Another Photo Dump

 I've spent the past couple of weeks wrestling with very irritating eyestrain, which annoyed me deeply. I only have to be at my desk 4-5 hours a day, unlike so many of us who are chained to their offices for 8 or 9 hours, yet still my eyes decided it was too much, ungrateful brats. Anyway, after DH (yay! I finally get to call him that!) dragged me forcefully to the optometrist, I'm getting my prescription glasses next week and then I can settle back into writing and blogging as much as I please.

So for today, enjoy a photo dump.

Faith looking resplendent, as usual. HOY is only a month away!

Thunder had a much nicer two weeks with me not hanging on his face and also not expecting very much of him while I sorted out my hands. I ride him without a whip on alternate days, and this is going much better than I'd hoped.

Our newest livery, Vortex, was rescued by his lovely mother from a horrible situation. He arrived in heartbreaking shape two weeks ago this Saturday, with a body score of maybe 2/9, so many ticks that I'm still soaking the scabs out of his mane, mud fever, and tendonitis in all four legs. So far, his rehab is going better than expected.

Red and his kiddo just enjoying one another 💜

Riding carefully between the beans to keep from squishing them!

Watching E2 jump a little log on Ladybug. Thunder coped with this mini-hack really well

I have enlisted riding school kiddos to make sure Arwen gets thoroughly worked (cantered and jumped) on the days I don't have time to ride her, just to shake off some of the dragon chunkiness

Schooling Lancey has gone much better now that I don't try to nail his head down all the time, although I am still bad at downward transitions, no surprises there

Baby Azai and his mom, Tarka, got demoted to sleeping in one of the small paddocks at night when their rehab-needing brother Vortex arrived, but Azi is handling everything with aplomb. He is, obviously, the life of the party right now

Lancey has done plenty of hacking, sometimes ponying my mom on sweet little Spirit.

Looking down at the yard from a hillside 💜

Ladybug starting to look very grown up under E2.

Sahara's mane is amazing. She has a new lease kiddo since Dawn was sold (to a fantastic home), and they seem to be getting along pretty well.

First Mugg n Bean breakfast as husband and wife 💜 I love being married to this magnificent creature

After much debate with myself, I moved Diablo in with Tarka and Azai. They mostly ignore each other, which is OK for now, since I worry Diablo will get bullied with his one eye. He's very shut off from the others at this point. Hopefully Azai will bring him out of his shell.

Stardust is really starting to recover from her horrific abscess. She roams the yard pretty much freely during the day and the grass is starting to make a difference, even though we're desperate for rain. She'll need several months of self exercise before I start to consider if she can slowly return to gentle school pony work, but I'm more optimistic than I used to be.

I reduced Skye's food because the old lady is CHONKY this summer! They had their shots last week and she had quite a big sore lump from her tetanus shot, but it resolved in a few days.

He had a few days off, and felt a bit flat on Monday, but was back to his usual perfect self on Tuesday.

Flashy is also getting very chunky, so he spends his days inside eating hay instead of grass and babysitting Vortex. When the others come in at night, he goes out to the herd. So far he still looks like a pregnant pony sausage.

One of Dusty's students gave her some love and she absolutely lit up. Motivation for us to try to bring her back to work, even if it's just lead rein ploddies.

Fat ponies are becoming a recurring theme. Ladybug regained every kilo she lost in the winter and then some.

Midas has been extremely good lately. He will forever be half Welshie, but he'll be 9 this June, and he's finally maturing into the sweet little superstar we need in the school.

More hacking 💜 No complaints from me!

E2 fell off someone else's pony and hurt herself. She'll be okay, and recommended a friend for the interim, E3. E3 was mildly horrified when I suggested we herd the cows in but she was a good sport about it and Ladybug didn't mind.

I put the double back on Arwen for schooling. I do regret introducing her to it as easy as I did, in my cluelessness, but she's happier in it. I think the curb sitting quite low has something to do with it since she has that melanoma on her inside cheek. If she's happy, I'm happy, a view J shared in his lesson with us yesterday.

I've surrendered to the fact that I can only really enjoy nonfiction or thrillers as leisure reading. I love spec fic but I get paid to write it, so my brain counts it as work. Deaver is my ultimate favourite, followed by Francis and then Patterson.

A teaser of the rain that's hopefully coming soon 💜

So happy with his coat and body fat this summer, although we're working on building more muscle.

Arwen was in the veld when I wanted to school her Thursday afternoon and behaved perfectly to be ridden in with a halter.

Obviously she followed that, once I had her tacked up and turned away to put on my spurs, by thundering off and spooking the cows. When I reached her she turned around and came up to me. My sweet geldings have lulled me into complacent habits, which the Dragonchaos factor will surely break.

Baby bod is slowly vanishing.

Wynnie is still growth spurting hard, although at least the front end has caught up again. I like the long neck and shoulder she's developing.

Arwen had her first ever lesson with J yesterday. As expected, he focused heavily on the basics of rhythm and contact, and she worked her body in a way she never has before. It was hard, but good!

Finally, some of our wedding photos 💜

God is good.

In Which Working Equitation Gets Dragoned

 Is "dragon" a verb? I think Arwen makes it one.

Had my saddle slipped forward? Yes. Was this a direct result of ferocious Dragoning? Maybe.

There's a growing community of working equitation riders on the East Rand, not far from us. I'd only ever seen videos of WE, but it looked like a ton of fun. Arwen has won her share of championships in working riding but always wishes she could go a bit faster. Since the maneability part of WE basically looked like working riding on steroids, I'd always had a pipe dream of trying it out with the dragonbeast itself.

When I saw an introductory WE clinic advertised for last Sunday, it was a no-brainer. We made our (amazingly inexpensive) booking, tossed the beast in the box, and off we went on our first husband-and-wife horse-related excursion.

As usual, Arwen sweated the whole way there. She's always a sweaty person in general and, in eight or nine years of traveling to things, she's never stopped sweating on the way there. (Never on the way back, though). Still, I was a little concerned when we unloaded a snorting, sweating dragon when we got to the small, pleasant yard where the clinic was being held. Arwen has only been off property twice since Wynnie was conceived - once to the vet and once to look after Wynnie when we showed her in hand at HOY 2022 - and hasn't been ridden off property at all for more than two years.

Despite the rising dragon vibes, I didn't have time to stress about it. I was, as usual, late. We strapped on her saddle and headed for the arena, where my trepidation only increased when I discovered that there were about twenty of us. It was a large jumping-size arena with plenty of space around it, certainly enough to accommodate all of us, and on Lancey or Thunder I would not have batted an eye. However, Arwen, being a Dragon, kicks mightily when provoked. Eyeing the couple of young horses already losing their various marbles, I sincerely hoped that she wouldn't be provoked today.

Still, to my surprise, Arwen felt relatively chill as we strolled around the edge of the arena. She tipped an ear toward one or two spooky things but was immediately happy to settle in and get to work. We trotted a few circles, and while she was hot and I did not regret my choice to leave my whip at the horsebox, she was listening well and not running through my aids. I could, however, feel a buck brewing right behind the saddle.

We got right to the obstacles, starting with the stock pen. It wasn't that small - maybe a 15m circle on the outside with a volte on the inside - but, mindful of that brewing buck, Arwen and I trotted it.

clearly applying the lesson to lift my hands lol

While we were waiting for everyone else to go, I schooled her a little on the grass, and the buck magnificently came out when I asked for canter left. It was just a porpoise really, so I put my leg on and growled through it and she obliged. She did offer a few more bucks throughout the day but they felt like pure excitement and honestly, who can blame her? Life is awesomely exciting if you are a dragon, even if you're a 16-year-old one.

The next obstacle was a little lane, at the end of which there was a bell. One had to canter in, halt, ring the bell and rein-back out (there were easier options, like just walking in and doing three steps of rein-back instead, but Dragonbeast and I felt like we had it handled). Apart from the fact that Arwen randomly decided that she couldn't rein-back anymore while we were waiting, which we sorted out quite quickly before actually trying the obstacle, this was a non-event.

The next obstacle was the easiest and also the one with which we had the most trouble, for whatever reason (perhaps not stimulating enough by mare standards). Simply cantering up to a drum, picking up the jug, holding it over my head, and putting it back down again. Easy, right? Not if you have a dragon. Arwen decided that this was far too exciting to stand still, and nearly knocked the drum over with her voluptuous buttocks. We practiced this one repeatedly while waiting for other obstacles and eventually she did remember her manners.

I anticipated some drama around the bridge. Arwen has never minded going onto mats in working riding classes, but this was a very different kettle of fish. When we went up to the bridge the first time, I let her put her head down and sniff, and she stepped onto it without even being asked. After that she took it confidently from both reins, no questions asked. I think it was her favourite obstacle.

We followed this with side-passing over a pole, which was also very exciting in her mind, but we didn't quite managed to complete the full side-pass any faster than a walk. I think once she gets the idea a little more cemented in her mind she will do it easily, so it's just a matter of practice.

The next obstacle was definitely the easiest for us: halting between two poles and switching an upturned flower pot from one to the other. It was done quickly enough that it held a certain dragon's attention and she didn't squirm.

Next was the slalom, which was bending poles in canter, with the emphasis being that you had to go right through the middle of the poles - not hug them like bending poles - and do a simple or flying change between each one. This was piece of cake for her, with easy changes in walk, and loads of fun, even though the many transitions did cause rising excitement and a few moments of difficulty for me.

The garrocha was definitely the hardest obstacle for me. Arwen didn't care at all about the big stick being picked up and waved around her, but the level of hand-eye coordination required for me to pick it up mid-canter was... more than I really have. We had to take several passes at it, with multiple oopsies, before I got it into my head. Something we'll definitely need to practice at home.

The final obstacle was the gate. We practiced this twice, perfectly, while no one was watching, and then as soon as it was our turn, I just... reversed my horse directly into the pole and knocked it over. Arwen even told me that "hey, mom, there's a pole there" and I insisted "no it's all good" and she took a huge step back, knocked it over with her voluptuous bottom and said "MOM THERE IS A POLE THERE". Sorry dragon, 100% my bad.

After this we had the chance to run through the whole thing ourselves. This time we did everything in canter, except for the obstacles that are supposed to be in walk and the side pass pole, and it was pretty foot perfect except for me failing majestically at grabbing the garrocha on the first two tries.

While the first few WE shows of the year clash with SANESA, HOY and dressage, there is one later in the year that I'd love to try out with her, just for fun - because she loved it and that made me love it.

I'm so happy to be riding my dragon again after she took time off for Wynnie, and I can't wait to see where this year takes us.

God is good.

oh look, a husband!

Kick Start

This week started fabulously well with a new phone. The old one was brilliant and did so well, but it had taken four years of abuse and my spare one had been hijacked for farm use. Since my contract was up for renewal, I indulged a tiny bit in something with a fairly snazzy camera. Which, you'll see, I enjoyed massively this week.

Sunflowers pop up in the horse fields at this time of year since there are sunflower seeds in the muesli we feed. They were my wedding flowers and I love them.

Obviously Wynnie and Thunder had to be some of my first subjects. Their summer coats are metallic right now. Thunder was naked for a day after destroying his fly sheet, as one does during the first week of January when there are endless shipping delays, but he survived.

Thunder had schooled nicely on Monday morning, and Arwen worked on Monday afternoon. She is always a bit barbaric to lunge but I nonetheless enjoyed being dragged all over the arena for 18 minutes.

Tuesday morning Thunder enjoyed some pole work, the fact that his mother is useless at pole work notwithstanding. I bought these glitter boots for him from Bridle Boutique because I had no good reason not to. 

 Then he got dressed up in all of his new things. The gorgeous halter was only R300 including lead from Bridle Boutique and his fly stuff is Capriole.

Lancey also got a new fly mask to protect his lil pink nosey. He's great in hot weather but that poor lil nose sunburns worse than any other horse I've seen.

Tuesday was super busy in hindsight. Our lessons started on Thursday and we were busy getting the yard ready. Old man Carnegie had his fortnightly spa day, although not after galloping away from me for fifteen minutes when I dared go to catch him, DSLD or no. One of my favourite retirees ever. He's in his twenties but don't tell him.

Then another new retiree arrived, and the same box took Dawn to a lovely new home. Diablo is 24, used to jump the highest pony grades, and has arthritis and only one eye. I would die for him. He's really cute.

Then I cleaned out the tack room, which was basically a nuclear war zone after pony camp. This took the ENTIRE afternoon.

It was worth it even if Lancey missed his schooling session.

We made up for it on Wednesday morning with a long, long ride with EM on Magic Tree Farm. She took Flashy, and the intense heat hopefully helped the little bugger to shake off some of his megachonk.

Lancey was a superstar. We fit in lots of trotting and some fun collected cantering while Flashy trotted along. Anke was in hospital so poor EM was glad to get her horsy fix.

Afterwards I took advantage of the crazy heat to paint the tack room door with blackboard paint, a lovely gift from EM.

Things got hectic for the rest of the day so Thunder had a little break, but we started bright and early on Thursday with a nice lunge. Skye supervised.

E2, our work rider, rode Faith because K is on holiday. Faith has come back into work absolutely gorgeous and really mature in body and mind.

Renè  is still holding her baby hostage. She'll be vet checked next week but seems quite happy. I thought the day had come last week when she had a sweaty, uncomfortable episode, but it passed. Last year she caught me off guard so who knows what will happen this year.

The blackboard worked great once I'd written up the schedule. We're pleasantly full but not too busy. Grateful for the balance.

Friday was a super exciting day. Coach J came over to teach at my yard for the first time. I've been out of lessons for a long time and there was a lot to work on, most notably on letting the boys keep their necks up and open. With Thunder, that meant letting go of his face and seriously focusing on pressing him up to the bridle from behind, especially in creating a collected canter. "More canter for collected canter, not less". We got a few steps where things started to click for me, and then in typical Coach J fashion, we called it quits as soon as the penny began to drop for me. One of my favourite things about riding with Coach J is the lack of drilling. It has never worked for me and I hate feeling my horse get exhausted and demoralized under me.

Then I hand grazed Thunder and iced his legs while one of the lesson kids rode Shaila. Coach J, ever salty with me, was, as always, super kind and sweet with the kiddo, who utterly blossomed during her lesson and had a really good time. Shaila went home to kiddo's farm for the holidays and spent several weeks climbing mountains and galloping across open fields, and it really shows. She's fitter and stronger than she's ever been.

After this I saddled up Lancey. J was originally quite impressed by the sight of Lancey, saying that he looks good, even though I feel like he needs a little weight. He did show some signs of dismay when I admitted that Lancey didn't really do any dressage for the whole of 2022, just a lot of trail riding. Still, it wasn't horrible once we got started. Once again I needed to work on carrying my hands and pushing him to the bridle instead of pulling incessantly. My feel is a bit off - I kept trying to "make him round" when he was already connected. J also had us do a ton of transitions, both within the gaits and between gaits, to help me keep him more balanced and responsive. It started out as a bit of a hot mess but the transitions really smoothed out after a while. I put highlights of both lessons on Instagram @ridingonwater with music if anyone wants to look at them.

It was really cool having J at the yard, and I'm looking forward to regular lessons with him this year. I've been riding with him since October 2017 and I've always loved my lessons, even the hard ones where there was some crying in the tack room afterwards right in the beginning. He LOVES Thunder and I don't think anyone has ever believed so fiercely in my horse (and me) as he does, and that makes it feel easy to make corrections and do things. He really trains us as though we are Grand Prix prospects even though I'm an ammy on a farm horsie, and that's the attitude that's gotten us to Medium/Advanced already.

I schooled Arwen on Friday afternoon just briefly, and she felt fantastic. She is still really stiff, but feels nice and strong now.

Wynnie is at the tail end of a major growth spurt. She got a little ribby during this, but I let her, mindful of letting her grow naturally and not buggering up her feet and legs with too much concentrate at this stage. She seems to have evened out now and is putting some weight back on again, just in time for HOY.

That wrapped up the first full-work week of 2023, leaving me with plenty of dressage homework: carry the hands, ride back to front, push the bum down in collection instead of pulling the head down, and allow the horses more up and open in front.

I am massively grateful for the lifestyle changes that let me ride as much as I want to now, without the endless pressures of mounting piles of work. I'm also hugely enjoying a study of the Bible chronologically again - it was so amazing in 2021 that I couldn't resist doing it again this year. I'm following The Daily Grace Co's reading plan and podcast, which is always full of interesting insights, and currently in the Book of Job. I'm always astonished by all the hints of Jesus in the Old Testament, and Job is also such a powerful message on how NOT to treat a friend in suffering.

Wynnie kisses!

God is good!