Mary (Juby), Pepsi and Knight! -- Long

Warning: This post will most assuredly be very long, with lots of random twists and turns, and probably even some sentences that seem to make no sense at all. This is mainly because my brain is now FRIED from studying (seemingly NON-STOP) for over 4 days now, and I will apologize now, in advance, for any confusion or mental instability that comes from reading this blog. You have been warned...

Ok, so my name is Mary and I'm juby2be on NCHN. I own Pepsi, who is currently going through some issues with on-and-off lameness due to some bruising. Therefore, I am also riding Knight, an ex-jumper who is owned by a friend of mine. So some posts will be about Pepsi and some posts will be about Knight. They are both COMPLETELY different horses which will be fabulous for my riding!

Pepsi (otherwise known as "Brat", "Pookie-head" or "you little imp!") is a 13-ish year old gelding who is intelligent, dominate, stubborn, and completely and UTTERLY adorable when he wants to be. This, of course, is usually only AFTER he does something impish, mischevious, or just plain BAD - which is why he then gives you his 'I'm such an angel, obviously *I* couldn't have done that!' face. (Kind of like the time he dropped and rolled in the round pen with my BRAND FREAKING NEW SADDLE ON HIS BACK! Yes, I seriously considered killing him that day.)

When he ISN'T being bratty though he's actually quite a pleasure to be around. Well, now at least. For the first several years we had 'discussions' almost everyday about what was acceptable and what was not. For instance- running me into the gate while trying to get back to the herd? Not acceptable. Trying to run me over because he didn't like where we were going? Not acceptable. Breaking the cross-ties? Not acceptable. Although he is INCREDIBLY intelligent, he is also incredibly stubborn. This tends to work against his handler/owner. Because he can figure out how to evade you/ignore you, and as SOON as you figure out how to get him to listen, he has already figured out 10 MORE ways to evade you/ignore you. However, he has FINALLY decided that it's less work to listen to me in the first place than it is to get run around in a round pen/on a lunge line/ on a lead rope and has now decided to stop arguing with me and to do what I ask. We now quietly stand in the cross-ties and get a bath WHILE the scary tractor goes behind us AND our herdmate walks past us to leave on a trail ride.

Needless to say, this horse has been a HELL of a lot of work. But progress is being made, and I'm happy about that.

Actually, I just recently discovered (this week) that my horse really DOES love me. For two days in a row he came RUNNING up to me from the VERY back of the pasture when I called him. It wasn't feed time, the other horses weren't running up to greet me (meaning he left his herdmates!) and he came STRAIGHT to ME!! Now THAT is what I call gratification!!

Ok, so goals for Pepsi:

1) Get him consistent with his lower-level dressage movements (solid collection, half-passing, shoulder and haunches-in, etc.)

2) Get him balanced enough to pick up a nice, rhythmic canter and keep it around turns without speeding up or generally feeling scared and stiff.

3) Get him solid on the trail (no jigging, pulling/yanking at the bit, etc.) I just want a nice, RELAXED ride where we can walk and trot with no issues. (Canter would be great eventually, but right now we need to take baby steps!)

With Pepsi's on and off lameness from the bruising (which is being resolved but will still take a while) I am riding him inconsistently. Usually when I ride it's bareback, both to help my balance and because my ankle is still healing from surgery I recently had and using the stirrups can make it more sore. So, for now at least, we're just working on long and low at the walk and trot and quick, responsive transitions. (Remember how I said he was smart and stubborn? Well, he's recently decided that ignoring my leg is a fun new game! Dressage whip, here we come!)

Ok, on to Knight...

I've only ridden Knight 2 times, but this horse is SO kind and sweet. He's a rehab and is still on the thin side. He is VERY forward and responsive to leg however, and I'm sure he'll only get more energetic as he puts on more weight. He'll probably end up being 'hot' but that's fine with me- I like hot horses! Plus, this guy is going to re-teach me how to use my leg correctly and SIT!

He's out of shape, but from the way he cleared a creek a few days ago, he DEFINITELY has the makings of a jumper! He's very forgiving, but you need to know how to ASK for collection in order to get it. Otherwise he tends to carry himself more in a hunter frame...which is ok, but I'd like for him to really step underneath himself and use his butt.

I'm going to try to get out and ride him a few times a week- he needs to get legged up again and after that I can start popping him over a few crossrails and see how he does. If he's good, we'll start working on simple, easy lines and slowly move up from there. I don't know how long I'll have him to ride since my friend will sell him eventually, so I want to get as much riding time on him as I can!

As far as MY goals: I just really want to better my riding and get more secure in my seat and legs again. My hands are pretty quiet (they've gotten a LITTLE nippy lately with Pepsi pulling on me so much as an evasion) but as a general rule they're pretty good. My legs REALLY need to get stronger and I want to get my seat nice and quiet again. Other than that, riding will be one of my only sources of sanity during school, so while I might not need much motivation to RIDE, I will certainly need a lot of motivation to WORK while I'm riding instead of just hacking along all the time.

If you've read through all of that- congratulations! I'm officially done! ;)