Contrary: Lesson Recap 4/11

The title doesn't have to do with Katai being contrary but with what we asked her to do.

We started counter canter!!!! The lesson was pretty short and specific. Katai hasn't been getting worked as much with all of my traveling and her soreness plus with her shots she was still pretty sore through the neck. We worked on spiraling, getting my upper leg on, a couple of leg yields and then tried some counter canter.

My shopping trip on the way to the barn yesterday
Carrots for Katai, dried mangos for me, and doggy kibble for Veggie
I also got some stuff for braiding so that I can start to practice

First, Katai was SO GOOD!! No extra tension, excitement, or sassiness. She was just calm and trying hard to understand what I was asking. I was fumbling since it's the first time I've tried shallow serpentines at the canter and she just patiently let me figure it out.

In the end she only broke once and even to the right which is her tougher canter lead she did a great job. We also had her cantering for longer than typical and she never once refused or was sassy about that. I didn't even get a head toss or pinned ears. I actually think she sort of enjoyed playing with something new :)

I ended up getting a couple of good tries in each direction and after doing some stretchy trot we ended there.

Only in a horse barn.
It's the cheese stick next to the syringe that really kills me ;)

I'm feeling really motivated and ready to get back on track this week but unfortunately with all of her appointments I've been needing to take it easy. My plan is to pick things up seriously tomorrow and get her back on a fitness/regular riding plan.

Sorry for the random food item photos. Hopefully I can get more riding media soon!

Movings In

This is just a short update post but I'll write more soon and share more pictures once I have a chance to settle in a bit.

The move went really well despite the horrible heat and humidity that made it tough to breath while walking much less do anything actually taxing. It was up to 95 with 82% humidity by the time we were getting ready to load Katai and I think the news said that it felt like it was over 100.

Katai was a rockstar and loaded right into the two horse straight load without batting an eye. I think she loaded in about 5-10 minutes and other than a couple calls she rode really well. When I went to unload her though she was soaked in sweat despite the fact that we left every possible window and vent open. It really was extremely hot to haul but without having a trailer I'm at everyone else's mercy and this was my last option.

Once I had her in her new stall and eating a nice pile of hay I unloaded my stuff and then went to get her rinsed off. I rinsed her, scraped her, and parked both of us in front of a fan. She was a little too quiet and was almost asleep so just to be sure I rinsed her and scraped her again and then back in front of the huge fan. I kept turning her so that all of her would dry since leaving that water on in that heat and humidity wouldn't have been helpful. She did perk up a little and was more interested in her hay so I finally left with instructions to call me if anything seemed off.

On Sunday I went back to check on her, thankfully there was no call the night before, and had no plans of riding. I was pleased to see that she seemed like a slightly tired version of her normal self and other than being a little afraid of the slightly crabby mare she's turned out with for now she seems fine. I stuffed her with carrots, organized a few more things, stuffed her even more with carrots and then headed home.

     #MareGlare

     #Handsareforcarrotsnotpictures

Tonight I finally went out to ride and she was SOOOO good! She was speedier than she has been recently but otherwise she was brilliant. Not spooky and giving me the same quality of work that she was at the previous barn. She felt strong and ready to go and I blame the speedy on the change from full pasture to stall, new place, and a few days off. I'm going to plan to ride Tue, Wed, Sat, Sun so with my ride today that's five rides in seven days and after that I'll get back to my normal proposed schedule.

I can't wait to ride tomorrow!!'