Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Basics - and showtime...

Winds has been enjoying his fall at home - mostly focusing on basics and figuring out how to become even more of a unicorn so that when I actually do have time to show up and ride, I feel like a masterful jock - instead of a lumpy sack of slightly spoiled apples. 

Mostly this has been a focus on staying forward and getting lighter to the aids, whether that is reminding him that"go" means "go NOW" or getting his tushy laterally mobile with the lightest of nudges.

I think he's stronger than he was in the spring, so having a few weeks at home with nothing but time to slow down and school has been helpful - and also extremely productive.  He feels fresh, and sharp (in a good way) and super eager.

My rides have been sparse - but great.  I'm clearly out of riding shape which is horrifying to me, but easily remedied by clearing my schedule and taking my stirrups away. 

However, even with a less than sticky seat or solid core - I'm enjoying our rides.  Winds is alert, on task and so responsive it feels like I'm driving a really fancy sports car- with an automatic transmission.

Which is to say, it's really, really fun and doesn't require a ton of muscle.

That's not to say I couldn't use some... eek.
Winds doesn't quite get to pack it in for the winter though.  We added one final trip to the calendar, which means next week we head to Paso Robles for two weeks of sunshine (I hope) and exploring a new showpark. 

The schedule is weird, so we only end up showing on wed, thurs and fri - which makes for long days but 4 days off in between weeks - so hopefully his highness finds that satisfactory.

The goal is to get one more solid outing at 3'3" without any weird crash-like incidents as well as getting me in the ring one more time to play with my new-found forward buttons.  There is a Derby to add if all is going well - but mostly I'm looking forward to getting a few rounds in, packing a VRBO full of barn ladies, and putting a nice little capstone on our season.


11 comments:

  1. Is it weird that I enjoy reading your show recaps and living vicariously through you so much that I'm a little sad that your season is ending? Sorry if that's weird. But your show recaps are really genuinely fun to read!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. haha. you're kind to say so! I feel like I've been lacking in the content department - but hopefully we have lots of stories and media coming up!

      Delete
    2. Same though. Also LOVE the new banner. And the fact you keep the original blog name, I think thats cool

      Delete
  2. My season is all finished and it's been really nice to slow down and relax at home lately <3 Looking forward to one more show recap from your side of the country though!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sounds like fun! Sunshine is much needed.

    ReplyDelete
  4. ooooooh yes to weeks of sun

    also can we have a giant post of new beautiful pictures? i need that in my life.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. oh come on.. I gave you a new header! doesn't that count? :) I've got MONTHS of no shows coming up and need to save my media for winter like a responsible-blogger. no?

      Delete
  5. I love the new header! Good luck at your show.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh, have fun at Paso! I've only driven by, but looks like a neat facility

    ReplyDelete
  7. OMG your new header is swoon-worthy.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oooo he's fancy and I love it - best of luck at the show!

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts with Thumbnails