Monday 19 January 2015

New Boots - New Bruises

I spent Saturday flitting around Ikea and Maison du Monde, as well as an outlet center just over the border in Belgium before getting back to the yard in time to haul the girls in for some TLC I'm the form of pedicures & hair cuts.

Sadly I'm a muppet & didn't nab any before/after clip pics
 and this is as much of Kika as will be seen on
the blog today...read on for reasons

Sunday was "testing" day for my new booties. As has become the norm, I started with Nancy while Kika spun on the walker.
N was a very good girl in spite of the fact she hadn't been sat on since the Sunday before and our previous attempt at arena work on the Saturday had been rather an epic fail with her forgetting how to walk straight and not bend to the outside on the left rein *sigh*
She did try to get away with inverted squirming on the same rein this Sunday, but unlike the previous week i had remembered to bring my whip and a couple reminders behind my inside leg and we got back on the straight and narrow. Including some brief but lovely canter work where we got all our leads and didn't spend 10 minutes working on re-balancing the trot after our downward transition.
My new boots felt awesome! I ride Nancy in a dressage saddle and the longer stirrups totally played into my favour as i found out later when I hopped up on Kika in the GP.

Nancy & I pre-ride, shiney new boots & my ♡ eurostar jacket
 and ADE flight breeches...i felt like a million bucks *blush*
 Now to hopefully start riding better!

Kika on the other hand was an absolute wagon. True a horse was on the treadmill outside the arena we were working in...True it was making quite a racket, however she has heard it before and just decided that that day it was her turn to give me the finger as she had been so good of late.
We walked around fine on a loose rein, but once I gathered the reins to start working towards some trot work She started to loose the run of herself. For Kika this means a loss of her front end, her head comes up she jinks from side to side as she finds things to offend her in the arena panelling or any excuse really. And if i dream of attempting to sponge the reins or touch her face in anyway she throws her front legs about and reminds me in her not so subtle way that she does rear.
Now she didn't attempt to lift a front paw off the ground, but she was still being a pain in the ass! Un-surprisingly considering her mood, she got worse when the horse was taken off the treadmill & the noise stopped. *eye-roll* Search me - she is an enigma...we'll not really, she was just on a one woman mission to piss me off.

Adding halt to my laundry list of things to work on ;-)

When two other riders joined us in the arena and she continued her cap - we were literally only walking at this stage without any semblance of her listening to be perfectly honest. The arena was getting progressively smaller as she jinked, snaked and cut corners wherever she could. Feeling insecure in the new boots to pander to her cap, I hopped off and went to get a lunge rope & whip.
Back in the arena this time, she was like a different horse. 100% listening and  responsive on the lunge. Grrrr - she knows just how to push my buttons.
I had changed out of the new boots to lunge and was back in my trusty windmeres. Stupidly i forgot my whip when I gathered the lunging gear so when I hopped back up after some walk-trot-canter transitions on the lunge i was hopeful that I wouldn't rue that fact.
She was still being an ass wipe, but we did get transitions done and worked all three gates without descending into a full on argument. I call that a win considering how the spin started.
Due to her carry on, there were no mirror selfies taken on Kika that day. #sorrynotsorry

Conditioner i used - LINK to product info & photo credit

I have two nice bruises at the back of my knees (one for each knee) and am looking forward to them dropping a little to stop catching me there when I walk. Thankfully I have (as yet) no bruising on the front of sides of my knees which bodes better for the fit of these vs the larger size which managed to bruise my right knee when I only tried them on and walked up the stairs once!
I found them easier to ride in with the long stirrups of Nancy's dressage saddle - although to be honest Kika was hardly being a model citizen so i will have to try again with the GP tomorrow. Although for those first 15-20minutes of her shenanigans i was very aware of them pinching me behind my knees - however in saying that I would not be surprised if i was subconsciously gripping with my knees Lest she opt to practice her circus pony act.
I was a good girl and conditioned my boots post ride. I am hopeful that I can get into the habit of doing my tack & boots once a week (preferably a sunday) admittedly i will alternate the girls tack each week rather than set myself up to fail by pretending i will clean two saddle, two  rides and boots every weekend. I know myself better than that! Higher Standards will be coming with me to the barn *shame-faced* Yes it has been living nice & cozy in the house

22 comments:

  1. Looking super snazzy in the new boots!

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    1. Thanks girl - now here's hoping I can improve my riding to make that snazzier too ;-)

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  2. Sounds kinda crummy. Kika is trying to keep it interesting that's for sure. Hopefully after your weather passes you can get some good days in. On the bright side you look Fab in those breeches!

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    1. Kika always has to have her say, she was being particularly vocal on sunday ;-)
      No biggie it's part of her "charm" & why I love her ☺

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  3. Sounds like a productive outing - good for you for sticking with Ms Kika and getting it done :) I love your outfit too!

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    1. Thanks T, she has her challenging moments but she isn't as bad as she pretends to be. I just need to be more consistent it her or she gets too comfortable in holiday mode ;-)

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  4. Love them new boots!! Girls both looking great too :)

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    1. Thanks me too - if i can ride more and better i might live up the the stylishness some day *blush*

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  5. Your outfit is fabulous! Way to stick it out with Kika, so glad you were able to have a nice ride on Nancy. I much prefer when my horses take turns being naughty instead of glomming it all on one day.

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    1. Had i been alone in the arena with Kika i wouldn't have gotten off and we'd have sorted it out eventually, but as two others were sharing the arena with me I thought it best to get her back on the straight & narrow with minimal fuss.

      Always better when positives can be taken from any given day - it's def a bonus when one behaves of the other misbehaves. Gotta love that they're individuals with brains...right?! ;-)

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  6. Those boots are lovely! Sorry to hear about the bruises. :(

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    1. No biggie on the bruises all part & parcel of new boots, I'm a bit of a sensitive Sally methinks...def didn't hurt enough to warrant skin discolouration. Although I have often thought my mental pain threshold vastly out weights what my skin reflects lol
      Luckily as i am forever walking into things #clutz *blush*

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  7. Replies
    1. Thanks Amanda, they fit so much better in the smaller size :)

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  8. Can you get moleskin to put behind your knees to help keep you from getting too banged up?

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    1. Haven't heard of that, so will look into it. So far though I have found being too busy to ride an ok alternative to leg eating boots breaking in...although I do miss pony time :-(
      Soon i will have the casa sorted and can get back to playing ponies as I'll have no monies to do anything else - Squee cannot wait for uninterrupted glorious pony time!

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  9. oh Kika... very opinionated, i suppose... glad you like the boots!! i got bruises behind my knees at first too but the boots did eventually drop and now there are zero issues! good luck breaking them in :)

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    1. She sure does have her own opinions lol, part of her charm i guess ;-)
      The same happened me with their gaiters/chaps so i was expecting it with the boots - no biggie. I know with a bit more use they will soften and be like a second skin to wear ☺

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  10. ah i still get bruises behind my knee as they are too tall for now. but they do drop.

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    1. So i hear ☺
      Fingers crossed they drop soon & not too much ... yep I am demanding and awkward ;-p

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  11. Wow Kika! What a brat! Was she in heat?

    The boots look great on you! I hope they relaxed and worked out for you.

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    1. I don't think she was in heat that day but to be honest I can't remember now. Being in heat doesn't typically affect her under saddle behaviour thankfully as she is enough of a Diva without a weeklong monthly pass to play ;-)
      She is just a typical moody mare with opinions - but i loffs her dearly ☺

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