Wednesday, November 24, 2010

The Weather Outside is Frightful

Izzy and I continued the great western experiment yesterday afternoon. She is not so sure about this whole deal. (As you can see, we've also borrowed a headstall and reins.) Unfortunately, we're also in the middle of some super nasty weather for us, so it never got about like 23 degrees f yesterday and it's supposed to be a high of 17 today. I realize that for some of you, that's nothing, but here it's pretty big.

Anyways. I'm mostly just complaining because of Izzy's new footwear, which apparently is somewhat like having shoes, and therefore is bad on ice... yes, the road we cross to go to the arenas is a sheet of ice. Yikes. We tip toed across it yesterday, but I'm not sure I want to tempt fate and do it again today. Maybe I'll wait til Sunday...

In honor of the fact that we are pretending to be western and the fact that I'm down to one pair of jeans that fit and that I sort of like, I went to one of our numerous western tack stores yesterday and actually made out with two pairs of jeans that I love and a pair of boots. The boots are WAAAAY nicer than my paddock boots which were sorely in need of replacement and they actually keep my feet warm. Plus, I can wear them on my husband's family's ranch and to work in.

I am also probably going to buy Izzy a saddle pad--what we've cobbled together for now isn't really ideal and there are some interesting low-cost options that I think would work nicely. I'm thinking that I'll exchange ride time today to go look for a saddle pad, then bring it out to the barn to mix her grain for the weekend and try it on. (And probably ride, too, since I already have her tacked up.)

After yesterday's ride, I am more optimistic about the whole thing. We were trying to do the whole 'jog' thing instead of trotting and it in general did not go well. Why? Well, because of all the same reasons that we've struggled with our trot work. First, she wanted to throw her head up and LEAP into trot/jog. When I wouldn't allow that, she'd then throw her head down and dive onto her forehand while running in the trot. We had probably 3 separate moments of 6 or 7 strides of a nice jog.

What I'm seeing is that this is an excellent way to help her develop some self carriage and take more responsibility for how she carries herself instead of me just carrying her all the time. Win! Trying to ride on a loose rein is just like riding bareback, except it's isolating my hands instead of my seat--we have a lot of work to do.

And really, is there a more fun and cute way to do it?

I still want a fancy headstall, but there's no way that's happening now. ;-) Someday...

5 comments:

  1. She looks adorable in that outfit. :)

    I think I would have enjoyed actually riding Promise western when she was younger, instead of just tossing the saddle on her in an attempt to get her more "broke" -- it didn't work, but she would have been quite the saddle bronc, lemme tell ya!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think Izzy is enjoying the outfit....now if it were all flashy with silver, the diva in her would surely approve. *G*

    The western should be good for both of you, but do be extra careful on the ice. Even when my guys have borium studs on their shoes, the ice can still be treacherous. Take care.

    And, Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

    ReplyDelete
  3. she looks awesome in her Western tack!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Aaaaaaaaahhh! We're losing you! Nooooo! Somebody give SB 10 CCs of English Rider Snobbery STAT!! *sniff* Oh, SprinklerBandit, I'm sure Jimmy Wofford and George Morris would beg and plead and offer you free lessons if you would just come baaaaaaaaaaack.
    ;-)
    She does look cute in the Western garb; but as someone who was raised in an AA-circuit h/j barn, I just can NOT get past the anti-Western prejudices that have been so deeply ingrained into my heart. (Insert clip of Mike Meyers' SNL character with the store called "If It's Not Scottish, It's Crap!" except for he's saying "If It's Not Hunter/Jumper Or At Least English, It's Crap!") Hahahaha

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love the western tack! It looks great! Doesn't that saddle feel like a comfy couch? And there are so many rings and hoops to carry things with! To say nothing of that big ole horn!! Western riding is so fun. Plus, you can now lasso a cow if you need to! Yeeeehaw! Ride 'em , Cowgirrrrrl!

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...