I rode again tonight and Sora was, as normal, wonderful! I longed her first and she was very fast. She cantered and trotted more than she has in awhile. Probably because of the weather. In Minnesota it didn't get above the upper sixties today :X I thought it could be an interesting ride but I've completely gotten over any worry about riding her. She has proven to me that she is trustworthy even in "spooky" weather and I no longer have any qualms about getting on her back.
After our speedy longing session I climbed up and started riding her around the arena and she decided that she was reallllly tired lol. She wandered around and didn't really want to listen to my steering and acted like she didn't remember how to go forward. I laughed and got her working off my legs a little better and the rest of our ride she went forward much better. I do think I'm going to start trying to ride a few days in a row to help build up strength and work on discipline now that she knows what's going on.
Part way through our ride she had her first big shy with me on her back. We did well together and it reminded me that I am a better rider than I give myself credit for. After I gave her a chance to settle we continued on. It was good because I got a taste for how she is going to shy and I have more confidence in my abilities now.
We also did our first long stretch of trot today. I've worked on getting few steps of trot out of her before but I have no interest in pushing her and she simply wasn't moving off my legs well enough for me to get her to keep it up. Today I did and we trotted half way across the arena. She has a nice trot and after I get her to stretch through her back and get her head down a little we'll be golden :-)
After our ride I brought her into our barn, crosstied her and checked her all over for any unusual warmth or sore spots. She was fine but I rubbed liniment into her back and legs and took her out to hand graze for a little.
I have noticed that I need to work on my riding. I haven't really spent much time in a saddle since last fall and my balance and core strength are definitely lacking. I'm going to try to start riding Jackson on the nights when I don't ride Sora. It would be good for both of us pudges lol!
Not too surprisingly I've been having trouble getting Lauren to go on a trail ride with me and I really want to get Sora out of the arena. Luckily Hanna is coming home this weekend and although I'm sure she won't want to ride right away she'll be more excited about trail riding with me.
Sorry for not getting any pictures. I'll try to recruit a family member tomorrow when I ride so there is something interesting to look at :P
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