I am a ninja!

That's right. But before I get to the juicy details I need to mention that last week I only was able to work monster man two times. And our ride on Thursday was literally  10 minutes(in the pond field) - wayyy too hot. Then on Saturday we was HYPER. He got the notion in his head that when trotting around the far side he need to take off and run the other way. Possibly even smack into a fence. It took some coaxing but he finally managed to get it straight in his head. Other than that he was fantastic. He gave me some of the best trot and canter work we've had in a while.We even did some canter pole work - FANCY I know!

[caption id="attachment_109" align="aligncenter" width="300"] I don't like the heat![/caption]

So all  of that leads us upto yesterday. We headed back out to the pond field to spice things up a bit. I had envisioned a nice trot set up and down the nice little hills out there. We warmed up and walked around for a few. Then I asked for the trot. He was nice and forward, as we went along he started to loose forward and begin to rush. I might add I was in two-point through all of this. Then next thing you know we are running down the side of the field heading for trees and a hill. I nicely ask him to slow back down - benefit of the doubt right? He emphatically said no. Which then led to him jerking his head down and proceeding to do his best impression of a bucking bronco. I have no clue how I didn't come off. I mean I was in two-point I should have flow. But no I am a NINJA. After I finally got his head and got him slowed down we went back around for round two. He was nice a polite then. Go figure. Then for the remainder of our hack he was a perfect gentleman. Goober boy.

[caption id="attachment_110" align="aligncenter" width="300"] I'm innocent, I'm no bucking bronco.[/caption]

Also little man had decided he's too shy to pee while I'm on him. I know he has to go, he stops likes he's going to then doesn't. So when I get off almost immediately he pee's forever. Poor guy if only he knew.

I also worked Midnite for a bit yesterday. You can tell the adequan is making a big difference. However she has decided that outside aids are a no go. So we spend the majority of our ride working on yes you really do have to listen to these. Silly mare. She tries her hardest to get out of work. But I guess she doesn't realize what all I go through with Poncho so that her little "tricks" are nothing to me. haha.

Just in the nick of time and the pinnacle of Poncho's weekend.

To start off I'd like to mention that Poncho has been "punished" by the barn. Apparently they think he's been liberating his friends from their grazing muzzles. Because apparently they are too stupid to realize they can rub them off, or pop them off (some have breakaway ones). Even though I have witnessed some of them do just that. But noo it must be Poncho ruining their best laid plans. So poor little man has been kicked into the "diet" field again (atleast it's only at night time - although that does mean he misses his friends). Poor, poor Poncho.

Moving on yesterday started out as a beautiful sunny day, a little cool but beautiful non-the-less. I got out to the barn around 11 and it was just starting to get slightly cloudy - no worries though. I went to get Poncho and he whinnied for me and came halfway to me (come on he can't give me coming all the way over - too much effort) so I met him halfway. He was so super calm while I was grooming and tacking up. To speed up the process he even stretched his legs out for me. It was priceless. I decided to ride out in the gelding field so we cut across the ring so as to not walk across to much gravel. (I think I'm going to have to put shoes back on him for the summer BOO.) Since he did just exfoliate his whole sole on his fronts. We lucked out and managed to snag a few minutes riding with another lady at the barn. I love the opportunity for Poncho to work with others and still keep his focus. He was a smidge uppity jogging and jigging sporadically. No biggie I mean for the last two weeks he's only been worked 3 days a week when he clearly needs and likes 5-6 days. Once our riding buddy finished we headed to the ring to blow off some steam with some nice trot work. I didn't feel like pushing the canter. Good thing too. He gave some lovely trot work and is improving on softening to the bit with each ride. After about 8 minutes of that we called it a day. And once I turned him out and was giving him a nice wither scratch (I might add he liked it soo much he groomed me back too so cute) it started drizzling. So I figured okay a little mist while I work Nite no biggie. Then it really started to rain. DAMN I didn't bring my rain coat. So I called up mom and she gave me the okay to not bother. Score. As I was leaving Midnite was hiding out in the run-in. Poncho true to form was out in the open getting poured on. What can I say he's a nature lover.

Today I was planning on hacking out in the mare field with Mom and Midnite. Poncho was ecstatic. He finally infiltrated the lady field with all their lady like smells. He was nice and forward and coming on to the bit. However Miss Nite decided she was not having it there could be no boy in her field. She got real cranky and unresponsive to mom. So we left and headed to the ring. Poor Poncho he was so upset that he had to leave since he had finally reached his ultimate goal. However in the ring he was a superstar. Even though it was majorly sloppy from all the rain (luckily mainly only on one side). His trot work was some of the best I've had in a while. His canter to the right wasn't half bad. To the left he just didn't want to give me the lead, he finally did but I had to work my ass off for it. Then we took a mini break. To keep up with his memory we were going to do the cross rail again. I clearly need to come up with a new plan of action for our rides now that we are adding a few jumps in. He gets so frazzled with his lead issue that jumping is just too much. After two tries and knocking it down I hopped off to fix it. Then walked around to regroup some. We came at it from the other direction this time. It took several tries he just wants to rush. (Que placing poles next time -coulda, woulda, shoulda) Finally we managed to get over it twice. It wasn't pretty by any means but I praised him like crazy anyways. We just have to work through this small mind block he's got going on and then we'll be golden. I know he can jump like a beast.

Not much accomplished, but none the less fun.

Last Sunday we had a nice ride in the outdoor. We did things a little different, we ended up cantering more towards the beginning of our ride rather than later. He seemed a bit more supple in the canter when we did it this way. Also we did a bit of polework.

Monday we took down the jumps down to set up some new pole patters. A nice circle, a straight line, and a zig-zag. Poncho was going lovely until he saw the blue gate on the side. Then he was quite determined it was out to get him. He was pretty much on the verge of meltdown mode any second. But I was so proud of him for holding it together - he kept his cool. We ended up getting some nice trot work over the poles, atleast when we could maneuver ourselves away from the gate. Silly pony.

Then I had a busy, busy week at work and didn't get back out to the barn until yesterday. I got a little over ambitious and wanted to go out on the trail. We did go out, but it wasn't pretty or productive. He was pretty spooky from a tractor at the neighboring farm. We stayed out for a little while. However I wasn't able to bring him around. So we left. I wanted to end out a good note so we headed to the ring so I could get him to gather his thoughts again. After I got him listening, somewhat there was another horse in the ring, we headed to the gelding field, FINALLY, to ride. He was super out there. Could not have been more proud.



Today I put my spurs back on. I did also order some soft touch ones since I know Pony doesn't really like my regular ones. However he did need to wake up to my leg a bit. So back on they went. Well I don't know what was up with Poncho but he had an attitude from the get go. We did some polework (like what we did last time) then just trotted around to loosen up. When I went to ask for the canter he almost immediately got 'tude. He got a bit bracey and the tried to throw in a little buck. Then I kind of went down hill from there. He didn't really want to stay in the canter when I got him going and he kept on bucking sporadically. I at some point took off my spurs in a vain attempt. He was still really jerkish. And he did still give me one real big buck, as in I almost went flying out of the ring buck, so I cracked him hard on the neck with my whip. He settled down a bit after that and we were able to get in some quality trot and canter work. I was determined we would end on a good note so I'm pleased it happened.

Then he got a nice bath and we hung out for awhile while he wore his cooler to dry off a little before turning him back out.

Starting to get back in the swing of things.

This week definitely has been more conducive to riding - therefore it's been a productive week by my terms. I got three rides in (plus I'll have one today).

Tuesday was a not all to effective ride. It started off with him freaking out at everything while I was tacking up. Which led to him spazzing out constantly during the ride. We never even went above a walk for crying out lout. So in the grand scheme of things Tuesday = fail. But I wasn't too bummed about it. It had been 16 days since our last "working" ride. (We did however have several hacks in between this time.)

Wednesday the ring was still mega mucky from all the rain we've been having so we stuck to w/t work. We managed to get in some nice pole work. He was quite forward and responsive for most of the ride. I also worked on my two-point work. 3 minutes straight - not too bad for neglecting it for a few weeks. So Wednesday = success.

Thursday I was in a bit of a race against daylight. We only worked for 15 minutes. But in that time we got some work done. We did a little more pole work - including working on two poles in a circle along with our regular work. We did some quick canters to let him blow off some steam. His left lead was fantastic. His right was stiff and not straight. There was even one spot in the ring where he would not bend for anything and we had to break to the trot. I am not all too surprised since that's his bad lead and he looses his suppleness when he doesn't consistently canter that way. So in a few rides we should be back to normal. If not we'll explore other options. Then we had a nice cool out walk in which he thought the mounting block might eat him, so funny. So Thurday = PRODUCTIVE!

Poncho, the superstar.

Yesterday I finished up at work early so I managed to squeeze out to the barn. I lucked out and ended up being the only one there! So I changed and went out to grab Ponch man. I decided on a whim to do a quick sheath cleaning before our ride. He can get kind of cranky if he's got a little (and I do mean little) bean up there. He did. I got it. He kicked out. He calmed down. He got treats. Simple time to move on. We tacked up and headed for the ring. I needed to move some poles out of the way so Poncho tagged along with me.

He was bit iffy at the mounting block. Not unusual these days. Don't know what's gotten into him. So we worked on that a little. We warmed up by just meandering around for a little getting him to listen to my leg for direction not leaning on the reins. (we were in the hackamore)  Then we moved onto trotting where he promptly gave me his I can't and won't do this attitude. Where I promptly slid the reins through my fingers kicked and smacked him with the whip. He was not convinced immediately. It took a couple of times. But then he just surged forward and gave me some of the best trot work to date. We did some pole work that was already set up nothing fancy or difficult. After doing that a few times we cantered each direction. He was very forward in his canter it was very nice. His left lead is still far better than his right. He still gets sticky on his right in the "stop" corner. We worked on that too and came to a nice understanding and it only took one kick and one buck! Proud. Then we walked around for a few because at this point I was huffing and puffing. We picked up our trot work again and trotted a circle in each corner, both directions to get him supple. We did some leg yields at the trot - which I was super impressed with for our first time trying them. Did a little more pole work. Then I did a lap of two point in each direction, I wanted to start of slow with it and not kill myself. However come to find out i'm not even remotely sore today from it.After we were done I needed my vest so to the car we went. Where Poncho found it fascinating that I could "disappear". Then I did lots more grooming on him. Love to pamper pony. He was bombarded with treats and attention out in the field too. I was just over the moon with how he went. I was even kind of bummed that there was no one around to see my super pony in action.!!!

Some more rides and some dissapointment.

I've squeezed in three more rides since my last post. On Sunday Poncho was spectacularly forward compared to the previous. He still was a  little hesitant about the bit. We got in some nice, nice work until a grey horse showed up. He was floaty over the poles. He was forward in the trot. He had a zooming canter. Now I found out over the summer than Poncho has an unhealthy obsession with greys. He is just head over heels for them. Example; we were cantering around at a good pace we go to pass said grey horse, Poncho starts really collecting his trot so he's almost hopping so as not to pass the horse. Then over the summer he would scream for them and try to grab the bit and run to them. Interesting I think. I don't know what it is about greys. But it sure is funny.

Monday It was just m. He was brilliant I can't believe there was no one there to see. His canter was pure perfection there's not much I can really say other than I was head over heels impressed with him. To give him a reward we hacked around outside of the barn a little. I had to open the gate from on his back, wow, was that comical. He figured out opening it but I couldn't get him to understand closing it. So that's for another day.

Tuesday was a bit of damper - not bad but in comparison not great. He is definitely bored in the ring, so am I but the stars haven't aligned to leave the ring lately. (but mark my words come Saturday we will be out of it) He was a lot less forward. He was kind of stumbly (he gets that way when he puts no effort into his work). So to liven him up I decided to jump. We got 5 refusals before I decided to just canter hard at the jump and he got the point then. Silly pony must have forgotten he can in fact trot jumps. We did also have some glimmers of him going on the bit. We also had some moments where he was bracing his jaw soo hard. It was a very back and forth kind of ride - but it came together in the end. Also when I got off  I noticed my chaps popped a hole by the zipper - so sad. Hopefully I can replace them soon.

The day Poncho lost his mind, and then he got his teeth done.

What an interesting last two days we've had. Tuesday I got off work early which equals barn time! So I got out there as quickly as I could to grab Poncho and get a quick ride in. The weather has gone sporadic again and it was quite warm out. Being as it had warmed up Poncho lost his mind. Yepp. He broke out of the cross ties twice. He snorted and jumped at the gate to the ring. The white barrels (that are always in the same spot I may add) were going to eat him. And there was a monster behind the run-in shed. But while all this was happening we were able to get some decent work put in. We got some spectacular trot work. Our canter was a bit iffy. When he was on he was on. Nice forward momentum and nice and supple. However when he wasn't it got yucky, he would rush and try to buck. His little bratty moments even caused him to slip once. But on the other hand he successfully completed his first simple change! Proud moment.We did a little bit of polework too. It's been awhile since he's done consecutive trot poles so at first he was funky. Ha. Very back and forth. BUT after a go around he was a pro. There is just nothing better than the feel of his trot when he really gets going over those trot poles.

Today we were scheduled to get the ponies teeth floated. At work one day we were talking about riding horses before their teeth got done. So I decided to try and ride Mr. Ponch Man beforehand. There we other people riding so it was a good test for Poncho's concentration. We did some trot poles again. His trot was even better than yesterday. Luckily I was able to get one great canter in on the left lead. He was superb compared to yesterday. It was just a bit tricky to work around everyone in the ring (not everyone looks out for others GAHHH.) I digress he was awesome today. His mind was once again recovered. (Minus a few more blips at the cross ties.)

Then on to the teeth floating, I still can't believe I get paid for working on my own horses, the ponies weren't to happy to be put in the stalls. But once things got rolling they settled. We started off with Midnite - good thing too she was sleeeepy afterwards. Poncho was much better getting his sedation (we still needed a grain bucket though). The riding beforehand did wonders he was a perfect gentleman. He did however do a couple of his snorts at us. Goof-ball. Everyone woke up fairly quickly, in comparison to previous times. Midnite went back to her field while Poncho munched on his dinner. When we left everyone was happily munching in their fields.

So far, so good.

I want to catch everyone up before I jump right into what's going on now. So bear with me, this may get long.

 

This was the first year, that I can recall, where I started off the new year on horseback . I got off of work (my old job) early and ran out to the barn as fast as I could. It was bitter cold and super windy. But I was going to ride no matter what. And I did. Poncho was superb as per usual. However we did only walk and trot because the wind was just horrendous. Although it was not as bad as the following day, Monday. WOW. I only rode for about 10 minutes because the wind literally hurt my face. Even though those two days were mega-short and mega-unproductive in most senses. I did at least get a feel for my new tack. My new saddle a duett allegro, which I got for a steal on e-bay. It is oh so comfy and Poncho loves it. And my new hackamore, thanks to my wonderful parents, because he got fussy with the bit (he's scheduled for a teeth floating in two weeks YAY).

Wednesday I was able to step-up the work some. We were finally able to walk, trot, and canter. We even managed some polework. Unfortunately we did encounter some issues this ride. It all started off kind of rocky. When I went to get him from the field he was running around like a lunatic with his buddy. After wrangling him up he seemed to settle down some. But then at the mounting block he was trying to walk off before I finished getting on. Which he knows is a no-no. He wasn't too forward in his trot when we first started. And then he tried rooting several times, luckily I was able to figure out he was only doing it in relation to what Midnite was doing. To wake him up a bit we went over some poles a couple of times. Then we cantered only on his left lead though. He was superb in the canter. He was nice and forward it was a big change from just a few weeks ago. After the nice canter we got some wonderful trot work in afterwards. I was super pleased with him come the end of the ride. Then Midnite got some attitude with mom. She was not happy to be worked and made well known. She was attempting to bolt, balk, and just in general being bratty. Mom got her to work out of it but it was not a fun workout.

Saturday we did some work ring work. We worked on our canter a bit more. On his right lead he needed a bit of work. He was a bit sluggish on it and he kept trying to drift in. After a couple of attempts though he worked out of it and was offering up some nice work. On his left lead he was superb, naturally. We briefly did some polework, not much though.  And he only rooted a few times - much improved from the last ride.

Sunday we hacked out in the pond field. It was a bit frozen out there so we only trotted briefly. Mainly we spent our time just enjoying the scenery.

Wednesday started off pretty rocky. I'll start off by prefacing on Sunday our Barn Manager accidentally opened a garage door right in front of our horses freaking them out - Midnite got loose. So everyone was fine until they weren't first Midnite busted her lead rope and tried to run. Mom got her back and then Poncho split his halter in half and tried to run. I luckily was able to cling onto him and the saddle to prevent even more disaster. Once we got them wrangled up again and got out to the wring things improved dramatically. Poncho was trotting super forward and lovely. We did lots of pole work. Mainly going over poles that we placed in between the standards (he's afraid of them). The first time over we did this odd hoppity kind of maneuver.  Second time around he was a champ. We did that several times and then I asked for a canter. Holy Moly, we flew sideways about half a stride away from the ground pole. So he jumped it and then looks back like what the heck just happened. haha. So we re-did the canter and got a successful one. But before we could do much more work it started raining so we headed in. Midnite did a lot of pole work too. She had a different course to maneuver through though I think she did it quite well. We got their blankets on and then headed to the tack store to replace the massacred halters.