the end of our next lesson to see if she can get him to canter.

In the Fall Fun Show, Jet did rather well! We ended up getting second, third, and fourth I. The Equitation division. His Dressage test score came out to a 63%, and he ended up getting reserve champion and second in Dressage. A pretty nice start, and a pretty good intro into showing with him a bit! 

For today, we did more gaming, and it went pretty good as well. We warmed up with hand offs, although he did get a little unnerved at one of the mares because she was pinning his ears at him at hand off. I had to make sure to relax him again and get him to be comfortable with walking against one of the other horses. 

After warming up, we went straight to the games. The first game was the five flag race, followed by the pole bending, mug shuffle, carton, bottle, and drills for mounting and dismounting. Jet was pretty good in all the games. Fastest we got out of him was a trot, and then extended trot but hopefully we will get to cantering them in time.

I finally did a standing vault sucessfully! Woohoo! Now the next challenged is to mount while my pony is moving next to me, and getting my guy trotting on the ground so I have the energy to vault on him!

Wednesday is going to be another lesson day. I am looking forward to what this lesson will be! 


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## Izzy18 (Mar 15, 2013)

Congratulations for getting back into riding! I myself am starting to ride more and more as well! Keep up the good work! :cowboy:


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Long time no update! It’s been a busy few weeks for me lol. I had a lesson with the little nugget today and it was productive! We worked on contact, and getting him in a nice smooth rhythm since his paddock mate was calling for him from the paddock. It was just calls back and forth while we worked, but he kept a level head and we got him focused. 

After working on contact, we popped over a little crossrail. At first, he gave in some effort and tried jumping but then he figure “eh, tired of this I’ll just walk over it.” We changed the crossrail up to a small vertical with a bit more success, but I guess my trainer and I could tell he was over it. For the last five minutes of the lesson, we tried to encourage a canter from him. We almost had it, or at least had a bit of what my trainer likes to call a “tranter!” I could feel that Jet’s so close to getting it, but no dice. 

Next week, my trainer is going to do a training ride on Jet to see if she can get him to canter. I feel like it’s me hesitating a bit, but it’s all baby steps. I’m going to watch next week, and take some notes! I know he has it in him. The barn owner and I were texting earlier, and said she saw him full force galloping in the field so I know he can do it! It’s just the matter of giving him that right push. 

Last Wednesday was suppose to be a lesson day, but trainer had to go out of town so we worked on our transitions. The little man is getting to be an A+ student at that! He listens, and focuses on the task at hand. His paddock mate was also calling for him then, and he called back, but still kept his focus then so good Pony! 

I can’t believe it’s almost been a year since I got him. I feel like our journey together so far has been an adventurous one! November 26th will mark a full year of me owning Jet, and I couldn’t be happier! He’s been my rock, and partner in crime. I enjoy his company, his personality, and his antics. He’s got a little pony sass, and a bit of challenge, but it’s not too challenging to handle, and I feel that he has made me grow as a rider. He’s helped me learn to be more of an active leader and guide for him, rather than a passive person. I guess that’s something that you have to be when working with horses. 

I find that owning has really put me in that role, and has helped me become a bit more knowledgeable in some ways, yet still learning in others. I like that each time I ride, I learn more about him and his quirks, and it has made me become comfortable with being his rider. I did go through a small period of worry, when it almost felt like we were talking a different language, but now it feels like we have more open communication with each other and more in tune! It’s a beautiful, amazing thing. 


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

So today marks exactly one year since Jet came into my life, and what a year it has been. It has been a joy learning how my little pony thinks, and learning about his quirks and personality. He has taught me a great deal over the year that I’ve owned him. He has taught me how to be a bit more confident in myself, and how to be assertive. He also taught me that sometimes, it’s not important to have a set plan every time you come out to the barn, and that you need a ride in which you just have fun together, without making it be work. 

He has taught me even more about patience, and that a few baby steps forward is a good thing, to take things slow and steady to get quality results. He has taught me to have fun, and to laugh at some of his antics. 

I do not know what I would do, had Jet not enter my life. This little pony keeps me sane, and is something that I look forward to seeing when I am off of work. I am so happy to see his face, whether he is out in the paddock or in his stall. It makes me happy to seek him settled, and really enjoying his life with me. 

There are small things we have accomplished, yet still things we need to accomplish together. He feels a lot more balanced than last year, and has improved when transitioning up or down in gaits. He gets right to work, focused, and there is virtually no more fussing about the back door in the Indoor arena. The mounting block tango is no more, and he now knows to stand quietly by the mounting block. His trot seems more together, and less strung out, and his walk is chill, and relaxed. 

Getting a canter is still a work in progress, and getting him to have enough “oomph” to jump a crossrail still is a work in progress, but I think we will get there in time. We also seem to get there in the end. Slow and steady wins every time with progress. If you go too fast to try to rush, then there is no progress, and you can potentially set yourself back even more.

I haven’t rode the little guy since my last lesson. Last Wednesday, my trainer got sick with strep, and I was originally going to plan to ride him, but the cold and the wind got the better of me. That’s the only thing that sucks about winter; dealing with cold weather and having the winter blues about riding at times, especially when it gets depressingly cold, windy and yucky. I just have to kick myself in the backside, put my big girl breeches on, and just deal with it. 

This Wednesday coming up, trainer is going to ride him and we’re going to try to get him to canter. I know I said that in my last post but this time it’s really happening! 

With canter, I almost get it, it’s to the top of being almost there! I think I just need that professional push to help. Maybe he will do better getting it with my trainer. I know I am asking right, but sometimes my upper body tends to go forward and I tend to go tense, which doesn’t help matters. I think he can feel that too, which is why we are on that very tip of almost getting it but no dice. I’m hoping the trainer can unlock the canter button and it will click better with him! I can’t wait to watch, and get tips on it as well. Sometimes it is valuable when the trainer rides your horse, so they can get a feel as to what the student feels under saddle. 

Yesterday (and most of the weekend really) I felt sick, so just stayed home yesterday instead of going in the barn to recover as fast as I could so I was able to work today. After all, money doesn’t grow on trees, and the pony needs his horsey costs covered. 

I’m looking forward to Wednesday; it cannot come fast enough. But yeah, that’s all that’s been going on so far, equine wise. It’s been a busy week this whole week, but now that Thanksgiving is over, it should calm down somewhat... until Christmas that is. 


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

Awww, happy anniversary to you & Jet! :smile: Gosh, it's so true. Horses really do keep us sane. You can have a long, stressful workday...but right when you get to the barn & see that face, it all goes away. It's the best feeling.

The winter blues are annoying, I struggle with it sometimes too, but then I remember I have to be consistent, & get it done. Yeah, he probably senses that you're tense and that can throw him off a bit. They DO sense everything! The trainer riding your horse is great, it can teach you a lot. My trainer got on my mare & I learned a few things, it's good to have someone else ride them once in awhile. Excited to hear how tomorrow goes with the canter!


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

It was considered a success today with my little nugget! 

Today, my trainer got on Jet and unlocked the secret button to get him to understand the canter. It was a cold, snowy day, so he had to be worked in the indoor. 

The little guy truly outdone himself. At first, he was being all looky looky in the indoor because there were banners put up for the Pony Club and Devocoux, but he got over that quickly. During his warm up, he was trying to pull of his testy pony antics, but my trainer quickly got him out of that and he was going like a gentleman. 

The main part of the ride was getting him to canter. First, my trainer tried to get him going left, which proved to be a no go for him. He just kept doing his fast harness racer trot. So, she decided to try him going right.

Going right was a bit more successful, and she unlocked the button! She would kiss to him, while giving the cue for canter. First time, he gave two strides. Second time, three, and it just kept improving from there. She called it a day when he gave her almost ten strides in canter! Woohoo! Go Honky Tonk Jet! 

She told me that he’s smart enough to understand that kissing means canter, and to just work on it going right, as going left is more difficult for him. From there, once we get him successfully cantering out going right, we will work on his left. 

I am so happy and excited to try this new strategy with him, and thankful that my trainer got on him to help unlock that button. I feel like he needed that professional push to get his brain going, and that it will help me in the future, when working him on my own. After all, I love watching and learning from my trainer, and how she works with the horses she works with. She also looked very relaxed and at ease when doing it with her body, which is something that I need to set a goal for. 

She told me each time he gives that canter, to reward and pat him. He seems to be encouraged by reward, and break time, and looked as if he was more determined to canter for her. It’s the little steps that make all the difference in progress. 

Tomorrow after work, I’m heading to the barn for a Pony Club meeting. The meeting doesn’t start until 6:15pm, so I am hoping I get there early enough after work to ride the little guy and try to get him to canter myself. If not, then I’ll just get on and work on other things or play around with him a bit! 

I am more happy, excited, and determined as ever. I have a feeling next year is going to be a big year in growth for the both of us. 


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

That is awesome your trainer got on him and helped get him to canter.  A lot of horses favor one side, he may just be weaker going to the left. He will get it eventually. Maybe try to get the canter on the lungeline down then see how it is in the saddle. 

Let us know how tonight goes.  Hopefully you can get some work in before the meeting. What a good boy!


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

It’s not happening. I can’t attend the meeting tonight which is disappointing. My mother forgot about the meeting, and essentially said that I need to babysit my nephews tonight because she has her own thing going on at the church. Oh well, hears to Sunday and seeing my boy then and hopefully getting all the info I need about the Pony Club meeting that I am going to miss today.  

When schedules conflict, it is tough. I am always the go to babysitter now since my younger brother left to figure his own life out with his new girlfriend. I do everything to make sure to wrap my schedule around my mother’s so nothing conflicts with hers. Sometimes is frustrating, but I cannot complain about it. I just have to deal with it. 


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Today’s ride with Jet went well! The focus was getting him to canter with a bit of smoothening our walk to trot transitions. 

His transitions seem solid. The canter is going to be a work in progress, but I did get 1-2 canter strides out of him each round by myself using the kissing technique! He was awesome in the indoor for me, and I think the back door drama has been obliterated. He doesn’t shy away or spook at the door anymore, and he also stood quietly by the mounting block. I’m proud about the fact that all that’s been handled! 

After ending the ride, I untacked Jet and played with him for a bit in the indoor, or at least tried to! He was more interested in just sniffing and following me at a walk. When trying to encourage him to trot he was like “eh I’ll just stay at a walk thanks.” 

I also got to ride one of the lesson horses today as well! The BO and her daughter were riding in the indoor. After they were both finished with their rides, the BO asked if I wanted to hop on Leroy (the lesson horse that her daughter was done with.) At first I was like “eh,” but the BO was like “aw come on just do it!” So, out came my riding boots and helmet and I got on Leroy for a bit.

Now, Leroy is around a 15.2hh chestnut Quarter horse. It was weird, being on a tall horse (well, a tall horse to me!) after riding a 13hh pony. His walk was nice, long, and almost rocking in a way. His trot was very easy to sit too, so I enjoyed sitting to his trot before my BO laughed and told me to start posting. She then asked me to try to canter him, and canter him I did! 

His canter was big, and odd, and rocky, but I enjoyed it. I managed to sit his canter, before the BO told me to go into two point because I felt myself struggle a bit with trying to rock to his canter. It was fun, and I did enjoy riding a different horse today! I never rode Leroy, so it was indeed an experience. The bigger horses are nice, but I do love my little Jet pack, and his quick gaits! 

I still feel somewhat like I’m rigid in the canter when riding both Jet and Leroy (with Jet, he will immediately go into his fast trot, and Leroy did about the same as well.) When I did relax on Leroy, he managed to canter the whole ring (and when I went up into two point.) so It’s something that I need to work on. I think when I do my lesson on Wednesday, I’m going to ask my trainer to if we can focusing on getting Jet’s canter, and also if she can give me pointers on how my body is when I ask. 

It’s a bit funny when riding Leroy as well, and my BO giving me a few suggestions and stuff on cantering. It reminded me of how she used to train me, before She encouraged me to move on to my current trainer (and her trainer.) I still do miss taking lessons with my BO. I hope that maybe we can ride together one day! 

Oh yeah, I also got my info for Pony Club from the BO and I am going to dive in! I’m actually quite excited and looking forward to filling out the application to join the Horse Masters program that USPC has! 


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Yesterday, the lesson was cut short due to the poor boy being off in his left front.

He was fine at the walk when I went to get him out of the paddock, and when riding him. It wasn’t until I picked up trot, that he started to show signs that he was off. He was acting more sassy than usual when going into trot, then when changing direction, he pulled his little pony trick of dropping his left shoulder and getting me off. At first, both my trainer and I thought that he was just a bit stiff and he would work out of it after warm up. After he got me off though, I knew that something was not right. He hasn’t gotten me off like that in months... I think since May? 

So my trainer and I checked his legs for signs of heat, and there was a little heat in his left front. She wanted me to remount him though and just to walk him around though, so that he didn’t think that doing that trick was ok. Again, there was no sign of soreness at the walk, no head bobbing and no dead lame limping. So, both of us wanting to double check, we got him to trot once more, just a circle and then he was done. He trotted, and I could feel it even more, so I stopped him immediately, and both my trainer and I put him in the cross ties to untack him and start the process of packing and wrapping the hoof. 

My trainer figured that it might be a stone bruise, most likely due to the paddock he was in. The paddock’s footing was dirt and mud, and it froze over, and now the ground in that paddock is very hard, and has some craters and such. My friend even said she noticed that one other horse who was grouped with Jet was also starting to get a little sore in that paddock, and is most likely going to move the group to one of the front fields, where the ground is softer. 

I did get a valuable lesson in how to pack and wrap up a hoof from my trainer. I used some Epsom salt poultice, along with sore no more, some vet wrap, and duct tape. My trainer taught me how to pack it, wrap it, and tape it, and suggested that the wrap stay on for about a day, and him having at least a week’s rest from riding. 

My friend is going to get the wrap off today, and he’s just going to be on rest. Both her and I are hoping that he’s good to go on Sunday, because I told her she can use him for the Mounted Gaming lesson since I’m not going to be there. 

He was also good in that paddock ‘til just yesterday, but Then again the ground on that paddock wasn’t as hard as it was yesterday. Hopefully the front field will be good for him. 

Wednesday, the Vet is also coming to do his Coggins and shots so that should be exciting. If he’s still a bit ouchy by then, then I will either get some front shoes on him, or look into the idea of throwing hoof boots on him for turn out. I’ve been mulling over the hoof boot idea and I am attracted to that option. I guess I’m just worried of the possibility of it being thrown or something.

I mean, he does extremely well barefoot. He has those strong pony hooves. The only time he took take a lame step is when he does get a bruise or abscess, which funnily enough, happened around the same time last year. I’m hoping that he’s better after a week lol. We will see on Wednesday. I won’t ride him, but I will lunge him after the Vet visit. 


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

Awww poor Jet. :sad: It does sound like it could be a stone bruise. Ugh, the hard ground sucks.  That's good he will be moved though while he heals up.
You learn something new every day, now you know how to pack & wrap a hoof! :lol: That's good. Hopefully he feels better soon, let us know how the vet visit goes.  
Hoof boots may be good if you don't want to splurge on shoes. They can serve the same purpose. My mare is barefoot but a bit ouchy on rocky areas so I use hoof boots when necessary. Otherwise, she's fine & doesn't need shoes. It's a good alternative.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

PoptartShop said:


> Awww poor Jet. :sad: It does sound like it could be a stone bruise. Ugh, the hard ground sucks.  That's good he will be moved though while he heals up.
> 
> You learn something new every day, now you know how to pack & wrap a hoof! :lol: That's good. Hopefully he feels better soon, let us know how the vet visit goes.
> 
> Hoof boots may be good if you don't want to splurge on shoes. They can serve the same purpose. My mare is barefoot but a bit ouchy on rocky areas so I use hoof boots when necessary. Otherwise, she's fine & doesn't need shoes. It's a good alternative.



Lol I’ll let ya know how the vet visit goes!

I’ve been on and off looking at the Cavallo hoof boots ever since the idea has been going in my mind. I just have to be sure to measure his hoof to get the right size for him. I would love to do boots instead of shoes for most of the year. 


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

Yeah, I've heard the Cavallo boots are very good. I am looking into them, I have the Easyboot Original boots right now but I think the Cavallos are of even better quality. They really are a good alternative & much cheaper than shoes. Perfect for a barefoot horse who doesn't require shoes but is a little ouchy sometimes on hard ground/rocky areas.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

The vet visit went well on Wednesday! Jet was a little gentleman for his shots, wellness check, and blood for his Coggins. I told her about his ouchyness last Wednesday on his left front, and she checked that over. She found nothing abnormal or wrong; normal pulse, no warmness or anything. 

After the vet check, I took the little guy to the indoor to lunge him. The little dude is ok. In fact, he cantered on the lunge when starting out, tossed his head, and farted before slowing back down to trot. Once I got him trotting in both directions, I checked how he was moving and if there was still any sign of him being sore. Nope, little Jet was moving perfectly well. Satisfied, I called it a day and put Jet out with his herd mates. 

I’m going to ride him tomorrow and hopefully get back into work. I’m thinking of continuing to work on his canter again. I am hoping that I can get more than one or two strides out of him, but we’ll see. 


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

Aw, I’m happy to hear the vet visit went well. Glad Jet is feeling better & isn’t off anymore or sore. I hope you get to ride and get some nice canter steps. Even if it’s a few strides, it still counts!  LOL about him farting! So funny. 

What a cutie! 


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

The lesson on Wednesday had its own ups and downs (literally!) He was bringing out a bit of sass, but he was a good pony to work with for most of the lesson. For warm up, we did mostly circles, turns, and loops to keep him focused. He was trying his hand at “spooking” at the door, although my trainer said that it’s most likely a bluff spook to try to get out of work, rather than a real “I’m scared” spook. I had to really focus on being his leader for the lesson, and it mostly went without a hitch. We went over some trot poles, to which he was lovely, and I could feel him really working and rounding up a bit, and reaching for contact. It’s amazing to get that feel, and now knowing what it feels like, and craving it more. 

It wasn’t until we tried getting canter, where we hit a snag. It was close to the end anyway, and I wanted to try to get canter with my trainer and erm, well, was getting close to almost having it, and then Jet dropped his shoulder by the last try, and I did an untimely dismount, lol. 

Trainer had me get back on him, and really work him, and work him I did! Constantly changing direction, going over the poles once more, and constantly getting his mind to just work work work. 

It was a valuable, awesome lesson in a way. I know that it’s partly me, and there is some sort of mental block in the way of me just getting that canter, and it’s a bit frustrating. I know what I have to do, and want my body to cooperate but it seems like my body is unconsciously not cooperating with me? I think I’ve said it before, where it feels like it tends to almost lock up when I ask for the canter. My trainer has noticed it too, and we have talked about it after the lesson. This is something that I want to just break and stop! Stupid locking up! My body is fine and good in walk and trot, and with lesson horses it seems that I get over that sensation quickly, when I cantered them. 

I feel like, in order to get over this hurdle, I just have to keep trying, and retrain myself, in a way, or rather try to retrain my body when going up to the next gait in a horse. I will get there... I am determined to get there.

Jet is also a very clever pony. I think he knows that my body does the thing, so he doesn’t go as full out to try to canter as he did with my trainer when she rode him. You gotta love ponies and their clever minds.

There’s going to be a training ride for little Jet on January 9th, since trainer is going to be out of town for most of the holidays. In the meantime, I am going to practice again, hoping I get a few strides, like I did with my last solo ride on Jet.

My husband is also, hopefully coming this Sunday to spend two weeks in the States for the holidays! I’m a bit on edge though because of the situation in Gatwick, but the good news is they arrested two suspects that may be involved in the drone disruptions, and the Airport is running as scheduled. So I am crossing my fingers! 

He bought his ticket last Saturday, and I know we were both looking forward to spending the holidays together. Please, let his plane be running as scheduled and let the drone disruptions be over and done with!

I also want him to meet little Jet when he comes. I want to take him to the barn this Wednesday to see the little guy. After all, Jet is my baby. 

Anyway, that’s all I have for tonight. I need to try to get some sleep.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Well, what a year it has been, and happy 2019! I was a busy bee, with hubby being over for two weeks and my uncle and grandmother being over the house. Christmas and New Years was fun, and awesome. Hubby went back to England last Saturday, so it will be four months until I see him again. I have to go over there to attend his uncle’s wedding so that should be exciting! 

I rode Jet last Wednesday, for Pony Club on Saturday, and he had a training ride today. How was he? It was a mixture on all three days. 

Last Wednesday, he was an ok sport. He gave out a lovely, floaty trot that I loved the feel of! We worked on various patterns, closer to the gate since he was being a stickler about the back door being open. I rode him over there at walk for a few rounds until he got used to it being open. This pony is weird about that door. Now he’s fine when it’s closed, but when it’s open it’s a whole new world! Hubby was also there watching, and filmed and took pictures of most of the ride. Jet also seemed to like hubby so that’s a plus! My little guy was being really affectionate toward him, and warm, and hubby seemed to get on well with Jet while I was grooming him. He even fed the pony a treat after the ride. I dare say, hubby is going to be the one to spoil my animals, like he does with his cat! 

For Pony Club, it was rather... err eventful. For one, I arrived at around 12, although probably should have arrived earlier because it was raining... and Jet was wet. I brought him in, and tried drying him as much as I could with a combination of a microfiber towel, and my wool sweater. I got him somewhat dry, but I could tell he wasn’t the happiest of souls, and he was getting a bit antsy on the crossties when tacking him up. 

When we got into the ring and when I mounted him, everything started off as normal, until he decided to toss his head, go in the other direction, and tried to roll. I got off of him, got him up, and as suggested by my trainer, remounted and tried following one of the other horses. Jet was having none of it. This time, he tossed me off (drop shoulder, and away!) rolled again, and decided to prance around the arena, to which he got his foot caught in the reins, and then stopped. My trainer caught him, and decided it was best to lunge him. After lunging him, I remounted, being led by my trainer at first for warm up, until Jet was more at ease, then was finally taken off the lead to control Jet myself. He was good for the rest of the time, in which we learned drill patterns for Quadrille. It was fun, and Jet seemed really engaged in it. I understood why he was so fresh in the beginning of the ride, he was a wet pony, and not that happiest about it. Really sorry boy! Funnily enough, another pony in the group also tried to roll during the mounted meeting and lesson, and it seemed every riding group that day had its own little dilemmas that day. All in all, it seemed Pony Club went pretty smoothly! 

Today, my trainer did a training ride on the little guy to try to get him to canter. She lunged him first before getting on, and he was doing rather well! When she got on him, she tried to get him to flex a bit before trotting and getting him really warmed up and ready for the task at hand. It seemed during the duration of the ride, like he got what he had to do, but couldn’t quite put his legs together this time around. He went with “trantering” (canter in front, trot in back) instead. We were about to call it a day for him trying, when trainer wanted to try at least two more times around, this time, taking a longer approach around the ring. Well, what do you know, long approach helped in that he cantered for a few strides both times! With him being a ex trotter, it seems he has to really build up to it before doing it, and needs more time to “get it” but he got it. We learn something a bit new every time with him, and it is a fun experience! My trainer also mentioned that it’s probably a bit harder to get him to do it in the indoor, since it’s about smaller than the outdoor arena. 

After two successful rounds of him getting canter, we ended the ride on a good note. I was proud of the little guy! I know that he will get it with time. He’s a smart little guy.

Anyway, next week is a lesson with my trainer. I’m really looking forward to it. Also, this Sunday there will be a clinic at the barn. I won’t ride in it, but I am definitely going to watch and take notes! 



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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

I felt like today was a productive day in my lesson with Jet!

Today’s lesson was focused on groundwork and exercises to get him moving forward, and thinking. We started out, doing parallel lunging, and working on getting him to listen to cues better, or rather, get him listening to me better when working him on the ground! It was rocky at first, but I started to really understand and grasp what it means to get a solid groundwork session going. He was listening better than he ever has when I worked with him on the ground. I felt more confident as his leader, and more confident as his partner. When lunging him, he would walk and trot well enough, but he wouldn’t “whoa” when asked. Instead, he would continue walking in a smaller circle. 

Today, I had to work with him, close at first and get him really listening to “walk on” and “whoa!” When that improved, my trainer gradually made me make the space between us bigger, and continue from there. His halting improved, and I think I was really getting the hang of cues, my body position, and how to be really effective in my ground work with him. 

After ground work, my trainer had me mount up to work on some exercises to get him moving forward. Today, he felt a bit sticky and reluctant, but we got through the exercises. I had to do serpentines, and go through a series of poles down the centre line at a forward moving trot. His trot today felt a bit sticky, but he gradually felt unstick by the time we got the hang of the exercise. 

I felt happy, and a bit proud of my little guy, and myself today. There is a new form on confidence within me, believing “yes, I can do this! It’s not as complicated as it seems!” I tend to overthink a lot in my work with him, and today it felt like I was really focused, and motivated. 

This Saturday is suppose to be an unmounted Pony Club meeting, but my job scheduled me on the day as well. I thought they had my sheet with all the dates required off for Pony Club. I may have to print another tonight and hand it to them, and I will just request those days off, just to be extra sure that I am guaranteed those days. Work can be a stinker sometimes. 

I’m going to see the little guy next Wednesday, in which I will work with him on my own. With this newfound confidence and new understanding, I think I am going to incorporate groundwork every time before I ride. I want to really improve my relationship on the ground with him, which hopefully will therefore, improve my relationship with him under saddle as well. I felt like he was really listening to me more under saddle. 

So yeah, all in all I felt really good and happy about today! 


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

Sounds like you have been partaking in some good lessons!  They are very clever. Once they sense something, they use it to their advantage. :lol: You will get the hang of it. That's the attitude to have, be positive and just keep trying! I'm glad you got back on afterwards and made him work. My horse sometimes fake 'spooks' at things, LOL like no, that isn't going to work, very funny.
LOL he wanted to roll?! Omg. What a little stinker. :lol: That is too funny another horse tried to roll too. Silly ponies. Glad you worked through it and got back on. Lunging him probably helped a ton and got him re-focused.

That is great Jet approves of/likes your hubby.  Awww, so cute. So glad he got to meet him! I hope the next 4mos go by fast.

Groundwork is really important and makes a huge difference. Your connection is so much stronger when you do groundwork IMO...and it's giving you confidence, which is great. You should be proud of you and Jet!

I do groundwork sometimes before I ride, and sometimes I just do groundwork and don't even end up riding.
He will definitely improve under-saddle if you are going to continue doing groundwork with him. It most certainly transfers to the saddle.  It's a nice feeling. It will pay off. So excited to hear how it will go! And he is such a cute little guy!


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

So yesterday I called out of work due to the impending snow, and instead, went to the barn with my friend to spend some time with them and Jet! It was a nice, although busy day at the barn, with people trying to get some riding time in before the storm. 

Jet? He was mostly good. I started with s bit of parallel lunging, like I learned in Wednesday’s lesson. He listened well enough, and I did some walk to halt, and trot to walk to halt transitions with him on the lunge line. I could definitely tell a difference, in that he was listening to the cues a lot better than before hand. 

After The lunge line, I decided to mount up on him and try to ride him around the arena for a bit. He was a bit energized, but seemed to have kept a level head. There were three other people working in the arena; my friend, her boyfriend, and then one of the students at the barn. I was happy in that Jet was pretty much level headed when walking, and I did some tear drop turns at the walk. I did try my hand at picking up the trot for a bit, but he did toss his head a bit, and felt a bit antsy, so I transitioned him back down and continued on with the walk. 

I was somewhat pleased with the groundwork with Jet, and pleased with how he was under saddle, with all the activity in the arena. I go back to the barn Wednesday to work more with the little guy. I think I am going to stick to the program of doing a bit of groundwork with him every time before I get on to ride him. I like how the groundwork improves our communication, bit by bit.


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

Yay! It's good there was a lot going on in the arena. He was able to stay focused and pay attention to you. The groundwork is definitely helping. He's more in tune with you. 

It really does help. I love groundwork. People think it's boring, but I disagree. It just makes the bond stronger IMO. You are already developing a closer connection with Jet.

Glad you got to spend time with him and get a ride in before the storm.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

So I forgot to update about last Wednesday with Jet! My trainer had a training ride on him. He was a little sassy at first, but he settled and is really starting to get what a canter is.

We got in the indoor and she started to lunge the little guy. He was acting a bit sassy on the lunge, and was not keen on listening at first, but she got through to him quick. His walk to trot transitions were good, and he even started to canter (with a bit of encouragement) for one or two strides at the lunge. His halting could use a bit of work, since he doesn’t want to halt right away, and will continue to walk unless you put it to him that he needs to halt. It seemed like he was getting a bit better at it. I swear, groundwork is going to be big for us! I love watching my trainer work with him on the ground and watching when she corrects and when she praises; how she uses her body language to get him to canter and how she gets him to slow. It seems like I learn something more every time I watch. 

When she got on to riding him, he was a good pony! He trotted nicely around, and looked supple and floaty. When she asked him to canter, he seemed to be getting it, more and more, bit by bit. He picks it up a lot easier when going right instead of left. When tracking left, he rather pick up a disoriented “tranter”

My trainer said it almost seemed like he was having a bit of fun getting the canter! There was no sassy toss of the head, and he seems to be picking it up well. That’s a good thing to hear! 

I’ve been reading up on ex trotters and how it takes time for them to develop it, as well as reading some posts on here to understand my guy a bit more and how he works. It’s interesting reading the posts about how others got their ex trotters to canter, and encouraging that eventually they get it. 

On Sunday, my friend rode him for Mounted Games and said she managed to get him to canter on the lunge! Yay Jet! She said he was mostly good for the Games, although a bit sassy. According to her, the other horses were acting up a bit too during the session. Most likely due to the weather, and with the paddocks being so icey, some were stuck inside. Poor babies. We’re hoping that the weather will be better this week, and hoping with today’s snow accumulation, that they could be turned out tomorrow! I am crossing my fingers. We all know that turn out and exercise is so good for them. 

My friend also said near the end of the Gaming season, they used Jet for the little kids to practice their vaults, and he was an angel to them! Good pony! 

Tomorrow, with weather permitting I hope I can get up there to work with him. The snow can be a real bummer up here sometimes. Saturday is a Mounted Pony Club meeting, so I am looking forward to that as well. 


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

Sounds like he is doing better each time. It is good to watch your trainer. I do the same thing, learn something new every time. 
Halting can take a bit of time. Just keep at it, and increase the time he has to stand bit by bit each time.
That is very interesting! That will help you understand him a bit more for sure.
I'm glad he was good at the Mounted Games too. The weather can definitely make a difference in behavior!
Crossing my fingers the weather improves! What a good boy with the kiddos too! He is really coming along! I love reading about him! And gosh that face is so cute.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

I am so elated with how the Mounted Meeting went with Jet today! I felt like we had a breakthrough ride, especially near the end! 

The warm up with Jet went splendidly. He was a bit sticky at first, so I did leg yields here and there at the walk, before bumping up to trot to do some transitions and circles to get him loose, relaxed, and moving forward. The little pony was giving out such a lovely, floaty trot and my trainer commented on it during the warm up! I was feeling so good and happy with my little man. 

After warm up, we (there were three other riders in the group) had to explain what we did for our own warm ups, why we did what we did, and if we felt like we were successful in getting what we wanted out of the warm up. I was the first to have to explain, and it was kind of nerve wracking at first. I almost had to playback the warm up in my mind to remember exactly what I did and why I did it. Sometimes when warming up, my mind is almost on autopilot, just concentrating on me and Jet. It’s weird to explain almost lol. I wonder if that makes sense somehow? 

After each member of the group described their warm ups, my trainer had us go back on the rail to work on our own separate things. I had to focus on lengthening and shortening Jet’s trot, without breaking the tempo. I had a whole plan; lengthen down the long side, short down the short side, and it went smoothly! Jet was responsive, and everything was perfect! Next, trainer had me make the exercise a bit nearer by bending into the corners more while doing the same exercise. It was a bit tricky at first. There were a few times where he broke into walk (need more leg!) but I was happy with how focused I was, how focused he was, and how overall, the ride was just getting better and better. 

Next, trainer had us all come in the middle again. The next task? A bit of canter work, one by one. At the sound of canter, my heart was racing, and I felt a bit nervous. I waited and watched closely as she worked with one rider after the next. Then, it was my turn. 

First round, I did not get the canter. Well, I almost got it, more of a tranter lol. Trainer had me come in the middle to take a bit of a break. I told her how I felt, that I felt like it was me still! She encouraged me, told me to just think of the work as a game, to relax, and to not get frustrated at not getting it the first round (lol I told her I was a bit frustrated at myself!)

While I was waiting for my second round to come, I was thinking, and breathing, getting relaxed. I was thinking “ok, let’s get excited and just do it! Let’s get it today!” This mantra repeated in my mind of just getting it done, no nerves, be excited, think of it like a game. 

It was our turn again. Ok, go time! I got Jet out to the rail to get him trotting... and he tried to pull one of his “I’m gonna try to toss my head and drag you to the center” not this time, bud. I got him turning in the direction I wanted him to go, and got him listening quickly! Now, it was go time. Trot, trot, trot... corner coming, and canter!

Almost had it. No dice. Try again! This time, the other pony clubbers, and the rest of the barn family were watching encouraging me! I can do this, we can do this! 

Jet and I were nearing the corner. Sit and.... CANTER! We cantered! For six strides, we cantered! I was so happy! It wasn’t around the whole arena, but I got a canter, without nerves! I shouted with excitement after going back to trot and hugged the hell out of Jet. I was laughing, and cried a bit! My trainer looked happy and excited as well. She gave me a high five, and was like “yeah you did it!”

I felt like I was on an elated high for a couple of minutes. I could not believe I managed to get a bit of canter out of him myself. The breakthrough and “ah ha!” moment was there! I can do this, and can get him to canter.

I felt like I had a wave of confidence flew over me after Pony Club was over. Next Wednesday, I know what I am going to do, and I am excited for it. I am going to continue with groundwork, and then mainly work on getting more canter strides out of Jet. I know I can do this, nerves be damned (actually no nerves, nerves can just go away and never come back!) When the nerves go away, and excitement and determination take over, I can get this done! 


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

It was a productive day at the barn today! I created a playlist of music to listen to while I worked with Jet, and it really helped me with staying focused and clearheaded during my session with him.

First, I lunged him in both directions to see if I can get a canter out of him. No go on the left, but he managed to get it on the right, with the help of my friend who showed me another technique to engage him to canter on the lunge. He was mostly a good boy when listening on the lunge, though still a work with progress with getting him to “woah” when I wanted him to instead of walking in endless circles. With the woah, I just had to be more firm ‘til he got that he really does mean stop, like with what my trainer did with him last Wednesday. 

When I rode him under saddle, he was being a bit silly at walk. There were hula hoops in one corner of the arena that haven’t been there before (the horror!) and there was some noise from outside from the tractor, so he was trying to resist walking near the noise or near the hula hoop corner. With music playing in the arena, I just kept a clear head, and focused on getting him to focus on me rather than the noise and the hula hoops and it worked! I was changing direction with him as well, doing tear drop exercises and serpentines at walk ‘til I felt he was focused enough to trot. 

When I bumped it to trot, he was lovely, and listening! I worked on lengthening and shortening his strides, as well as changing direction along the diagonal, and adding some circles into the mix. He gave out a lovely trot, and felt good all around. I was on the fence on getting him to canter, only because of how he was acting earlier in the ride (although I probably should’ve gone ahead and asked for it, because I felt him anticipating it when trotting down the long side on the right!) 

I was happy in that I really got him to listen to me, and that I got him engaged, focused, and relaxed. I ended the ride on a good note, feeling good about how it went. 

Tomorrow since I have a day off of work I’m going work Jet again, and this time, really ask for the canter under saddle. Now that I know I can get him engaged and focused, it gives me the confidence to ask. Just put on the music again and focus on getting it! I’m debating whether or not to lunge him again tomorrow as well. Maybe him doing it on the lunge engaged his mind to anticipate it under saddle? 

Goal for tomorrow? Work on that canter under saddle! Think of it as a game, as I did on Saturday.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Today was a nice day at the barn, although I didn’t do canter work with Jet. I did some trot poles instead!

I got to the barn, and helped out with the morning chores. It was pretty much an easy going day, and I had a lot of fun, and was very relaxed. After chores, I kind of sat in the view room with my friends and chatted while waiting for a good opportunity to work the little guy. I waited ‘til about 2:30 to work him. I didn’t lunge him, and got straight on. 

There was another person in the arena lunging, and setting some trot poles up, so I just worked on getting Jet responsive and moving forward at walk for his warm up. He was doing pretty good, although a bit looky looky at the side door being open but no biggy. My other friend also entered the arena to do some work on a little pony. Since there were two people in the indoor with the addition of me working on their own things, I didn’t want to ask for them to stand in the middle just so I can work Jet’s canter. Instead, I took advantage of the trot poles and worked on his going over the poles, and him moving forward. 

The pony put out a nice trot, and at first, we were a bit sticky over the poles. He would slow to walk and walk over them, to which I knew I needed more leg and encouragement to get him over at trot. So, I worked on encouraging him to trot over, and he went willingly over them at a nice, rhythmic trot! I was quite happy with Jet, and how he went over them. 

He was being a bit silly about the other pony in the arena. He would pin his ears every time my friend and I would pass each other, but nothing other than that. He didn’t pin his ears at the Thoroughbred that was also working in the arena, but every time we passed the pony, ears went back. Other than the grumpy ears, he was a good sport. 

I was happy with how the work with him went today, and felt really good and confident about the ride. 

Next Wednesday is my last lesson with my trainer before she heads to Aiken for six weeks. I hope I get a lot of homework to work on with my pony, and hope that this lesson will be focused on getting canter out of him. I feel very comfortable working on canter when my trainer is there to help me. I hope that I can successfully get him going solidly at a canter by the time she gets back from Aiken. I think that will be the goal during the six weeks while she is away. That, and to ride earlier so I have the indoor to myself to work on it! 

When other people are in the indoor, I like to be considerate of others who are working on their own work and not hog any space that they may need to work on their own things with their own horses. After all, it is winter, and it is good practice to be mindful of others, and following the rules of left hand to left hand when passing, and proper etiquette when riding in a group. 


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

That picture of his nose is just the cutest! So adorable! It sounds like you are doing so well with him. Isn't it the best feeling when you make a breakthrough like that? All by yourself too!  That is awesome you got him cantering!!! That is HUGE! I'm glad you stayed persistent with him and kept trying.

I don't blame you for crying! :lol: I am the same way when it comes to stuff like that. You should be proud of yourself! And Jet!

Music is good also. Even though there were things in the arena (like scary hula-hoops LOL) it's good you kept him focused and calm. It's a good test.

He is so darn cute. I hope your lesson goes well and you focus on the canter again. 
It is definitely good to ride with others, for both you and the horse.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

So because of the winter storm last night, my trainer couldn’t come to the lesson today because she had to be at her own barn to get ready and pack for Aiken, so I worked with Jet on my own and it was kind of a fail lol.

First, I lunged him and got a canter out of him! I think he is starting to get the concept, and connecting the word”canter!” with the gait.

After lunging him, I got on him and rode, it at least try to.

You see, there were huge sheets of ice falling off the roof of the indoor. With each sheet of ice cake a loud banging noise against the side. It was a bit annoying, and kind of difficult to concentrate trying to ride. Jet was being a bit spooky because of it, and I tried to ignore the banging sounds as much as I could, but it was hard lol. I felt a bit tense, Jet felt tense, and I thought it better to just get off and try for another day. 

My friend commended me for trying to ride and deal with the banging noises in the indoor, and my other friend opted for grooming her horse instead of riding because of the noises. 

There is always Saturday. I am hoping we are done with ice and snow for the season. I am tired of the winter weather and want it to warm up a bit and be Spring! 


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

So I managed to ride my pony two days in a row! Yesterday was an “eh” ride, but today was better. 

Yesterday, it began smoothly, but then ice fell from the roof, and he did his drop and spin and I fell. I got back on and tried to focus on work again, when more ice fell, causing more noise, although this time I was prepared for his shenanigans and didn’t fall. I worked on some trot, and then had to walk Jet by where the ice fell until he was ok walking by that area. I then got off and decided to lunge him to try to get him to canter. Lunging him went well, and he cantered for me. I called it a day after that.

Today, we did some trot work over a pole, while other people were in the arena. I got to practice getting him to canter as well, and managed to get two strides under saddle with a bit of cheering and encouragement from my friends in the ring! My friend who was teaching a lesson actually encouraged me to get a canter today, and she helped with the process by encouraging him from behind a bit with a lunge whip. I was happy with how the ride went today, and ended the ride on a good note. He also trotted nicely by the area where the ice fell, so no problems there. 

It was also Pony Club day, where we worked on some work sheets, studied the book, and got a lesson in Conformation. It was a nice, good day to be out and about at the barn. 

Hopefully, I get to go to the barn Wednesday, weather permitting. I hope it doesn’t snow. Crossing my fingers! 


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

It's good the lunging sessions are going well. Verbal cues are great too. I'm sure the ice was annoying and a bit scary :lol: Walking him by the area is good. Let him know it's no big deal. 

Hey, you got back on after you fell, that's all that matters!! 

You should always end the ride on a good note. So happy you two are making so much progress with the cantering. Crossing my fingers it didn't snow!


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

PoptartShop said:


> It's good the lunging sessions are going well. Verbal cues are great too. I'm sure the ice was annoying and a bit scary :lol: Walking him by the area is good. Let him know it's no big deal.
> 
> 
> 
> ...




I’m happy we’re making progress as well. Taking everything in stride is key.  Some days are really good, and other days it’s like baby steps! 










So, I rode today and I rode last Saturday and both rides were pretty ok. 

On Saturday, we had a Horse Management clinic and mock up inspection for Pony Club and it was fun, and a good learning experience! I learned that my saddle is going to need a billet guard for when I go for my certification for real, and the throatlatch is a bit big, but everything else tack wise was well fitted, and nice! The clinician actually said that everyone’s throatlatch was a bit big, and recommended that we go to a leather worker or shoemaker to get them shortened just a tad. She said they could shorten and restitch so that they fit better. I also had to do a bit of adjusting for my helmet, and now it fits much better. 

After the clinic, I rode the little guy for a bit. It was a nice ride, although he was pinning his ears at another horse in the arena. He’s quirky in that some horses he just doesn’t seem to like, and other he tolerates. I need to invest in a red ribbon for him. Need to put that on my list of things to get, as a just in case measure. Since the snow and ice falling incident, I have to rework him into being comfortable going by the back of the arena. He’s become a bit weary about it, and a bit nappy, but I can get him to walk by it. Trotting seems to be no problem, as long as are down the long sides of the arena, or doing twenty metre circles in the middle, or near the gate. 

Today, my brother came to the barn with me. I lunged Jet, both directions and actually managed to get a canter out of him, with more striding... in both directions! He was a bit off balance going left, and noticed that he was leaning a bit with getting the canter on the left (which is his weaker area for canter.) I just have to work on that side more. His trot and walk were good, halting still a work in progress on the ground. I think what I should do is dial my groundwork all the way to just walk and halt, until he gets halting down pat. Under saddle, he halts no problem though, and listens. 

Under saddle, he was ok, though felt sticky only when going near the problem area (the back.) The good thing is I can push him to walk by there, though still acting weary and tense around that area. His trotting was good in both directions, although he was more on the lazy side today with working under saddle. That could be due to the groundwork earlier as well. I went to end the ride by the back of the arena, where he did stand quietly while I dismounted. I’m probably going to have to go back to make the back area a good place for him again, a place of relaxed walk and rest before working him back up to trot. Either that, or I am a chicken, lol! 

My brother managed to get on Jet, and I was close by, just letting him do figure eights and circles around me at walk. My brother only took two lessons back in 2016, then stopped because he wanted to save money and focus more, but he brought up that he wanted to start riding again, and today was a good opportunity for him. He did rather well! He was a bit tense at first, but once I told him to relax and stretch, he was getting the hang of it again. Jet was an angel for him, and we only worked where I knew he wouldn’t get nappy or try his pony tricks. He was easy going, and calm for my brother, and my brother enjoyed the light ride and mini tutorial. He wants to come up to the barn again and get back on Jet. It was actually a good way to spend time with my brother, and he was smiling and enjoying himself, which made me glad for him. 

This Saturday is a mounted Pony Club meeting. My group rides at 11am. I honestly can’t wait, and hope I can get Jet trotting by the back of the arena then! I seem to do better when I have someone pushing me to do it, because then the overthinking and nerves kind of go away and my mind goes “oh yeah I can do this, I’ve done this loads of times” the barn owner and my old trainer (hmm I’m going to start giving her a nickname on here so it’s less confusing!) “B” is going to teaching the group. 

My other trainer (the one currently down in Aiken. Let’s call her “M”) comes back on either March 15th or 16th, then we can get back into a lesson/training ride routine with Jet. I can’t wait to get into that routine. Routines seem to keep me in check! 

Oh yeah, I am also going to go to a Jump Design Course Clinic with the barn crew this Sunday, so that should be fun as well! A lot of exciting things and happenings this week! 


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

I think it's great what you are doing with him. The clinic sounds like fun, too. Always something new to learn. I would do the same thing. Work on the walking and halting on the ground, until he gets it. I had to do a lot of that with my mare. 
As for the 'scary' part of the arena, keep working on that too. Even doing groundwork and making it a relaxing, positive area is perfect. Sometimes you have to dial stuff down, and that is totally okay! I have to do it myself a lot. Nothing wrong with it. 

So nice of you to let your brother ride him also! I bet that was fun!  Good experience for Jet too, to have a beginner on him. What a good boy! 
The clinic this weekend sounds good too, Jet gets to do so many fun things! Such good experiences for him. :smile: And for you, too! Getting back to lessons will be good also, it's nice to have a routine. Cute picture too, gotta love pony hugs!!


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Ugh being sick sucks. Last time I rode my pony was on March 2nd, for the mounted meeting and that ride went good!

For the mounted meeting, we worked on Dressage Test Intro A. It was a bit tough, but we got through it. Our main thing was straightness, and roundness of the circles (oh and more impulsion!) I’m happy we got through our round though, and that there was no back door shenanigans during warm up! He was overall a good boy, and it was a good, educational ride.

Other than that? Just been busy with work. Last Wednesday I had to babysit the nephews, so barn was a no go. Sunday was also a busy day... and now I am sick with food poisoning which sucks. I hate staying home when I could go to the barn on my days off from work. But, here I am, in bed, resting and miserable. 

This Saturday is an unmounted Pony Club meeting which should be pretty fun. Hopefully this stupid sickness will clear up. I want to be able to get there early so I can work and ride my pony. I feel bad that he hasn’t been worked in almost two weeks I think? I’m sure he doesn’t mind, but I do. Lol I always feel bad when I can’t work him. 

In the meantime, I guess I have to try to rest and get over this stupid poisoning. This stinks.


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

Awww nooo, I hope you feel better ASAP so you can get back to riding. :sad: I'm glad the ride went well at the mounting meeting though!
Yay for no back door problems, glad he overcame that fear! :lol: What a good boy!

Food poisoning really sucks. I had it last year. :sad: Ugh. I hope it goes away by the weekend so you can enjoy the Pony Club meeting. Fingers crossed! Just rest & make sure you drink plenty of water.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

PoptartShop said:


> Awww nooo, I hope you feel better ASAP so you can get back to riding. :sad: I'm glad the ride went well at the mounting meeting though!
> 
> Yay for no back door problems, glad he overcame that fear! :lol: What a good boy!
> 
> ...




Doing both at the moment and sitting in a waiting room waiting for my appointment. Thankfully I haven’t gotten sick since last night, now My stomach just feels queasy and my head kind of hurts. I just want to be over this, get my doctor’s note and go back to doing normal things. Thankfully It’s going to be an Unmounted Pony Club meeting tomorrow. I’m still hoping I will be good enough to go. If my body is still working against me I doubt it. It’s getting a bit annoying and frustrating. I feel like I am going stir crazy by just resting and feeling limited to what so can consume. 


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

I got to go to the Pony Club unmounted meeting. The meeting was very informative, educational, and fun! A clinician came to talk about nutrition, body condition, and topline condition. I think I took at least almost two pages of notes from so much information there was. 

After the PowerPoint, she got a chance to look at some of the horses. I pulled Jet out for her to look at, and found out that he’s actually at an ideal weight! He’s about 640 pounds, which is good and she said his topline looked goo as well. She actually recommended to try him on a ration balancer instead, so B and and I are going to gradually switch him to a ration balancer.

I didn’t ride today, but worked on grooming him instead. It’s the start of shedding season, and he is starting to shed a tiny bit. I can’t wait until he starts shedding more. I am so ready for warmer weather, summer coats, and rides in the outdoors! 

I also got to try on his new halter, and cooler. Both fit him just fine! On Wednesday, he is due for his Spring shots, and then Farrier is coming on Thursday. So, gonna kill two birds with one stone and get those done and out of the way. Hopefully I can ride later on Wednesday after he gets his shots done. 


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

Essential K Tribute GC Plus is a great ration balancer. I top dress it over my mare's feed (about a cup per feeding). It has probiotics & acts as a joint supplement as well. If you don't need the joint supplement (my mare had a break on the track), I would just get the regular Essential K.
https://tributeequinenutrition.com/products/essential-k-0

Just a suggestion!  It's really good stuff. A bag lasts me about 2mos & it's only about 40 bucks for a 50lb.

That's awesome he's starting to shed...that means spring is coming.  He looks so cute in that halter! Knocking both the shots & the farrier out at one time sounds like a good plan! I hope you have a good ride!


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Heyo! So long time, no update. March goes into April, and Spring is here. Happy shedding season! My little nugget is shedding his winter coat like no one’s business. Today was actually our first ride in the outdoor since the warm weather change, and it was fun, and mostly a success! (Although I’ll get to that later. I haven’t updated about my last work with Jet which was... March 20th? Been crazy busy with getting more hours in at work and our quarterly meeting for that! 

So, March 20th was a ride in the indoor, as well as some groundwork being done with his canter. I swear, little by little he is getting the canter cue and increasing his stride time, although I still have to use the lunge whip to encourage him forward into the canter. I think he quite likes it, and I can tell he is getting a bit stronger with it! I also hopped on him for a ride, doing nothing more than walk and trot. After a ride, I then wanted to try something new with Jet. After untacking him, I asked my friend to show me how to free lunge him, and that was a fun learning experience. I think he cantered more when free lunging than he ever did on the line! He was enjoying himself, and I learned how to direct him, and control him more just using my body language, and words. She taught me how to “join up” with him as well, taken from Monty Robert’s. It was awesome to have Jet join up with me after the session, and he seemed to be in good spirits! It’s another training and bonding tool in my tool box to use for when I want mix things up a bit, rather than routine regular lunging, ride, untack, groom, and treat.

Now, today was a fun ride! I actually enjoyed finally being able to ride in the outdoor. I did some lunge work, working on his canter on both sides before mounting to do some arena work. He did good, was a little sassy, but came around to focusing on me. 

For the mounted arena work, I did some work in walk and trot over some poles laid across various places in the arena. There were two poles for me to go over in a circle, and a few more poles laid on the long side of the arena. Jet gave out a lovely, stretchy trot and walk! I was happy to feel him stretch, and use his whole body to work. The whole ride just felt really good, and awesome. 

I swear, I feel much more confident riding in the outdoor than in the indoor lol. He’s an awesome boy in the outdoor, gets to work, and I don’t have the back door of the indoor on the back of my mind all the time. We get through riding there in the indoor, but I feel like that’s the back door thing is always going to be in the back of my mind no matter what lol! In the outdoor, I felt really relaxed and chill, and he just felt awesome. Hopefully this Saturday and Sunday I can do some more riding in the outdoor!

Oh yeah, this Saturday and Sunday I’m going to be there for some Pony Club stuff. Saturday is a Prep Certification Clinic, and Sunday is a mock rally kit set up, to make sure everything is in order. 

My trainer is also back from South Carolina, so I can start back up with lessons again! Yay! I have a lesson scheduled for the 17th of April, since I have a doctor’s appointment next Wednesday (boo.) Maybe we can get back on track on the canter work train, this time under saddle. I feel like we are going to be ready for it, and I am starting to feel confident in that maybe I can get it more in the outdoor, since it’s a bigger space to work him! I’m crossing my fingers, hoping that it will be another warm, beautiful day on The 17th. 

I’m also going to continue alternating between doing a lesson and training ride. So, 17th will be a lesson and then the other week will be a training ride. It will all come together! 


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

PoptartShop said:


> Essential K Tribute GC Plus is a great ration balancer. I top dress it over my mare's feed (about a cup per feeding). It has probiotics & acts as a joint supplement as well. If you don't need the joint supplement (my mare had a break on the track), I would just get the regular Essential K.
> 
> https://tributeequinenutrition.com/products/essential-k-0
> 
> ...




Lol funny you should say that about Essential K! He’s actually going to be starting on that Ration Balancer this month as well! 


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

Yay for him starting to shed.  I love that! He's so cute. Isn't it nice to finally be able to ride outdoors?! I was stuck riding in the indoor the entire winter (we don't have any lights in the outdoor arenas unfortunately). It feels amazing riding outside all the time now. Love it!

I'm glad you had a good ride! It sounds like he is doing well, and yay for taking lessons again soon. It definitely will all come together! You guys are already making so much progress.  

LOL that is funny, that's awesome! It's good stuff.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Saturday and Sunday were fun days spent at the barn. On Saturday, I had a Prep Certification Clinic, in which an Examiner cake to the barn, and did a mock examination on us while mounted, and reviewed questions and answers as a group when unmounted. 

For our mock examination? Jet and I didn’t do too bad! He got good marks, and I got good marks on my mock test sheet, which is awesome. It shows that we’re going to get through our first rating, no problem. I did get questioned on why I was in the D1 group, and not D2 group, to which the simple answer is because in order to test for the D2, I have to canter, and Jet and I have yet to master that point yet. I know I can always do my D2 on a lesson horse if I wanted, but I feel it’s better to work on that goal on my own horse (well pony), and it’s better to be patient and wait until we both master canter.

On Sunday, it was a simple ride in the outdoor. The ground was pretty sloppy, and Jet was a little up that day, so I did a combination of things with him. I walked him, for a bit, feeling him out, then felt like he was still a bit jiggy, so I got off of him, got a lunge line, and worked on his transitions. Good news, he listened for the canter cue and cantered no problem when I said “canter!” Seems like ground work is improving but by bit there. When I felt his jiggyness was out, I hopped back on him, working on just getting him supple, and soft, doing some circles, and changes of direction. I was a bit too cautious because he did trip here and there, so kept things at a walk. All in all, I felt like we made some sort of progress on Sunday. 

I ride again on Saturday, for another Pony Club lesson, and then again next Wednesday, in which I’ll be finally taking a lesson with my trainer, who is now back! Yay! I’m looking forward to both Saturday, and next Wednesday. Maybe we can get the ball rolling and transition to get working on canter under saddle again. 

Today didn’t go to the barn, due to another Doctor’s appointment (blech) but at least I got through with it, and don’t have to go back for a follow up. Got all human annual wellness stuff out of the way.  


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

That sounds like so much fun, glad you had a good time.  He is so cute, love the browband. Blue is definitely his color.
I think it's great that you got off and did some groundwork with him, then got back on. Sometimes it's necessary! Nothing wrong with that at all. Sounds like he is improving.  He is starting to understand!

I'm sure you are excited for your lesson, yay!!


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

It was a good day at the Pony Club mounted meeting with Jet! 

Today, we worked a bit on free walk for Dressage, a bit of canter, and a workthrough for Intro Test A. 

I do admit, Jet felt a bit rammy and ready to just go, go, go (at a racey trot, of course.) Half halts and circling helped in that regard. I swear, even though he is only about 13hh, he can keep up with the bigger guys easily. Must be the Standardbred in him! There were a few moments where he did feel good in the contact, however and his free walk felt like it was improving! I could feel instances where he reached for the contact in that time where we worked on free walk. 

I managed to get one stride of canter out of him, when my trainer called out for my turn. We got it on the third try (third try is always the charm!) The good thing is that the outdoor is very roomy, much better to work on canter out there since it allows him to move out more. On Wednesday, my trainer and I are going to work harder for more canter strides. 

When doing a ridethrough of Intro Test A, Jet was pretty lovely, and gave out a floaty trot in a few instances during the ridethrough. 

After the mounted meeting was over, I gave Jet a bath (yay!) and grazed him outside while he dried off. He’s a silky smooth pony for now. 

Overall, today was an awesome day! It was nice, warm, and sunny out, and I felt like I got a lot of stuff done. I am really looking forward to Wednesday, and can’t wait to see what will unfold on that day. The goal? More canter strides out of the little nugget. 


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

Glad you had a great time at the Pony Club meeting!  Sounds like you did great. And yay for giving him a bath, I bet he loved that. Let's see how long he can stay clean. LOL. :lol: It's so much nicer riding outside. I can't explain it, but it just makes me happier being able to feel the nice breeze & enjoy the sunshine on the back of a horse! Wednesday sounds like it will be fun, working on more cantering! You got this!


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Wow, what a work out for Jet and I this lesson! Today was an awesome day for the both of us.

First, we warmed up, letting him stretch out and getting him into a forward rhythm. There was no problem there! He was forward and energetic, but not rammy. Then we bumped it up to trot, and starting bending exercises in both directions. My trainer did note that he was more stiff in his neck bending left than bending right. So homework for that is some carrot exercises. He felt like he wanted to canter while circling, so trainer told me to go ahead and ask, and I got one stride out of him. Then, she told me to go on the rail and try a bit more so we had more room. Asked again, got one stride and some trantering. After that, we went to walk.

During the walk break, my trainer told me that we were going to work a bit on contact, and for me to get more feel for contact since She noticed I would get some contact, then kind of drop it. I had to lengthen my reins, and widen my hands to get a good feel of the corners of his mouth. It did feel a bit funny, but it worked! I got a good feel during the walk break. 

After the walk break, she had me do a twenty metre circle at one end of the arena. We were going to bump it up to trot, still with wide hands. She had me shorten just a bit, put him on a circle, and trotted, while feeling for constant contact with wide hands. At first, Jet was a bit fast in his trot, but, with adjustment of my posting, he came back to me, and I could feel the contact he was giving me. We worked going right, as his right bend was his better way of bending, then worked left. It was quite a workout out, posting while keeping the contact, and keeping him steady, but the fun wasn’t over yet!

After that was done, we took another walk break. This time, my trainer wanted me to take my feet out of the stirrups. I joked, telling her it’s been quite a while since I did this type of work, and it has! So, on to the burn! 

First, she had me try trotting with no stirrups and that was pretty much a fail! I was bouncing, and almost slipped, but slowed to a walk and we laughed a bit, and started at walk with no stirrup work instead. She had me post while walking with no stirrups, and I could really felt my muscles starting to work. I actually loved doing it, feeling the burn, and working hard. Then, she had me go into jump position for five counts, then back down. I could feel my body slowly get used to no stirrups.

After that, she had me on the rail. For the next bit, I had to trot down the short side with no stirrups, then go back to walk on the long side, to get used to using my body at trot again with no stirrups, sitting on my seat bones and really trying to relax and move with Jet. This was more successful. I asked my trainer if we could do more no stirrup work during my lessons and she said of course! I’m also going to work on no stirrups when I am on my own. So more homework for me! Woot!

Another walk break, and next task was trying canter again. This time, she wanted me to keep my hands wide while asking for canter. First two rounds, I got a one stride. Then, on the third round guess what? Three strides of canter! Woohoo! This made me really happy, and I gave Jet loads of praise. 

For the grand finale of the lesson, after another walk break and talking, my trainer has me go over a crossrail with him. It was fun, and we went over three times. First try he jumped over, and then the last two times, he jumped but with a little less effort. By this point, I think him and I were both beat! 

All in all, it was a pretty amazing and educational lesson. I know I have loads of homework to do with my little guy. Next week is a training ride, in which Jet will do some more canter work with my trainer. 

I can’t get over by how good he feels outside, and how I had a little boost of confidence by the end of the lesson. It’s progress, and I am looking forward to more progress, and strengthening myself and Jet more.


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Today Jet has a training ride with M, and it looked like it went rather well!

His winter coat is really starting to shed out, and there’s still more to go! He’s going to look so pretty once his summer coat is fully in. 

For the ride, my trainer worked on lateral work at the walk, as well as trying to develop his canter. It seems like he doesn’t quite understand lateral work, and she started slow with him, getting him to think and understand what she was asking him to do. At times it looked like he was a bit frustrated at not understanding, but he was a good boy, and eventually got what she was asking of him. Little guy does put in the effort and tries! 

With canter, he seemed to like to go into his fast, racer down the long side. He was good picking it up around the bend, but would go trantering as soon as he reached the long side. My trainer joked that the long side was hard work for him, but he was getting it. It looked like he was better going right rather than going left. He put in effort throughout the ride, and there is progress there, in which he will try to hold it, lose it, and then prefer to go into his trotter trot. 

My trainer also jumped him over a rail twice, and my he does have a cute jump when he puts in the effort! He tucks his head nicely, and just goes at it. 

Next week is my solo work with him, in which I will do a lot of no stirrup work to work on my strength, and maybe play around with getting him to canter while under saddle. 

After that, I have Pony Club next Saturday, and then the 8th of May will be my last lesson before I head to England for three weeks to go to my husband’s uncle’s wedding, and to spend time with the hubby over there. I am thinking of scheduling a few training rides for Jet while I am away, just to keep him in work, and to keep him progressing a little bit. 

My chocolate bars also came in for fundraising for Pony Club so yay! I already got some coworkers lined up to buy some bars. My goal is to get all three boxes sold before leaving for the English trip. Hubby is also going to buy a few bars so I’m going to take a few with me to England. 


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

That is great your lesson went well! Plenty of stuff to work on now. It's good you aren't getting frustrated & you're willing to learn. Once he's stronger he will be better with the canter. It can take a bit. Keep at it!

He really is shedding a ton! :lol: LOL, I can't wait for my mare's summer coat, she's still shedding too. It's so much easier to groom them in the summer! 
You two are doing great! Awww, the wedding sounds like fun. It will be nice to get away for a bit, I think having Jet exercised some while you are away will be good too. This way you know he's not just sitting!


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Both Pony Club and today were fun filled rides wit Jet!

For Pony Club, we worked a lot on exercises in the saddle, as well as some ground pole and cross rail work. Jet was a good sport while I did my kick ups and kick downs under saddle, and he was a good sport when doing cross rail work, although by that time I could tell he was a bit tired. He did manage to dump me, but I just got right back on and continued on with the meeting. My friend joked, saying we should have a scoreboard laying around, with me on one side and Jet on the other to keep a tally of how many times I have gotten involuntarily dismounted. It’s been at least a month or two I think. 

We also did a switch up on horses near the end of the meeting. I got switched with a ten year old, who rode Jet extremely well! She was having fun, trotting around on him and getting go to go over the cross rails! I was trying to get a feel for her horse, who was a bumpy ride! His trot was more of trot that wanted to lunge into canter, and I was concentrating on being soft, and getting a consistent trot with her horse. It was interesting to do the switch up, and after the meeting, B suggested that maybe the ten year old could ride Jet while I’m away. I thought it was a great idea, so I brought it up to her mother, who then told the news to the ten year old, who I’ve heard was so happy and excited to have the opportunity to ride Jet. Her mother said that her daughter was in tears of joy when she brought it up to her. I am so happy that I could make her daughter happy. I saw how well she handled Jet out there, and it would do Jet some good to still be in a bit of work while I’m away. 

Today, for my lesson, M, my trainer wanted me to really focus on body position, sitting more on my back pockets, and having more of a secure position. My brother managed to film my lesson for me, and even got me coming off of Jet! I’m actually happy to have that on video to see where my body was at the time, and to rewatch to see what happened. It looked as if he got startled by a white van coming down the street, saw it, dropped his shoulder, and spun around (if that makes sense), me becoming unmounted and plopping on my butt. He stood where he was though, good boy. I was ok, it doesn’t phase me that much, got back on, went back to trotting to continue my work with him. He was a good boy throughout the rest of the lesson, and we continued to work on my body position, as well as my jump position. 

M set up two cross rails for me to go over with little Jet, and he was a good boy for that as well, although needs a little more motivation going over. He was fine going over the smaller of the two. For the cross rail that was a little bigger (it was just 18”) he would come down to a walk, look at it, and step over it lol. We worked on the 18” cross rail, and we did get two moments where he made an effort to jump it. 

Near the end of the lesson, we worked on canter, in which I managed to get two strides out of the little nugget. I was kind of tired by the end of the lesson too, but also know that I have to work on keeping my body in the back seat. Now that I see the footage that my brother took, I see how back on my pockets I have to be. That’s going to be homework for when I come back from England.

I’m also thinking of doing a few lessons on a lesson horse, to get myself more established in canter, so that I can be a better rider for Jet. I feel ok when cantering other horses, but I think I could use a bit more work in being more of a solid canter rider for Jet. I brought it up with M, and it’s something that we could try out. 


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

I'm glad you had a great time with Jet.  It does help to video yourself, so you can really see how you look! We 'think' we look a certain way, but then it turns out we may look better (or sometimes worse) than we thought when we see the video.

It's good to have 'homework'! For both you and the horse. I think taking lessons on a lesson horse would be a great idea. Nothing wrong with that at all. It will help you. Then you will do better on Jet!


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

So, I came back from England last Thursday, and had a Pony Club mounted meeting on Saturday, and rode today. 

Saturday, Jet and I participated in a Jump Clinic held by one of the Pony Club members in the area, and we did pretty well! Jet was so good, and tried his heart out at the jumps. The jumps consisted of 18 inch crossrails, and a vertical thrown in there. At first, we were messy, with Jet slowing to a walk at some of the jumps and me going ahead of him. But then, with encouragement to just breathe, and talk to Jet while going over the course two more times, we did better! I found that talking really helps! Talking encouraged Jet to really go over the jumps, and helped me with focusing on breathing, and not getting ahead of him. I was really happy with how he did! He was actually getting into the mind set of “oh jumping is fun!” There was one crossrail that was a bit higher, which he was still unsure about, but I got him through it! 

Today, I did some work with him over ground poles, and set about three crossrails up. Two were set at about 18” and one I set a bit higher. He did lovely today! He didn’t require that much push over the 18” ones. If anything, I had to hold his energy in place! He was really confident going over them. The one that I set just a bit higher, he went over a few times going one way. When changing direction and going over the crossrail in the other direction, he started to hesitate a bit and do the thing where he slowed a walk to look at it before popping over. To end on a good note, I did some walk-trot-walk transitions with him and finished him over one of the 18” that I set up. 

Generally, he felt really good all around, and like we are making some progress in the right direction! 

Now, the big news. Hubby and I had a talk about starting the process for me to head over to be with him and start our lives together there. I know it is a good decision because, in the end of it all, he is more settled there with a house in London, and makes more money than me. It’s a bit exciting, and overwhelming at the same time. One of the big discussions was about Jet. 

Jet is my little nugget, and my first pony. It feels like I put so much work into him, and I want to continue to put work into him. I told my husband that I want to try to bring Jet over to the UK with me, but I know it’s no easy task. I’ve talked with B and M about it, and about how I want to try to work it out. What the hubby suggested is that I find someone to half lease or full lease Jet while I am in England, save up the money to move Jet over, and then bring him over when I have enough saved. B and M thinks that this idea is plausible, and B said she would help in anyway, maybe even make Jet part of the lesson program in the meantime while I am gone. For now, that seems to be the plan. I really want to bring my boy over, so that I can continue to work with him and so that he can stay in my life. I wonder if that is selfish of me, in a way. 

Plan B, if Plan A doesn’t work out is to sell Jet (which I hope it doesn’t come to that, but I know it’s something that I cannot completely put off.)

I know there are a lot of horses and ponies in England (M was saying how maybe it’s a good idea to sell and start anew in England, since shipping a horse overseas can be expensive, oh and don’t I know how expensive that can be.) When doing research, I found it can range anywhere from 3 to even 15,000 to get an Equine over. I am willing to put in the hard work for it though. 

It’s a lot to think about, and do! Hubby and I are going to start with applying for the Visa around August, so the estimated time in which I have to do the move ranges from October to December. 

Other than that, I’m just going on with the routine of work, and going to the barn on the days that I am off. There’s going to be a Jump Rally coming up on June 15th, and I am on to be a Stable Manager for one of the teams.

There’s also going to a Ratings person coming to the barn on July 8th to get those who didn’t get their rating in May to have a chance to get it then. I am going to go ahead and at least get my D1 rating for Pony Club and am excited about that!

Also in July (July 12th), I am going to a Clinic held at the barn. Allie Sacksen is going to be there once again to teach it, and I am excited for it! I signed up to do Cross Rails with Jet. I was debating on whether to do that, or flat work, but decided on Cross Rails. B said most likely I can work on canter when doing that option, as that was the deciding factor, since I want to work more on establishing canter. 

Anyway, that’s all I have as far as other big news. I ride my guy again next Wednesday, and then again next Friday, since I am staying over B’s house for Jump Rally. There’s going to be a lot of things ahead in the future! 


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

Welcome back! :wave: Talking really does help. I talk to my mare all the time. :lol: It really does. It encourages them & coaxes them through things. Some people ride & don't say a WORD to their horse the entire time - I don't know how they do it haha.

It helps you and the horse by talking to them! Helps you relax/breathe & helps them get focused/encouraged.  

I personally think you should keep Jet, whether you go to the UK or not. He's your heart pony, at least from what I read, & he should go with you. I hope plan A works out for you! It will not be cheap, I know shipping is expensive, but I think if you do the research you will figure it out. It's a lot to think about, definitely not an overnight decision. I am hopeful that plan A will work.  You have put a lot of work into him, & you guys are making so much progress, it's only right he stays with you! But I know there's a lot that goes into it all. Whatever you decide, I know you will do what is best for him, regardless if you sell him or not but I'm pretty sure you will end up keeping him! 

The clinic will be a good time, that is exciting!! I love clinics. Sounds like you have a lot of good stuff planned!!!


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

@PoptartShop - I am hoping that it all works out as well. I feel as if Jet is deff my heart pony. He’s helped me a lot in these past two years with being a bit more confident, and making me sane lol. I guess in a way, he’s my emotional support animal since I got him about a year after my father died. I’m hopeful about Plan A working. I got sort of an idea of what I want to do, and I think it’s an idea that might be a go. I am thinking of incorporating him in the lesson program, as well as finding a rider to lease him while I am in the UK, saving money to get Jet over. I’ve been constantly researching shopping companies and I am thinking of contacting a few to get a quote to get an idea of how much I would have to save.  


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

It was a fun weekend! I got to ride Jet on Thursday, and then I was away for Jump Rally from Friday into Saturday evening. 

On Thursday, I rode in the outdoor, although the ground was muddy. All I did was simple exercises at walk, and tried a bit of sitting trot. Man, it is tricky sitting Jet’s trot because he has a lot of bounce in it. I managed to sit a few, but I did have to slow down his trot quite a bit, and he broke into walk at times, but it was ok. He was a good lad through it all, and I stayed the less muddy side to work. It wasn’t that long of a ride, maybe twenty or thirty minutes of riding, but it felt good. 

On Friday, I just helped with packing up for Jump Rally, and away we went! The place was two hours away, and we found a place to stable the horses that were going to the Rally, so that’s good. We didn’t get to the Hotel ‘til around 8:30pm, got something to eat, and then went up to the room. I think we all got about three hours of sleep. 

We all woke up at around 3:30am on Saturday, and off we went to the barn to gather the horses, and then to the show grounds. I think we arrived to the Grounds at around 6am. When we arrived, it was up to me and my team members to get the tent set up with the saddle racks, rally kits, grooming boxes, and water buckets. I say we did a pretty good job with set up; it wasn’t as stressful as I thought it was going to be, and everything was organized well! 

As stable manager for the team, I made sure that the team knew their ride times, helped with tacking up and holding horses, and made sure the horses had water, and hay. I also made sure that the riders sponges off their horses after their rounds since it was a hot day out. It was a lot of running back and forth, but I loved it! I managed to watch two of my team mates compete, but most of my time was at the tent, taking care of the horses and filling buckets. I did get complimented by how well of a job I was doing, and that made me humbled and proud. I would make sure my team mates had their pins and arm bands as well, and would help in any way I can when they came back to the tent. 

One team mate scratched because her horse was acting up, another was having a tough day with his mare because she didn’t complete her rounds, but he did progress with her! First round, he managed to get over two jumps, next round was three, and the final round he managed to get over six. Another team mate had a clear third round, and another had two rounds clear, and actually qualified for the Championships! My team ended up getting 7th place overall, and 5th place for Horse Management. There were a few things missing from our tent that we got marked off for; we needed an extra pony bridle, and an extra set of pony size legs wraps, as well as ties for our boots, but we did good! I am proud of how the team did, and how we all worked together. Each one tried their hardest, and persevered! 

The other fellow team from our barn did well as well! They got 2nd place overall, and 2nd place for Horse Management! Woohoo! We did get a comment about how even though we were new to rallies, it was like we had everything clearly figured out, and come next year our barn is going to be killer at the Rallies! Even though I might not be around next year, I am looking forward to see how our barn will progress next year when Rally season comes around again, and hope that everyone will go to Championships next year! 

We got back from the Rally at around 7:30pm that evening, unpacked everything, and called it a good day spent! 

I love being apart of Pony Club and love the opportunities that it gives the members. It was really exciting being a Stable Manager that day, and felt really good about it, like it was my sort of niche. Sure, riding is fun, but I loved being able to take care of everyone and checking up to see how everyone was doing. 

Tomorrow is my day to spend time with Jet, and it’s suppose to be a rainy day out. Ew. I’m most likely going to be riding in the Indoor, and hopefully, I get to see my trainer there. I need to get a lesson in with her sometime! 


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

Glad you had a great, fun weekend!!  Sounds like you did a great job as stable manager. I'm sure they appreciated it, that was a lot of hard work. Lots to keep track of. I'm glad you enjoyed it & that everyone did so well. Yay! There's definitely more to this sport than just riding. I agree. 

Boo about the rain, but at least you have the indoor!  Hope you enjoyed your ride!!!


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

It was a pretty easy going ride both Wednesday and yesterday.

On Wednesday, I rode in the indoor along with a few of my buddies. Including me, there were four other riders in the indoor, so we all had to be mindful of each other. I worked on some more sitting trot with Jet, and managed to sit most of the way through the long sides of the arena. We would break the pace a few times, and he was a bit stubborn to keep going at a trot, but I think the ride went rather well. When I couldn’t sit, I went to posting. Overall, I think the ride went rather well on Wednesday. He was being a bit of a butt, pinning his ears at some of the horses, but he did nothing else other than pin them. He was fine with the chestnut Quarter horse that one of my buddies was riding, didn’t like the halflinger, and tolerated the Standardbred and Thoroughbred that were in with him. My little boy is funny like that at times, where he prefers some horses when riding in a group more than others. 

Yesterday was more riding in the indoor to work on transitions, a bit of sitting trot, and my jump position. It was just me in the indoor this time, and it was another good ride. I felt some moments of stretchiness when we did break down to walk, and I was changing directions through the diagonal and centre line constantly to get his mind thinking. My sitting trot was less stable this time around, and found myself posting a lot more, but on the plus side, when we were circling his trot did felt really floaty and “put together” if that makes sense. I took a video, rewatched the trotting work and he does indeed look pretty and floaty! 

The ride yesterday was a light one, about 25min since I had an unmounted meeting to go to after. I ride again on Wednesday in a lesson with my trainer, and can’t wait to see what we will work on then! 

I am also getting a bit more involved in the YouTube channel that I started last year as a side hobby, in a way to further record my progress and share my story. I am actually having a bit of fun recording videos, and thinking about what to brainstorm and post next! So far, been doing monthly unboxings of the Equestrian box that I get, and riding videos when I can. I also did one sharing my whole story on how I got into horses. This little side project has been keeping me focused, and gives me something to do on most Sundays when I am babysitting my nephews. 

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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Wednesday’s lesson was a big workout for both me and Jet. It was a lesson in the Dressage arena, mainly focused on bending exercises for him and body position for me. 

I had to do a lot of bends with him, as well as small 15 metre circles. My trainer then had me do some no stirrup work, and work a lot on sitting trot. It was very hot out, and the bugs were bothersome, and I think both Jet and I were tired by the end of the lesson, but it was a really good lesson! Near the end, we tried for canter, but I think we were both too tired to get one going lol. 

Gonna be riding again next Wednesday, in which my ride will consist of a lot of exercises focusing on my position. Now that Jet is more fit and balanced, I have to get myself more fit and balanced as well! 


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

Glad you have had some great rides lately on Jet!  That is funny, they sure know who they like & don't like. :lol: Taking video helps a ton. Sounds like you both are becoming more balanced. It takes time! YouTube is fun!!

Having him more fit/balanced, will help you become more balanced. Working on yourself will be good too. It'll be easier now since he is feeling better. You will both help each other! He is so cute. LOL, love the 'ears' :lol:


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

So long time no update lol. July has been a bit of a busy month for Jet and I. I did my certification test for Pony Club, and passed, so now I am a D1. Yay! Jet has been doing really well in his lessons as well. 

We participated in an Allie Sacksen Clinic, which was fun. I signed up to do Crossrails, and learned that I have to learn to sit back, and not get ahead of myself when going to jump Jet. I also tried to canter in the clinic, and that still was a bit work, but got a stride I think? 

We also did a photo shoot, and that was fun! The Photographer is basically doing a Project on People and their Heart Horses, and she came to our barn to get most of us who signed up for it. To participate, all we had to do was make a donation to an animal shelter, and pay for her gas. In return, we each get 5 to 8 photos that she took. It was a wonderful experience, and Jet was quite a character to his shoot. To get his attention, they would play horse’s recorded whinny. Jet would perk his ears and whinny back every time! It was so cute!

As far as lessons go, we have been steadily progressing! In the last lesson, I managed to get four strides of canter out of Jet. It seems like we gets bit more every time, which makes me hopefully that eventually, maybe I will get a full lap of canter! It just takes a lot of patience and hard work. The lessons have been mainly focused on position work for myself, and a bit more on getting Jet used to jumping, and finding his feet. He seems to be at a point where he is very fit, and balanced. He’s really developing into a lovely mount, and When I do get a jump out of him, he has a lovely position! 

Another thing that I have been doing lately with Jet is taking him out on hacks. He is an angel when going out on the trail, and I could feel him really enjoying it, he marches forward eagerly, ears perked, and his body feels totally relaxed. For now, when I go out hacking, I go out with someone else, just so that I can get comfortable with the route, and comfortable with taking Jet out and feeling out his reactions. It’s also nicer to have that sort of company out on the trail. Eventually, I might take the plunge and go out alone with Jet. Maybe after a lesson, or after doing some arena work. I can see how much he enjoys that sort of wind down time, and it’s good for both of us! 

Oooh and I trimmed Jet’s mane so he can stay a bit cooler for the summer, and to see if I like him better with a trimmed mane. He looks pretty cute with it; like a proper little English pony! I had another friend help me with the process, and she checked on my work after I was finished. It wasn’t too bad of a mane trim, and she fixed up the bits that needed fixing. I am glad for the first time in mane trimming, I didn’t do too bad of a job lol! 

Next week is another busy week at the barn. Thursday is another clinic, and Saturday is a Pony Club Meeting. That’s all the updates that I have. I am sure there will be plenty more! 


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

The photoshoot pictures are in, and they look simply beautiful! I am so happy with how they came out, and how Jet looks in them. It just makes me want to do more photoshoots with my little guy. 

Last week, I rode Jet on Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday. He was a good pony for all three days! On Wednesday, I did a bit of crossrail work with him, and a bit of flatwork with him. He's really starting to come together, and he felt a little different in the way he carried himself at the trot! I could feel him leaning into the contact more, and feel him lifting his back, and getting into a lovely floaty trot. It's a lovely feeling that I am steadily feeling more and more with him when I ride. I also tried my hand at cantering him by myself, though that wasn't successful lol! He just went into his racey ex harness racer trot. 

Thursday, was another clinic, and I did a crossrail course with Jet. It went rather well, and Jet was a good sport about it! He went over the smaller set crossrails with confidence. When they got a bit bigger, he hesitated and would slow to a walk before going over them. The clinician told me that I just have to encourage him over with a little tap tap, and that worked! I think he just has to develop the confidence to go over the slightly bigger crossrails. I think when she raised them, they were only raised to about 18" and it was only two of them that were raised. Another trick that the clinician used was a ground pole set before the crossrail, which worked as well and got him thinking into jumping mode! He does have a lovely form when he does pop over them. I probably have high hopes for my little guy lol!

Saturday was the Pony Club mounted meeting, all focused on flat work. My trainer had us all do an exercise with straws! We all had two straws in our hands, and the exercise was to try to keep them as parallel as possible while riding. We also did, or try to do a bit of canter work, which was a bit of a bust lol. My trainer experimented when it was my turn. We had another rider in the group in front of me, with Jet following. When the rider picked up canter with her horse, I tried to cue for canter with Jet. Instead, Jet kept the pace with his ex harness racer trot, and carried on, even going as far as to try to pass the other horse lol! We were all like "come on Jet, go go!" When that was a bust, I suggested something that I read on one of the various forums about getting ex harness racers to canter. I suggested trying a walk to canter transition. So, we tried it, and it was kind of a success? He did get one stride of it at least!

Today was a regular lesson on Jet, this time, split into some groundwork, some mounted work, and then with some work on the lunge line with me on top of him! My trainer had me do some walk to trot transitions on the ground with Jet, before trying to get him to canter on the line. We were working on really getting the hang of using the specific voice cue for canter, and getting Jet used to it. I had to stop mid way through and watch my trainer because the lunge whip was very heavily weighted and my arm just died lol! So, my trainer came in to help out and get him moving! He does pull out a lovely canter on the lunge, and canters more easily than when mounted. She managed to get a whole circle lap of him cantering on the lunge.

Next, she had me mount him to do some flatwork exercises, and to build my confidence up about riding in the indoor. Yeah, we were stuck in the indoor today because the outdoor was a soupy mess! I feel like a horse sometimes about that indoor now! All I could think about was the stupid spooky back door! My trainer had me singing the ABCs and other songs to keep me focused, and in rhythm, and to not think about the spooky door, and it worked! The singing helped me breath, and I was just focused on getting a perfect trot around the whole arena with Jet. Jet felt really good, and floaty, and again, I felt the same feeling I did on Wednesday, with him leaning into the contact! It's a beautiful feeling once I have him in, and my trainer was complimenting on how he looked, and how everything just looked in rhythm, and perfect. I think I am really starting to get the hang and feel for when he is on the contact, and the feel for when he is really using his body and working. 

After trotting a few laps, my trainer put a ground pole out. Another experiment! The plan was to ask Jet over the ground pole for a canter! We tried it, both ways, and I ended up getting half a stride. I told my trainer that I think I maybe confusing him, because I think I am unintentionally pulling on the reins, and giving him mixed signals without meaning to at times! My trainer agreed. She says my body is in a good position where I lean back now, and sit tall, and I ask correctly. My hands are just giving mixed signals. So, after getting at least a half a stride, she put me on the lunge with Jet, took away the reins, and we worked on my sitting trot. I could actually sit his trot! It was so nice being on the lunge and focusing on my position more. It felt like my lower leg went into more of a relaxed mode for some reason? When we ended the lesson, we started to develop a new game plan for the Jet canter debacle. We are going to work him on the ground for now, get the vocal cue for canter more solid, and then we are going to steadily work up to where she lunges me around on Jet, and then I ask for the leg cue for canter up there with the vocal cue, and without my reins, so I am not unintentionally pulling on his mouth, and he gets a more solid understanding of what has to be done. I am really looking forward to this plan of action and hope that eventually, it all comes together. We are also still going to try other little tips and tricks with him. Another tip that I want to try someday is trying to ask over a small crossrail, since he seems to really love going over them! On Wednesday, when I was taking him over one, it almost felt like he was going to fall into a canter.

My friend and I are also going to try to go on hacks together, and try over hills, since he seems to get it easier when going up a hill! I'm sure eventually, combining all these little tricks and tips will get Jet in a canter. 

Next week, Jet has his dental appointment sometime in the morning, so no riding. Maybe I will do some groundwork before his appointment. There's also another Pony Club unmounted meeting on Saturday, and then on Sunday, the whole Pony Club is going to Knoebels for a Pony Club trip! I am really looking forward to what next week brings!


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Oh yeah here are the photos lol! Forgot to post them














































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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

What beautiful photos!  So happy you and Jet are really progressing.


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## Tihannah (Apr 7, 2015)

GORGEOUS photos!!


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

Thanks guys! I found out the photographer is coming again on September 29th! I might go, not sure yet. I would love to get some fall shots!










Not much has been really going on as far as barn stuff goes. My trainer has been on vacation for two weeks, so I have been riding on my own and going back to lunging Jet to work more heavily on the vocal aid for canter. When riding, I just love riding his trot now. When he gets really into it, he feels so nice, floaty, and put together. Last Wednesday, I worked on some lunging, then mounted up to work on transitions from halt to trot, and to try to get him to stand square down the centre line. He likes to do this thing when halting at the centre line, where he has to reposition himself so that he stands slightly crooked. It’s kind of funny lol. He doesn’t do so when we halt against the rail, only the centre line. He started to get the hang of it, little by little. It’s a work in progress but we will get there eventually.

My trainer comes back this week so I will have a lesson this Wednesday. I am looking forward to it, and wonder what we will do. 


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

Fall shots would be lovely!  Go for it! You are both very photogenic together!

I'm glad his trot is feeling better. It's good you've been working on stuff with him despite your trainer being away. I hope you had a good lesson, keep us posted!


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## Phantomrose (Jul 25, 2016)

It’s been a rather long time since I posted, and I feel like Jet and are have been making some progress, or at least I have been making progress in regards to my position under saddle.

Most lessons are now based on working on my lower leg position, and position of my body in general. I am happy to say that my lower leg is improving, and I am getting the concept of sitting straight, tall, and on my seat bones in the saddle, and how if offers me a more secure position. My body still tends to lean a bit forward, but now it seems to want to do that when doing small turns. 

Jet’s trot feels so nice to ride now. It seems like I can work on my sitting trot more with him, and he feels more balanced than ever, which I am happy about. 

Going over crossrails is still a work in progress lol. He goes over, but just needs that extra encouragement. In the most recent lesson, I used the crop behind my leg, rather than on his shoulder and found a huge difference in his forward movement! I found that tapping behind the leg is much more effective than tapping him on the shoulder when wanting him to move forward. He sometimes tends to get a bit lazy, and I usually tap him on the shoulder, which encourages a bit, but not as much as the additional aid behind my leg. Just one tap behind my leg and he’s good! 

Haven’t done much cantering with him, though I think the main focus is all on improving my body position first. He did canter about one or two strides after going over a crossrail in one lesson though, which is good!

I have another lesson next Wednesday, and then next Sunday I am going to a clinic at the barn, which should be exciting. 

In other news, got my Spousal Visa application for England sorted. Now I just have to gather documents and evidence. Hubby also revealed to me some exciting news; he will pay for my horse to move over to England, when the time comes for it. I am so thankful for him to do that, and so happy that he’s going to fully help in getting Jet over there. I’m suppose to be heading to England for a month, from December 9th to January 9th to spend the holidays, and to gather some documents from him for the rest of my Visa app. The plan is to send everything in come January or February, and then hopefully get accepted! 

In the meantime, also going to get some quotes from some horse transport companies, and do some research into some liveries in England. I know it’s going to be a long process, but I know it is all worth it. I am pretty excited for this next chapter, and excited for the next journey in my Equestrian life with Jet as well. I feel like my husband and I are going to actually start our lives together, and that we have more of a set and stable (no pun intended) plan. 


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