Friday Flashback V

It is hard to know where to start with this offering as I have a few different things i want to squeeze into this post #sorrynotsorry - consider this your warning before the impending waffly madness.
Abort now if you so wish - i will be none the wiser and you will probably feel much better for it ;-)
Photos in this post are part Friday Flashback - part my exciting new toys.

First photographic evidence I have of my jumping,
 circa Summer 1995

As those of you who follow me on instagram saw earlier my new helmet arrived today; and would you believe I am currently sitting here at the laptop in my parents living room wearing it while typing this post. Yes I am slightly cuckoo & could probably do with getting my head examined for this madness - but in the long run it will be protected, lol, mad or no...
I think i mentioned in an earlier post that I ordered it in a size smaller than I have previously bought my helmets -which was quite risky as I have never tried on a CO before and had no idea how it would fit. But (a) the store i was ordering from didn't have the size i would've ordered & (b) my two previous helmets got looser the longer i had them and would end up tipping over my eyes - so i took an executive educated (and mitigated as they didn't have the other size) decision and ordered the lovely Leather Look Ayr8 on sale as part of #mindyourmelon Helmet Awareness week.

All important question for my shy-selfie...
Do i look like a mushroom/melon-head?

Anyways, I decided to wear it around the house with the tags still on in the hopes of finding out if the size/fit is correct without dirtying it at the barn; so that if necessary I can send it back & exchange it for another size. So far so good, although I don't know how long i shall carry out this experiment....it all depends on how long i can stop myself from ripping off the tags & using it at the yard as i love it!
All going well I will do a proper review later...

In actual equine news:
I rode Nancy yesterday on my day off - she was excellent despite us only working on walk/trot/halt transitions while Kika spun in the walker - she was on Day-2 of her recommended Rest & Recovery (R&R) from osteo appointment on Tuesday. Sadly, I did not manage to schedule a lesson with the new trainer yesterday as she had too many horses to exercise ahead of her day of competing today. Which was a big pity for me, especially as she is going on holidays next week, so I will just have to bide my time & be patient - my time will come. Who knows this is probably a blessing in disguise as I can hopefully knock a few more pounds off the girls and get them fitter in the mean time...I spent my lunch break at the barn today (check out my #barnyardchic outfit of paddock boots & silk work skirt) as the vet came to take bloods from K for a check up on her liver - she is looking like a Chiquita Banana these days, which I am hoping is just sun-bleaching - but as her jaundiced look two summers ago was actually a liver issue (Click here for pix & back-story). I would rather be safe than sorry.

#barnyardchic no?

I went back to the yard after work and had the time to work them both in the evening. For a change of pace I started with Kika as I hadn't ridden her since Sunday's mini-pole work session. She was a super star despite not having spent an hour on the walker beforehand. She started out woefully uneven in trot on our bad rein - i loosened the reins to her and did a couple of big looping figure of eights to see if she would work out of it or if something had been pinched during her osteo treatment - thankfully she worked out of it and we had our best spin since coming back to the yard. Our previous spins haven't been bad, in any way shape or form - but this one was particularly good. We got excellent powerful short bursts of canter work on each rein and some flashes of nice relaxed trot work. Overall our trotting work was much less choppy than previous spins - after the initial awkwardness as we warmed up.
During this spin i realised that we have a lot of work to do on our walk full stop. The walk is something, I have never really focused on - I know BAD ME! But for so long K was so unpredictable that all i wanted to do was get her going and keep her going forwards without giving her the opportunity to stand up. We are now (knock-on-wood) hopefully passed that stage, or at least I feel better equipped to head her off at the pass if she decides to attempt that evasion technique.
So now i can go back to basics & focus on the walk and really try to get her striding in the walk like we have been working on her trot work - she has to relax in everything she does, let go and release her back. baby steps and we will get there, silly sod carries so much tension and resists working properly that she literally ties herself in knots.
I think we are now finally in a place in our partnership when (with the help of lessons) i hope to finally address these shortcomings and wholes in both our eq-cation and really get things going in the right direction once and for all.

Neither of these fab splurges have been near the yard,
but soon young grasshoppers...soon

Nancy was also very good, although I really could have used that lesson on her yesterday as my bad side & her bad side are teaming up and making things difficult for our communication while on the right rein & attempting to bend - mixed messages are happening & i want to sort it out on my end asap before i potentially sour her & or hurt her with my bad riding.
I know 95% of our problem is me - but she is also resisting and not meeting me part of the way...welcome to the teenage years of our partnership ;-)
Methinks a hack in the woods & just getting out of the arenas and our own headspace is on the agenda for this weekend if at all possible. We both need a change of scenery & Kika can come along for the walk as the more that girl can do the better it will be for her joints & belly-loss!