Sunday, March 22, 2009

Amazing weekend at the barn.

I didn't do much on Friday because I got home late, but I did play with Stella a little bit and chat with Larry and Jean in the house. 
I cleaned stalls on Saturday, and I also got a chance to ride Stella. Stella was a very good girl. She was really excited about cantering, though. She broke into a canter a few times while we were trotting, so I decided to let her canter and canter for a long time. She was very, very happy. She knows that I know what she wants. We had lots of fun, and I really let her go. There's nothing quite like that feeling, really. Our right lead canter was a little bit better than our left, probably because of my hip. It's slowly going back to what it was, so I'm probably going to make another appointment with the chiropractor very soon. I don't want to go back to limping and hurting every time I ride. 
I also rode Tatiana for a little bit. I walked her and trotted her around, working her off my leg (Yes, I could actually use my legs!) and getting her to soften up. She has such a lovely trot. One day she's going to make a lovely western pleasure horse for Jean :) Jean actually rode her for the first time yesterday. I just longed her, schooled her a bit, and then Jean walked her little girl around. She seemed like she was having fun, and I'm sure it's been exciting to watch the little filly she bought at a veterinary college grow into a nice riding horse. 
I had a great time today, too. Larry brought Mindy over to ride. My sister, Elizabeth, Mindy, and I schooled in the arena for a while. Stella was being very, very good for me. I also felt really good. We had a few of "those" moments. It was beautiful. Then, Mindy and Elizabeth went out to jump in Elizabeth's yard. Since Stella and I were having such a beautiful ride, I wanted to stay in the arena and work on our flatwork.
Larry started to fuss at me after a while and told me to bring Stella out to the jumps. I really didn't want to, but I did anyway. 
This is really hard for me to admit, but I don't feel confident over fences yet. I'm not afraid, I just don't feel confident the way I do on the flat. On the flat, I know that I know what I'm doing, and I've worked through just about everything a horse can throw at me. Over fences, I just don't have that self-assured feeling yet. 
I did end up jumping Stella over the jumps once or twice. I decided to end on a good note. We did actually have some nice jumps. I felt like I was riding pretty well. She's also very athletic and she jumps beautifully. If I can fix my hip completely, get a little more experience under my belt, and convince Stella that jumps don't always bite, we'll be unstoppable. I'm glad I got out there and gave it a try. Things would be so much better if we were in the arena (at least for my poor little mind), but today was a much-needed jumping confidence boost. 
We also rode bareback when we got back to the barn. I walked Stella around bareback for a little bit, but I really didn't want to trot because her withers hurt really bad. Mindy and I switched horses after a while. She wanted to race Stella around the barn with Elizabeth on Sydney, so I got on lazy Tina. We did lots of sidepassing and a little bit of walking, but we really didn't trot. She's lazy. I did place an order to Pizza Hut while sitting on her back. The woman thought I was insane, but that's okay.
We all ate pizza on the porch before I had to leave. It was fun :) Before we rode, we also made a water balloon (AKA latex exam glove filled with water) catapult with a shovel on the top rail of the fence. The "water balloon" didn't go very far, but it was absolutely epic to watch it explode.
Who will I ride tomorrow?
(Oh, and I rode Jeff and Calibur for our flat lesson last Wednesday. They were both very good. Calibur was a little faster than Jeff, and he also couldn't walk a straight line to save his life. They were both pretty tall, and they were both bay geldings.)

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