New Year - New Leaf

Start as i hope to continue was my goal for today. Not only did I spend some quality time pampering Nancy, aka: finally brushing out her mane & tail (trust me it was LONG overdue...photos to follow tomorrow as i hope to give K a similar spa day); i also managed to get my lazy butt back in the tack on both girls.

Sadly I've no pics to share of Kika as she was a bit fresh so we focused on forward and no sillies rather than stopping for mirror selfies - #sorrynotsorry

Pre-work selfie

In saying that Nancy was the slightly more troublesome one today, plenty crow hopping which made me laugh on our upwards canter transitions & on attempted bucking fit which she gave up on after two bucks due to my heels digging into her sides.
I do not blame her one bit for her antics today, neither girl had been sat on since my St Stephens Day stroll in the woods with my sister (Dec 26th) & it was rather cool as you'll see from the icy photos later in this post.

Post-work aka angel-face that would never buck

Despite the back arching shenanigans we had an overall positive 40 minute spin. I am not even upset about our numerous giraffe impressions as that is a work in progress and something that can only be remedied with more saddle time from yours truly - something I have been sorely lacking last year. Full steam ahead for this year with my main goal being to try to ride them both more - or else how do I ever truly hope any of us will get better?! Fingers crossed i will also be able to schedule some lessons, although with getting the keys to my flat earlier than anticipated i am going to have to tighten the purse strings on that front until I get used to charges, mortgage repayments and of course actually finish furnishing the place! Methinks there won't be lessons for a while...maybe not till May when the girls will go back on 24/7 turnout and the cost of their livery will decrease due to no longer being stabled - which should free up some funds to splurge on fun things like lessons ☺

Icicles around the turnout at 4pm - today was cold!
No wonder both girls were on their toes!

Oops that was a tangent & a half! *blush*
Kika was a good girl despite herself, she still had her fair share of scoots, head lifting and hollowing at every little thing, but overall we managed to keep a lid on it & my mother got to see how far she has come from the drama-diva of a few months back. I didn't ride her for as long as Nancy, K & I only did about 30 mins in the tack as she had spent a good hour spinning on the walker while i rode and put Nancy away first. I was rather apprehensive about riding Kika as she was super on her toes coming off the walker - not a good sign. Methinks she had been on her own for too long on the walker and the gremlins started eating at her brain cells. So when she got back into the grooming bay the first thing she did was call out for anyone to answer her (i think Nancy did - bless) so K managed to get her witty about her knowing the apocalypse hadn't happened while she spun on the walker and that other horses were still living. She is such a Silly Billy!

Pre-ride mid-grooming

Once K's brain re-engaged to the job at hand, we got some lovely work. Lots of transitions up and down and changes of rein through S-shaped circles, diagonals and serpentines to keep her brain  focused on me and not on shadows or whatever else she was watching. I was super glad that my mom got to see her behaving so well, we weren't perfect and although she was overall very good she still had blips here and there where she'd loose focus. There are deff two of us to blame, lack of work, poor fitness and easily distracted...to be honest that could describe either of us ;-)

Almost ready to work

The plan from here on out is to continue to enjoy spending time with my girls - with a focus on spending more time on their backs. Fingers crossed i can be stern with myself & buck up and ride in the evenings after work. I need to be more strict with myself and actually head home at 5.30pm every evening and I'll have the time & energy to ride at least one an evening that way. Not the greatest New Years Resolution  or January Goal - but one i hope to achieve nonetheless ☺