Foam Faces

Apologies for the radio silence since my fist successful Wordless Wednesday - what a treat for readers that I managed to shut up ;-) - although I did leave Nancy talk for me teehee

All photos from Saturday 28.3.15

This week was another busy one & kind of low on saddle time although I did manage to ride Nancy Monday evening (no media) and despite our canter transitions again coming with some bucking & dolphin-flailing another yard friend was riding at the same time & she commented on how well she was going to which I scoffed and said I thought she was taking the mick out of me. Guess we looked better than it felt, in saying that though she was good for the most part. I guess I am a bad rider and focus on the negatives and things we need to fix. Although I do praise her in the moment when she is good it would appear I myself forget about it and only retain our mistakes and what needs more work.

I managed to turn them out Monday, Tuesday & Friday afternoons. Wednesday i couldn't make it at lunch time as i had a leaving lunch for a colleague who is retiring next month :-(
I spent Thursday at a driving center for a training day as the final requirement for my full license. Which was quite fun as they had 4 tracks set up with water works to test our reactivity in surprising circumstances in a controlled environment. I was luckily with a good group as it would have been an even longer day if i hadn't spoken to anyone for 8 hours!

I made my return to Kika's tack today (Saturday) and she was a very good girl. Some tense moments & our first canter was a bit of a shambles (as has become our norm) with front leg flailing, lead changes in front & behind as she hollows and generally acts like a muppet. When it becomes clear i can't save it and make a good attempt at canter from it we come back to walk and build backup again calmly. Thankfully all went really well after that ☺

Nancy was next and we had the largest arena to ourselves. Not having to pay attention to what others are doing made a positive impact on today's spin as we had much better work than our last three spins combined. Including lovely canters on each rein without a single buck or dolphin leap. Small victories & proof that I allow myself get distracted and probably subconsciously tense when riding with others. This too shall pass with more practice - we will get there.

First Steps to achieve better work is hopefully a stroll in the woods tomorrow and then lessons next week as I'm off work. One on Monday & Tuesday then two on Wednesday before I fly back to Ireland on Thursday for Easter weekend to visit my gran.