Last night was a sort of crazy ride as there were 2 other horses in the ring with us. I did my best to dodge sharing the ring with Big Horse as he doesn't always share well, but eventually I gave up and tacked up. Pro didn't seem concerned by the other horses (I should hope not with his history) and in fact, I think they distracted him in a good way because he walked past both the bench and the bunny tree without even a mini-bulge the first time past them! Unfortunately I was distracted in a bad way by trying to keep track of who was where. In addition to Big Horse the new mare, was in the ring with her owner and 8yo daughter. The daughter was riding and I figured an 8yo on a 5yo mare who I'd never ridden with before required careful watching. I tried to work on the poofiness, but couldn't really focus internally enough to get my positioning right with the distractions.
Eventually we settled into splitting the ring and things went better. I managed to get some good rounded-back work and keep Pro soft in the bridle. We did some cantering and that went ok, then I went back to the trot and loosened my reins two notches to see if he'd follow the bit out. I was so proud of him when he did! :D He just lengthened his neck, stayed round, and his trot got huge and powerful. He felt like an A show hunter (not our final goal, but a good stepping stone). Took him up to the canter still with the reins long and relaxed and he stayed up against the bit and cantered politely around. We had a couple debates about speeding up heading towards the path to the barn but he slowed down as soon as I closed my thighs.
Overall pretty pleased with how the ride went :). Only 2 more rides and then the lesson so maybe Pro can keep his streak going. I'm sure I'll ride like crap in the lesson, but oh well, that's when I need help the most, right? ;)
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4 comments:
Good hunter pony!
Riding with too many people in the arena is frustrating, I agree. I ride in the evenings when this adorable little girl comes out to ride her saintly pony...while they're cute, they're friggin annoying! I'm constantly having to avoid as she pays no attention as she gallops around wildly : ) Plus, Skate likes to play catch up with whoever is in front.
Sounds like he did great. And no spooking at the tree or bench.
Sharing the ring can be tough, esp with 2 other horses. I think it works best with spliting the ring, that way you can have your own space.
It sounds like he was good despite everything going on! I, too, can understand your frustration with a busy ring. It is so much harder for the horse and rider to focus!
Ah traffic, gotta love it. Thankfully Pro's pretty level-headed about it, since Big Horse has cut him off more than once in the past.
I think it sounded like a great ride for having to deal with traffic!
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