Truth Time

Full disclosure I have so far failed to meet the few goals I set myself in my last post in the first three months of the year. Fear not however i am hopeful of rectifying that fairly sharpish.
I started following that post with great intentions of getting Kika going again under tack after her mini-hiatus since some time in November (shame on me for not blogging and therefore losing track), we lunged a couple of days in a row with and without lunging aids to get her brain back to working mode. She passed with flying colours not giving a flying flute about going back to work so you'd think I'd have hopped back up following those successes. However due to my aforementioned woeful blogging I can now not remember why I didn't hop up on her after that...whatever my reasons I'm sure they were pitiful. So the darling dear returned to daily turnout and little else to stimulate her beautiful brain.
I hopped up on Nancy a handful of times after PL rode during the week and played with her a little bit and actually rode her for a full 30-40minutes one evening PL couldn't come - I had to regain my own sealegs before braving the Kika.

Weather has been fab so the girls have been "naked" all week

Last Friday I decided to lunge her again and see where we were, bear in mind I lunged her in just her headcollar as I was aiming to ease her back into lunging before reintroducing the pessoa and/or tack. She started out a bit bug eyed as she listened to other horses walking outside the arena but then settled delightfully without once putting a paw out of place. We only lunged for 20 or 25 minutes as I didn't want to push her too hard after she had been out of "work" for so long. Saturday didn't quite go to plan for me, i didn't wind up riding either of them and it was Sunday evening before I decided to sod it. I tacked Kika up and brought the lunge line and whip to the arena with me and figured if things got hairy or we wound each other up I'd pop off and lunge her.

I needn't have worried, homegirl is a trooper and despite my terrible track record of keeping her working the last few years she didn't hold it against me and went straight back to work with w/t/c, changes of rein and mucho transitions as I played with the buttons to see what we both remembered - answer all the good stuff. Another boarder was lunging in one half of the arena so we worked mostly on a circle which can sometimes annoy K but I somehow miraculously managed to keep things different enough that neither of us got bored (long may that last).

Monday she had another day off and Tuesday I rode her in the large arena at the same time as PL rode Nancy. This time we stuck to w/t work with more of a focus on my part on consistency, transitions and tempo. Again K rose to my challenge without putting a toe out of line. I almost fear saying it, but I honestly think with her 13th birthday approaching in May we may be in the best place we've ever been in our almost decade long partnership. Yesterday the three of us went for a stroll in the woods, I rode Nancy and Kika came along on a lead for our first forray into the forest this year.

We've a busy few weeks coming up, PL & I are heading overnight to the absolutely awesome Equitana (the mahoosive equine trade fair that takes place in Germany every 2 years - LINKS to my previous posts 2015-1, 2015-II, 2013-I, 2013-II, 2013-III) for the last weekend in March. Then the following weekend we've organised a Ride With Your Mind clinic at the yard (my first time ever doing anything like this) with Elaine Butler a practitioner of the Mary Wanless technique who PL has ridden with a number of times. I am super stoked about this and hope she can help me straighten myself out once and for all!