Epileptic Starfish

Well the blog has been "live" for less than a month and I'm already significantly behind -- ehhhh. I'm pretty sure I have like, two readers, so to both of you, I'm terribly sorry! My goal next week is to pre-write and schedule a few more posts so I don't get so far behind when I get busy -- maybe I'll start my tack reviews?

I think part of the reason I'm a little apathetic about writing is that I'm kind of in limbo right now. I honestly wanted to wait to start this blog until I started regular lessons again (which will be soon!), but I jumped the gun a little and now I don't have much to write about -- oops? I guess the next few weeks until lessons start will be more time for background and tack reviews!

Tack review? Bit? Bridle? Reins? Tack cleaning supplies?

This week has been hit or miss with the riding -- my life is either insanely busy or nothing at all going on, and this week was pretty busy. I did squeeze in a ride Wednesday after work, and Jacki and her lovely friend Ashley were kind enough to be my eyes on the ground and give me some helpful tips! It's been about two years since I took regular lessons, and my only instruction in that time frame was two clinics, so I'm a little rusty on riding in front of people. I had successfully managed to block out of my memory that my go-to response when people watch me ride is to get super awkward and ride like an epileptic starfish (that reference is solely for you, Ericka). Actually I probably ride like an epileptic starfish a LOT of the time, it's just that nobody calls me on it.

So Wednesday was mildly stressful but also GREAT because Ruby and I got some much needed assistance. I tend to go a little too easy on Ruby because I get in the rut of thinking "well she's just a baby". She's five and a half, but she's been under saddle consistently for more than a year and a half, and she's not a baby anymore. She is more than capable of doing what I ask her to do (which is honestly usually just W/T/C in a reasonably nice fashion without cutting corners in the arena, with a little leg yielding thrown in if I'm feeling crazy), and I need to be better about not letting her get away with so much. Having someone else watch me ride and offer feedback really helps hold me accountable. Without accountability, I'm more than happy to just drift through my rides, quitting an exercise if it gets too hard. And that needs to stop, because all I'm doing is teaching Ruby that if she resists, I stop making her do whatever it is (bad!).

So while it was borderline mortifying to ride in front of people again, it was also very necessary for our growth as a team. I'm looking forward to being back in a regular lesson program soon!

I've also managed to get my other "baby" (Cinna, who is actually sort of a baby) worked a few times now that the arena is finished. All the media I took of her working on Sunday ended up upside down (thanks for that, stupid phone), so I will try again this weekend. She also needs her own blog post, so hopefully I will get back to the "background" info soon, so those of you who are unfamiliar with my life (seriously, that's like none of you, because the only people reading are my FB friends) will be all caught up on the main "characters" I'm going to feature.

Cinna. And Jack's neck/ear.