Hot as hell(attempt2)

Wordpress happened to eat my last post leaving me without motivation to try again. So here we go...

I suppose now it was a week ago that we had those horrible storms. Due to that Poncho had Friday and Saturday off. On Sunday I wasn't planning on riding but Midnite lost her flymask so I offered to hack Poncho around to see if I could see it. Well the good news is I found it, eventually. However Poncho was H-Y-P-E-R! Before I even got all the way in the saddle he was trotting off. I managed to wrangle him into walking for a few steps at a time. But for the most part we trotted the whole 14 acres attempting to spot the flymask. I had figured at the time even if I didn't see it he would and we'd be flying sideways so i'd know it had been found. After finding he had a moment of some bucking, hopping, and squealing. Silly dude so we went to the ring for some productive energy burning work. And work we did. Lots of circles by the end I was actually really proud of our circles. They were actually CIRCLES! Score. Boy did he have a powerful trot that day. We never even cantered because by the time we got to that point we were both so drenched.

Monday and Tuesday pony had off.



Wednesday he was lacking his usual spunk but put in a respectable session. I figure he was still tired from being shod the previous day. He did not approve of Midnite being gone so long during her turn and proceeded to run and run and run some more around the field. Needless to say he was a tried and sweaty boy. So I didn't push the ride too much. Afterwards to reward him we hacked around the back of the barn for a change of scenery.

Thursday he had off.

Friday I wanted to have a nice hack in the pond field just to clear our minds. Instead we ended up burning off some energy. That morning Poncho got a new buddy, TC, who decided he just loooooves Poncho as in screaming his head off the whole time we are gone love. Poncho was trotting around off and on like the previous Sunday but much more controlled, thank goodness. We finally calmed down some when TC realized where we were. So he came running. Poncho was paying attention. Neither was I. Next thing you know we are facing the opposite direction just hauling ass back towards the run-in in that field. Holly cow it took about 5 strides for me to even process what happened. Luckily he came back fairly quickly and he walked semi-calmly back to the scary place. We ended it shortly after that so as not to push our luck too much.

Saturday we got out to the barn too late. So I just hosed him off.



Today however time was on our side. We started off in the ring just to make sure he was listening and TC's frantic running wouldn't spook him too much today. I put on my spurs to try and help with our cantering I though I may get a clearer aid to him. He was not too focused but complied with what I asked. He had 2 almost bolts one due to TC and one due to the BO's daugther coming onto their balcony and screaming at TC. I managed to get a right lead canter that he didn't fall in as much as usual. I got the left lead on the FIRST try, spurs = success! It was amazing he was wicked fast though. But I love his enthusiasm when he gets it right. Then we trotted a little more, cooled out and then headed out back around the barn to the mare field for a quick hack out there. Soon it will be open again to hack it all the time SCORE. Then he got hosed off and I gave him breakfast.

Perfection to "okay" to scared to great, all in a week.

Poncho's first ride in his figure 8 was perfect. He was going on the bit and just moving out beautifully! I was over the moon impressed with him. Just a lovely, lovely, lovely ride. The next day he decided he was a bit tired of the ring and put on his pouty face. I also had lowered the bit a hole to try and make it more comfortable (however he said he likes it better higher - go figure). After riding in the ring for a while we hacked out in the mare field he looooved that. We even trotted all they way back up the field, although Poncho thought we should go faster. He obliged and trotted, just really fast.

Monday he was off, then on Tuesday we headed back out to the mare field for a change of scenery. However the cows were out next door. That blew his poor mind. He finally conquered the cow then they moved and we had to start all over. We ended up just trotting around the area by the barn and even though he wasn't 100% focused he was good.

Wednesday we hacked out in the gelding field with Mom and Midnite - just walked. Poncho was not too amused with all the slow work. So after he had Thursday off on Friday we headed back out to the gelding field to let him let loose. After trotting around the field (in all two-point for me) I let him just go down the field. And boy did he appreciate it. He was flying, not really just for the work we are doing now. After walking around for a few then I wanted to just trot back down the field. He didn't agree. About 1/2 way down I couldn't hold him back anymore. So he had a nice collected canter all the way back. Silly.

Yesterday he was a superstar! He was soooo hyper we had to canter it out before we could do any productive work. Although he still really doesn't want to pick up his left lead in there we finally got it. We even did some jumping! Only a little cross rail but it's the first time he's jumped without refusing when he has a bit in his mouth. I was just so so so happy! I didn't get the best trot work ever he just wanted to go go go . But I was still super pleased with him.

Today I was planning on just giving him a bath. Good thing too it turns out he pulled a shoe this morning. Apparently he had it when he was leaving the pond field this morning and pulled it in the few hours he was in the mare field with Midnite before we got there. Luckily the farrier is coming out Wednesday for another horse so Pony gets a new shoe. I couldn't find his lost one though, not for lack of trying. My mom and I were out there looking for over an hour today. Poncho and Midnite even helped us look for a while. It was pretty adorable! Nothing though! Needless to say on the way home I stopped to get some bell boots.

We're making accomplishments, slowly but surely.

We've managed four rides since the farrier came. The day after the farrier came we went to the pond field just to hack out some. Of course he decided the geese were going to eat him. Silly pony! He was doing some mini rears and then trying to run away. Then the flies got to him at one point we were running backwards up a hill while he was attempting to strike out with his front feet. Pony had some major energy to get out, that's for sure. The only solution to that is work, work, work.

Unfortunately he ended up with three days off, in a row, due to extra work then sunburn then major heat. But by Tuesday we were back on track. We ended up riding in the ring because we haven't gotten "down to business" in there except for one time this month. So ring day it was. I was super impressed with him. Instead of slapping on the spurs as a just in case I grabbed my whip. Just so he would know I had it and would be nice and forward. It worked wonders. However being in the hackamore means less directional control so when Poncho gets an idea in his head on where we should go it takes a little more time to get back on track. Nonetheless I was happy with how he went. We did some cantering it wasn't his best work but it's been forever since he's had structured canter work. We ended up only working for about 15-20 minutes it was sooo hot. He was sweating like crazy in just that short time too. Poor guy. But he was still so happy to just be working. What a geek.



Then on Wednesday we went back to the ring to try our hand at jumping again. Apparently with the hackamore jumping is a non-issue. He was perfect. No refusing. We didn't do much of it just because I didn't want to jinx it. His canter work had even improved from the day before.

Yesterday was an interesting day for sure. We hacked out in the gelding field just walked around so he could process his two previous work days. That was not the interesting part though. When we were done and leaving the field things fell apart - fast. The pony, Solo, that is out there with Poncho during the day came running out of nowhere as we were walking out. Came bursting out of the field over top of Poncho and me. I tried to grab as he went by -but couldn't. Next thing you know Poncho's bridle is broken and he's tangled in the riens. I had to lead him in by the ears. Luckily another boarder was there to help rangle rouge pony. Too much excitement for one day.

Also luckily I was able to get a replacement bridle in the same day. I fitted it to Pony Man today.

The ride that could have been.

Ahh when the best laid plans fail. Today is beyond beautiful out. I could have been riding. But I did not.

When I got to the barn it was a tad windy, okay to be honest a bit gusty. That however was not going to stop me - last time it was windy he wasn't that bad. I chatted with some borders for a moment to get some things sorted out for the vet visit next week. Then I waltz around the corner to be bombarded with luchboxes, zebra prints, little saddles, and little helmets. Oh snap that means there are kids on the loose. Then I look a little further down to the trailer parking area. DAMN there's a little bus with a hoard of kids. I don't know what they were doing or where they came from but they effectively ruined my chance at riding.

Back tracking a little - Poncho HATES kids they are minions of the devil. As it were when I went out into the field to say hello sine I drove out all thay way and stuff his cute little face with treats he had spotted said children in the pond field and was on HIGH alert. (Choice well made not to ride, it would have been a suicide mission practically) He was calm and cool for me to love on him though. He even groomed me back a little bit.

It's not the end of the world that he's getting a little mini-vacation (3 rides in 2 weeks = nothing in the grand scheme of things). I just reallllllly wanted to ride today. However we will get back on track and tomorrow will probably be more conducive to me surviving. I mean come on 3 rides in 2 weeks and I want to ride on a gusty day with demons running around. Mr. Poncho would be looking for things to jump from behind every tree, around every corner, and maybe even fall from the sky. Who knows, hopefully tomorrow will be the day!

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.

Getting out and about!

Since Poncho was struggling with his canter in the ring I decided to take a different approach these last two rides.

On Tuesday I was riding solo and didn't want to be bother with the ring. So we ventured out to the big gelding field (for those who don't know/remember it's 14 acres). We walked up and down the field once each direction. Then we cantered. The first canter I did on his "good" lead, his left, it was a bit bouncy you could say. He was hopping and tossing his head around for the first half of the field. Until he realized we were simply cantering down the field, then he got right down to business and cantered on. Ha. When we turned around he started to get a little fired up his trot just got totally pumped up. Then we broke into the canter. And boy was he moving out nice! He still drifted out majorly, majorly. I didn't push the issue at the time though. Since it was his first time doing that as long as he was content to go I was happy. Then we hacked around the field for awhile. After a lap of the field we went to the back where there's a nice hill and did a bit of hill work. All in all it was a nice change of pace and I think it's a ride type we are going to continue adding to our routine.

Yesterday (Wednesday) by the time we got out to the barn it was HOT. I felt like dying I can't even imagine how the ponies were feeling. So I knew right away it was an easy day. Mom came out with me so we both headed to the pond field. Poncho thought there were some monsters hiding in the woods and on several different occasions felt like he may just explode at any moment. He didn't though. We only walked around for about 20 minutes because it was just sooo hot and Midnite isn't used to working on varied terrain as much as Poncho. But still even with that poor Poncho broke a sweat.



On Tuesday I only longed Midnite I was tired. It was extremely brief because it seems that dragging the ring isn't a priority at the moment and it was like concrete in a couple of spots. So I didn't want to stress her joints out too much. Then on Wednesday in the pond field she was a super star. She seemed to handle the terrain exceptionally well.

The week that could have been.

Even though I had plans for a wonderful ride in the big gelding field, that never happened. Heck I hadn't even been to the barn since Monday. Thank goodness I made it out today since tomorrow it's supposed to be nasty weather and I have no idea what Monday has in store for me. There was a bit of damper when we arrived at the barn. It turns out the barn manager left their blankets on all week - it was 60 degrees a couple of days. Needless to say we were beyond mad. Luckily the horses seem no worse for the wear. Poncho was slightly sweaty in his chest area but that was it.

On to the riding front. There were several people out in the ring so we headed to the pond field for a nice hack. Since it had been over a week since Poncho had a  serious undersaddle work out today was an "easy" day. We did little trot sets weaving in and out of trees. Up and down small, small slopes. And just walked around on a loose rein ambling around the whole field. The uneven footing took some getting used to on his part - it's been far too long since we were out there. Can't let that happen again. We cantered once, I didn't want to push it today, he l-o-v-e-d that. We were on the verge of galloping by the time I pulled him up. Silly pony. The mom, Midnite, Poncho, and I headed to the trails. Only on the front part - it was far too muddy for the hills. Poncho was super duper alert. It's been a couple months since the stars have aligned for us to get back there. Midnite was a bit more looky she even spooked once heading back. Once we were back in the pond field Poncho's ego got the best of him. He was marching around all proud for facing some monsters on the trail (lots of trash left on the side) it was beyond cute.

After riding we did some clipping on the pony faces. Poncho gets his beard off but I leave his whiskers. Midnite gets beard and whiskers off. I also got some ear fuzz (it was sticking wayyy out of Poncho's ears) out of Ponch's ears. He did not like that one bit. He got a little jerkish with me. But let me do it.

We turned them out for a bit sans blankets - but put them back on before we left since the impending snow storm will come before we could get back out to blanket. We're just going to have to be super on top of the blanketing situation from now on - had no idea she would ever do that.

The spurs go on, the bit comes off, and we leave the ring.

Lots of things changed since our last ride on Tuesday. Friday I decided to put on my little spurs just to remind Poncho, hey mister my leg really is there. He got a little annoyed that he couldn't just ignore me. But listened well enough. Spurs aren't something I ride in all the time every once in a while just to remind him. We only walked and trotted mainly because he was just so resistant to the bit. We got some quality, quality trot work. However when he was not he was bracing and crossing his jaw. I felt so bad for him he was clearly unhappy with it. So to make it up to him we hacked back around the barn again. We even opened and closed the gate this time. I also promptly switched back to the hackamore once I put him back. We'll use that atleast until I can buy a nathe bit to try.

Today we ventured out to the pond field! Poncho was elated, of course. We just walked around to give him a mental break day. Although towards the end I did ask for a trot. I must say he does have a time limit. If he doesn't get put to work after a certain amount of time it just doesn't happen. Well that happened today. He was lazy x10 at the trot. He did it but put no effort into. Way to go. haha. Oh well he's aloud to have a lazy day every once in  awhile.

In other news I got new tall boots today. Instead of getting new half chaps and paddock boots I found at my local tack store a pair of Ariat Volants $100 off the regular price - hard to pass up. So I had an impulse by. Also we got Midnite some new joint supplement. Hopefully in another week or two she'll feel better. Those mares are crazyy running around like lunatics at all times of the day.

Two more days of fun!

I seem to have gotten on a bit of roll here. I must say I LOVE IT. I love seeing my horse so much. I love being able to ride and have lots of fun with him so often. The only downside I see is I will probably find out that I'm more broke than usual come the end of this month. But that's out of my control.

Anywho, yesterday was the farrier day. So Poncho got his feet done and then I hopped on for a quick ride. I wanted to make sure after seeing the video that we were forward and forward we were. After I was able to maintain it for several laps at the trot we moved onto our canter. That was quite interesting. We had an amazing canter going for almost a whole lap and then he just started trotting before I even realized what had happened. The little guy seems to think he has a time limit on the canter. How funny, I have no idea how he decided it. But it's definitely something to work on. Then for our cool out we hacked out in the grass and then walked around the barn to the back where the cross ties are. He seemed to enjoy that little change up.

Today I tried out my new saddle pad on him. I got it when I ordered our sand purge supplement.

 

To have a change of scenery we hacked out in the pond field. We haven't been able to get out there for about two weeks. Poncho was sure fired up. Partly because of the time - it was afternoon. Ha he's used to early to mid morning workouts. So I threw him totally off. And then the pond field horses were dispersed in different areas. We didn't last too long out there because right as we were getting ready to start out trot work the pond field horses broke back in and then the barn owner turned out her horse. I don't like riding with other horses in the field, especially when we've got Midnite with us and these geldings aren't used to mares being in there field. So we called it a day.