But I am super pleased to report to you guys that:
A) Amber is moving better than ever. Casey says most of the time she doesn't drag at all. We know she tracks up because she's constantly tapping her front shoes with the hind! I probably need some bell boots, but she never does any harm to herself. She just hits the shoes because she's such a daisy clipper. The only things we have changed are her supplement, and the footing we ride on. We switched to Grand H.A., and I've been pleased with it. We don't really need any other supplementation because she doesn't have a weight problem anymore, her coat and feet are great, so really nothing needs "help". I think the grass footing is much better than the deep sand at the old barn. White honestly I think it was making her sore. She's been pretty perfect at the new barn.
B) We are jumping again! And making great progress. I still have my fear issues, but it's coming along. I'm taking weekly jumping lessons. I have no problems with her on the flat. She has days where she wants to get a little strong, but I've finally learned not to fight with her about things and it's made her much more relaxed and willing.
A lot has gone on since my last blog.
We are still enjoying trail rides, although lately I've tried to put some focus on the arena as well. I've been trying to do 2 days of flatwork, 1 day of jumping, and then use Sundays for trails.
I have actually started a trial and gymkhana club for some of the kids and teenagers at the barn, and it's pretty fun. Some of them can really give me a run for my money in the games we play! So we have started doing that on Sundays and after we play games we go on a trail ride and canter around in the fields across the road. They are quite amused by cantering together in the field because it's Saddle Club-esque. LOL.
The groundskeeper we had, I don't think I mentioned him, had 18 horses and was taking up 5 of our pastures, leaving us (who had the same amount of horses), with 3! He was recently fired, for reasons the owner didn't elaborate on, and we got 5 extra pastures. The smaller groups really make for less drama amongst the groups, allows for mare-gelding separation, and because the fields are HUGE, with only 3-4 horses in each, we shouldn't have a problem with grass growth. If we do, we still have plenty of room to regroup everyone and start rotating the pastures.
In other news on the front of our horses and boarders...remember Amber's pasture mates when I put her on 24/7 turnout to recoup from being stalled 23 hours a day? Stormy and Myrada? They're coming back to pasture board in the back fields, since our stall boarders aren't going back there (because nobody wants to walk all the way back there to bring in/turn out every day. The barn they had moved to shut down because the owner there went a little crazy. Something about a meth lab in her barn! Crazy stuff.
We had a couple of boarders leave for different reasons, nothing against us really. And we have 3 new ones coming in. We are almost full of boarders. Casey plans to move her own few ponies she has left to the back pasture to make room if necessary. I think she's getting out of resales.
SO, my jumping.
We started out trotting crossrails and I thought I sucked. I was pretty sure I lost all ability I ever had.
After a few lessons of that, last week, we started trotting in and cantering out of crossrail lines. I forgot that when I try to fix Amber's stide, it messes her up, because she sets herself up. I was jumping to early and jumping for her and our distances and timing was shotty. We ended on a good note though.
This week, it was like a lightbulb came on. Instead of trying to adjust her perfectly, I let her figure her stride out and pushed her at a steady pace down the line. Remembered to count approaching the fence. And no problems. And then Casey sets up a 2ft vertical. LOL. I refused to canter it. It was on the bending line anyway, so I was a chicken, but I did trot it. We cantered the 2ft flowerbox that you'd think I'd be more wary of, since it's got so much stuff sticking up for Amber to look at. It's a visual thing. There was only 1 pole on the vertical, and it just "looked" taller.
But we will get there. We did have 1 bad distance cantering into the crossrail line, and I ducked out because I thought we were going to crash - Casey wasn't pleased with me for that, but we came back around and nailed it.
She's not really getting her auto changes like she used to, but I'm not really thinking about my leads like I should on my approach, so she'd probably get that back if I'd start paying attention. She does great skip-ups and simples, so at least we don't have a fuss fixing them!
Being that we are doing interesting things now, it might inspire me to keep up my blog for a change. I think the main thing has been...our riding has been the same thing pretty consistent.
...And I got another custom saddle pad. Should be here in a couple of weeks. I'm not going to tell you guys about it, you'll just have to wait and see! I also got a new leather halter and I have a nameplate on the way for it.
If anyone is interested, my other leather halter is for sale. $30 OBO. It's warmblood size, would probably fit a draft, it's huge. Padded leather.
My 72" lavender/mint plaid cotton sheet is also up for grabs for $15. We got new blankets so I'm selling this stuff to recoup my funds.
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