Saturday Spins

Had two lovely spins on my girls this afternoon, but I'm going to back-pedal to yesterday first to briefly recount my Kika spin. The Mammy supervised me as Friday was a bank holiday so we were both off work. The Mammy had me drop my stirrups by a whole as she said my heels are at an awkward angle and that I was gripping the saddle with the wrong part of my legs - or at least it seemed that way to her from the ground. She also had me concentrate on turning my heels out and toes forward in an attempt to break me of my nasty heel nudging habit...jury's out as to whether this will work or is even right. We'll check with her sister (the trained riding instructor) when we see her next weekend in Ireland!

The welcoming committee

Kika started out in her typical stroppy/choppy fashion but settled in lovely. I think she is in season, which explains why she came running on Thursday - as that level of attachment to me is uncharacteristic for her. When I stopped Kika at the start and at the end of the spin, she screamed for whoever would answer her - but behaved like a good girl & kept her hormones in check while we worked.

Queen of the #AwkwardStance

Today's spins started with Nancy, where I tried to remember the tips I'd been given by the New Trainer but there were so many tips I'm sure I'd forgotten quite a few. We had some wiggly moments where she'd get defensive and curl in on herself to try to evade what i was asking of her. But we did get some nice work done including some lovely canter work without incorrectly striking off. We continued to struggle with our walk, but that will be a long work in progress.

There was a massive rain storm where it was really loudly hammering off the roof, I was very glad I was on Nancy who got a little antsy but nowhere near worried as Kika would have been. I'm actually pretty sure that Kika would have lost her mind with the noise, but Nancy handled it all in stride. She is a real gem of a horse.

Both girls pre-work today. Kika is so round!!!

Kika was up next, she settled well and offered me good trot work. Probably not engaged properly as i am woeful at noticing these things and she doesn't offer that up easily; but she did give me lovely stretchy trot as opposed to her usual choppy offerings. I also tried to incorporate the walking tips from my lesson with Kika's work as she also has a poor walk - yep, I am the common denominator between my two horses & their poor walks. Lengthening the reins and squeezing her forward with my legs - again it will be a work in progress. We may or may not get there some day.

How cute is Nancy?!