First few rides

I ran out of time (and energy!) to write anything yesterday... it was a LONG day at the barn. Today was also long but not so bad, so here I am...

Yesterday!

Peggy collected me around 10am and took me to the barn. She had a few errands to run so I got stuck in...
I did REMS (homeopathic remedies, that need to be given twice a day, 4 hours apart), groomed Sully and Fonteyn, before groundwork with Fon when Peggy was back.
I was able to play with her canter transitions (she needs a lot of slowing, especially on the right lead).
Peggy showed me groundwork to get her "leg yielding" in-hand.
Finally, it was time for Chico! I haven't had a chance to work with Chico yet. He's nearly 20, Andalusian x Arab, a real chunky monkey! He had to do some similar yielding work on a circle in the halter, cavesson and bridle. He tends to curl, overbend, drift, dive down with his head... you get the picture! When he's working correctly, he knows a LOT and works nicely, but he comes out of the paddock like a 2 by 4!
It is super important to get him working correctly from his hindquarter BEFORE you get on and ride, else you've got an inflexible plank who goes wherever he can. He felt so different to any horse I'd ridden. It was a bit of a struggle, to be honest, and by that stage I was getting a little fried!
Peggy had me do similar things under saddle as I'd done on the ground; multiple variations on the out/in theme. He needs frequent support from the outside leg, lots of rotations (especially to the outside when he's stuck) and plenty of wobbling and COME ON!s to get his engine going. It was hard work for me.

At 5.30, after I finished the second lot of rems and turned the horses out, Peggy dropped me home... I was absolutely shattered! I ate a sandwich and had a shower then nearly crashed into bed, but Ron was going to the supermarket so I went along to get more stuff for breakfast, snacks and lunches. All up, $60 of groceries which should see me through most of the next two weeks - not too bad!

Today!

This morning I got up super early as I knew I had to bike to the barn. I was out the door at 7.50am and went the longer way today (2.9 miles) as it's flat until one big hill to go up about half way; the rest is downhill. The slightly shorter route has a hill right at the barn end, then it's mostly downhill all the way home. The topography seems to work in my favour, somehow! Unless you count 2.5-2.9 miles of any type of exercise as a form of torture, as I do, in which case nothing really works in your favour at all :P

I am getting into the swing of the barn routine. The horses were fed late so I pulled them out for rems then put them back in their stalls to finish breakfast and got Chico ready. Peggy arrived after I'd done 45 mins of groundwork. Chico was a completely different horse: soft and responsive with very few plank-like moments.
I hopped on and had the same under saddle. He was soft, didn't fall out very often and even gave me some beautiful transitions and really lovely trot. The ride was a real pleasure! We came in as the sky looked like it was about to open (had started spitting). Unfortunately Lana arrived, planning to ride Chico directly after me, but went home when it really started raining.

Given the weather, I took Fonteyn, Karen took Bracken and Jenny took Gruella to the indoor arena. The thunder and lightning started with a vengeance, which completely unsettled Fonteyn. To boot, it started hailing...

Peggy repeated the lesson she'd started with me the day before, about 'leg yielding' in-hand. We were able to really chunk it down and got some lovely work out of all three horses, despite their worries.

By the time we finished, the sun was back out. I quickly tacked Chico up and went out with Jenny and Greulla on the trails that loop around the ranch. It is a really neat way to practice the stuff we do in the arena, while having a little more fun. The trails twist and bend, perfect for practising rotation and froggy legs ;)
It took about half an hour to go down the longest trail and back.

Lana arrived just after we untacked so Chico got three rides, albeit short ones. Lana was really pleased with how Chico felt after I'd worked him.

I finished the barn chores and started my on-going job of mucking out the paddocks. Lana and Chico came in just as I thought "this is me for the day;" I put some hay out and the horses went from the paddock with longer grass to the paddock with shorter grass. Home, shower, dinner (as the weather packed in again - electrical storms are not at all common in this area), a couple of hands of 'Skip Bo' (a card game) with Lana, and now it is definitely time for bed!