And We Jump!

Picture from yesterday

Cuna and I snagged a jump lesson this morning. I wasn't working today, so I actually piddled around my house and did stuff and then went to the barn. What a concept!

Anyways. The jumps looked nice and inviting, because the lessons last night had set them that way. Cuna warmed up great, but was his usual stiff self.

When Steph came to the arena, I started with a question. "Is he super stiff to the left because that's how he is or because I'm weak on the left side?"

"Both, but mostly it's that you weight the left side more than the right." She started us out marching in a square with left turns. I had to focus on REALLY riding inside leg to outside rein, with my eyes and chest up. Turns out, in order to do that well, I have to, you know, use the outside rein. What a concept! When I finally got all my pieces together, it was almost magical. He was even and balanced and soft. We only had moments of it, but it's definitely something to keep working on my own.

We rolled from that right into the first exercise of the day. Using the connection we'd developed, I had to ride a small course with lots of transitions and be connected and accurate. I'd describe it in more detail, but I have video!



I need to watch it in context with our other recent videos, but to me, our quality of the canter looks much better throughout. Yay for that!

Then we flipped the course around and raised the fences. I kept Cuna walking until I could breathe again, but not so long that I could think about how everything was bigger and scarier.


And because Steph is smart, she only took videos of our good runs. :D Don't be deceived. We had some rough moments. In this video, I just love how balanced Cuna is, especially from the oxer to the two stride. I've managed to get that inside hind engaged and wow does it make a difference. I don't love that I'm so fixated on the trot transition after the green panel that I make him pull that rail and still BARELY get the transition done, but it's something we can work on.

Boss horse jumped ALL THE THINGS

I feel much, much better about how I rode today than the last lesson we had. I did freeze and pull a deranged monkey to one fence, but Cuna just pissed off with me a little bit and then Steph reminded me that when I want to freeze, I need to think, "inside leg to outside rein" and voila! Much better jump.




It actually goes along with one of my favorite pieces of riding/life advice which is this: "That moment when you feel like if you just sit still and do nothing, things won't fall apart? That's when everything is about to go wrong anyways. DO SOMETHING."

Not just a model. A super model! 

My inner tack 'ho must point out how smashing Cuna looks in his fleecy boots and bells. Disregard his state of undress--he looked so cute when I was untacking that I just had to snag a picture.

Breathing Again

New Barn. I'm calling it "sleepy hollow".

I grew up riding exclusively in an arena and never realized there was a whole world outside until our last barn. Since entering that world (and earning the title "hacking queen"), I've discovered there is no going back. Don't get me wrong--I recognize the value of the sandbox for many things. 

It's just that I can only deal with it a little at a time. I bought Cuna to jump and feel safe on, not to play in the sandbox. He doesn't want to be a dressage horse and I certainly don't want to make him. 

Not this innocent pony

The new barn doesn't have the hills and extensive trail system of the old facility, but it does have something different: ADVENTURE HACKING!!! 

Today was Cuna's first time out. We went with Steph and one of her horses who's a decent hacker. I know I always rave about how Cuna is the amazing spookless horse, but not today! 

We spooked at dogs, a tarp, a culvert, another tarp, bushes, a bird, a manure pile, a manure pile with a tarp, running horses, and birds. 

And I laughed the whole time. 

It doesn't matter how silly he is. I feel safe on him. His panic moments feel natural to me. At one point, we were on a trail between two fences, creating a long lane. Pastured horses were galloping beside us like mad things and our hacking buddy was losing his mind. Cuna was up and threatening. He spun around a couple times, backed up a bit, tried to bolt forward, basically his whole bag of tricks. 

And I laughed. I called to Steph, "This is the shortest his neck has ever been!! I love it!!" I used his suspension and engagement and enjoyed the ride. 

Saving me from myself, one day at a time

Mr Nutter Pony made it back to the barn in one piece, despite his misgivings, and I felt 100% better about life and riding. 

PS This is my 700th post! 

Fuzzy Pony

I feel like I've been a totally scattered blogger lately, but I've been out of town pretty much every weekend, which means that I'm behind in every area of my life and I've been pretty inconsistent with Cuna. Poor thing only gets out 5 days a week. For shame!

I know, I'm an overachiever who needs to get over herself.

Despite a ridiculously long holdup, Cuna's winter blanket FINALLY arrived right before I left town on Friday. I was waiting for it to clip off Mr Fuzzy's yak coat, so I'm excited to be able to work on that now. Just need to find a couple of extra hours during the week... let me know if you hear of any. Seriously. My life=chaos.

Dressing up his handsome face

The blanket came with a free halter, which I'm not complaining about. Since Cuna has the most beautiful halter in the world, I didn't think I'd use it, but halters at the new barn live in the elements. The beautimous halter is now living at home and the new halter is in use.







With the winter blanket came his fancy new bell boots. Because he gets boot rubs from pretty much everything and interferes without boots, I am basically screwed. Currently, I'm using fleecy boots as much as possible, but they have to be washed between uses and the wet weather is preventing any semblance of drying, plus then they freeze overnight. Awesome.

In hope of preventing bell boot rubs (which sound like their own special kind of hell), Cuna is now rocking the fleecy bell boots.

I'm not sure white is the right color to get a paddling horse (hellooooo obvious), but it looks good with the fleecy boots. Black is just wrong with brown boots.

Give this horse cookies

Yesterday's ride was... different. The course set looked ginormous, so I thought we would hop over a crossrail a few times to get me confident. After 10 reps of said crossrail, with each ride getting successively worse, I decided I needed a new plan.

Put the crossrail to a vertical. Hm. That might work. All of a sudden, life worked again. I could ride forward, put my leg on, stay in balance, and not screw up my poor horse. Win!


Not sure what my problem was, but Cuna got lots of treats. I'm hoping to explore some hacking trails tomorrow. The lack of non-arena riding has been making me completely crazy and I think I'm starting to piss off Cuna, which is never a good thing. Of course, that means putting off clipping for another day. Again.

Picture Dump!!

Ok, I have been promising pictures from the new place, so here goes. 

I want more organizer boxes

Here's my shelf in the office area. I store things I need to keep around, but that don't fit in the tackroom. My quarter sheet will migrate there soon. I also keep my light-up hat (indispensable), a complete set of wraps, spare boots and gloves, treats, and a cooler. You just never know.

No two bits the same

The tackroom is definitely taking shape. It's pretty full already, but we have 4 more horses coming in the next couple of weeks, so I'm excited to see how it fills out.

I keep Cuna's dressage and jump bridles handy, plus breastcollar, martingale, and saddle/girth. Of course, everything is immaculately clean. I LOVE the smell of this room.

Swooping curves!

Our main crosstie area is outside, covered with a nifty tent. I snapped this picture this morning because I love looking at my saddle. It's no CWD, but it has pretty lines.

We're still getting the niceties of this arrangement figured out. It will be more streamlined in the future I'm sure. Let's face it: we've been at the new barn less than a week.

Feed cookies.

The Cunafish models the outdoor crossties. I thought that a white tent would be spooky, but I had the spookiest horse in the barn under them today (not Cuna) and he was totally fine. It does make picture taking hard--so bright!

You may also notice that Cuna is sporting polos up front here. No, I'm not riding in a clinic.

I washed my fleece boots yesterday and hung them to dry. They froze solid. Yes folks, it's polos for me for the rest of the winter. I can't say I'm super excited.

Pre-ride sass

The good news is that Cuna looks super sporty in wraps. I have a feeling that he'll have a whole collection come spring--anything to let me put off washing/drying/rerolling wraps ad nauseum.

He already has white, royal, and navy. I'm thinking black, hunter, and maybe something cutesy that Steph will hate? Ha! Ideas in the comments, please.

Boss horse sees teeny jump

I've spent enough time talking about our lovely new jumps. Now with pictures!!

This is the white gate that was totally not scary yesterday. Mmhmm. Jumped it.

More interested in neighbor cows

The green gate. It's scarier than you'd think. I don't actually think we stopped at it, but I did give Cuna the panic ride a couple of times.

That's the fun thing about a new arena and new jumps. It's pretty much mimicking the show environment for me, at least for the first couple of weeks. I get to have all my panic attacks and bugaboos over fancy jumps.

Hopefully when we go to the little local winter show series, I won't even blink. I know he won't.

Looking at pretty trees

And who can forget the giant doom oxer? I admit, it looks pretty underwhelming with the red ears pricked up and the mane lying flat. He was all business today, but no jumping for a couple days now. I'm trying not to stress his old man joints unduly.

I am a little excited to jump these on my own a few times. I'll set them down to something that doesn't scare me at all and just work on lesson stuff until I make it automatic. So fun!

Counter flexion is hard! 

In light of that, we did a lot of shorten/lengthen and lateral work today in our ride. I need to feel when Cuna is long and flat and already have to tools to pick him up without pissing him off. It's not rocket science, but the more intentional I am about practicing it, the better it will be.

Hopefully in the near future I'll round up some video of us rocking the shiny jumps and maybe even some pictures under saddle...

Over and Over

Third ride at the new place today. We were on the schedule for a jumping lesson. I pretended that Cuna hadn't had the biggest spook of his life yesterday in the new arena (relocating all four feet three whole times) and tried to ignore the threatening clouds and sprinkling rain.

Ack! Jumping lesson. We have these ritzy new jumps with panels and flower boxes and gates and blindingly white poles.

Cuna felt fabulous warming up--he LOVES the new footing. It's packed sand (I think?) and he doesn't have to sink in every stride. I worked on going forward and back and throwing in some small circles to keep him flexible.

Despite how awesome my horse was going, I felt like a peanut. Tight, nervous, and curled up. Not useful. Steph had us canter in to a 2'9"ish square oxer to start the day. I put my leg on, cantered towards it, and sat perfectly still while my brain locked up and my horse leaped sideways and ran out. Two strides out, he asked, "Really?" and I was so tense I couldn't respond, "Yes."

Grrr.

Steph put it down to a 2'6"ish square and stood on the right side to close the easy out. We trotted in so I'd feel better kicking (another idea of hers) and when Cuna said, "Really?" I said, "YES." He hopped right over, then galloped across the diagonal. I brought him back to a bouncier canter to get over the green gate with red flower boxes. It was small and non-threatening.

Leg, leg, leg, and over we went! We kept doing the figure 8 a few more times until I was able to ride to the fence, keep my butt out of the saddle over the jump, and bring him back on the far side. I finally started feeling secure in my position. We mixed up the course--green gate towards home, then square oxer to green gate bending line, then add in the outside line with flower boxes to white gate (3'!)

I rode the first three jumps great. Cuna was forward and flowing. My position was strong. As we cantered around the corner to the new flower boxes, I felt strong and confident. He motorcycled the turn a bit, but I had my leg on...

AND THE SUCKER RAN OUT!!!

This was the first time it actually irritated me. All our other problems were because I was locking up and not riding. This one?? Not ok! Steph pointed out that I just let him get long and strung out through the turn and then motorcycle. Not exactly a good ride. Ooops.

Take II.

I gave myself plenty of room, got a proper canter, sent him forward, and brought him back before making the turn to the jump. I changed his balance by tightening my core and getting tall with my upper body instead of pulling. I kept his inside hind engaged around the turn, and we motored right down the line. At the last stride, I realized that I needed to pick either 5 or 6 strides, and chose 6. Cuna SLAMMED on the brakes. Hell no lady. Choose distance before fence, KTHXBAI.

Again, oops.

Take III.

Just the outside line. Instead of sending him on a straight line towards the barn, Steph had us change direction. Going away from the barn would reduce the mad galloping we were doing. She told me to stay out of the saddle on the landing, so my seat didn't shoot him forward, then advised a strong half halt as soon as we landed to hold for the six.

I got a lovely canter, rode to the 3' vertical like nothing, stayed out of the saddle, and felt a lovely canter towards the oxer. I chose not to half halt because he felt so nice... ooops, and we're running out again. Damn.

After I complain that I had a lovely canter, he didn't shoot off, and I intentionally left out the half halt, Steph points out that just because a horse is running faster doesn't mean their stride is bigger. Even though he was on a lovely stride, I still needed to half halt. The jumps are big enough now that he's not going to let me get away with shoddy riding.

Take IV

Ok. Good canter. Bouncy. Over the first jump, stay out of the saddle, BIG HALF HALT, settle for the 6 strides to the scary oxer and we popped out politely.

I didn't ask Steph for video of today because, seriously, it was rough. I haven't jumped much lately due to moving/travelling/October in general, and it showed. Plus we're ramping up the difficultly level, and Cuna is expecting more from me. I can do it and he's completely honest and up front about it, but today was not the prettiest ride ever.

That said, wow, what a difference a year (and an old man horse) makes. This time last year, I would have crapped my pants at the thought of the jumps we did today. Just think: the least "scary" jump to me was a brand new 3' white gate. Yeah. Not a crossrail.

Occupy crossties. Demand cookies. 

On top of that, this is why Cuna is so perfect for me. He saved me, over and over, when we started together. Over little fences, he requires almost nothing from the rider. Now that we're jumping up, he's really teaching me to ride. He's a packer, but he doesn't just give things to me. So not only is he the cutest and most loveable old man in the barn, he's still my schoolmaster. What a guy!






PS I promise I will take actual pictures of the new barn, plus the snazzy jumps, and many more shots of everyone's favorite Cunafish tomorrow. This whole "one pic a day" thing isn't doing it for me.

Moved

It took longer than I thought it would (what doesn't?), but Cuna is officially moved to the new place. Because he is amazing, it took him roughly 2 minutes to settle in.

It's cool guys. There's food.

He was a little unsettled by the prospect of turnout, but once he found his box, all was well.

A more different box

I made him wear bell boots because I was afraid any hijinks might pull a shoe and screw up his poor feet. This was as wild as he got, though. He even had a nice roll in his run.

Not sure why this is hard,

The auto waterers are cool because they're insulated and I am all about not breaking ice on winter mornings. I was concerned because they didn't look as intuitive to use as some, but he got it right away.

Yum

As for the turnout, well, get this: HE LIKED IT!! For 20 whole minutes, he grazed and only had minor fits about the lack of a box. He walked away from the gate and didn't weave or flip his head. Oh my!

I didn't have time to ride yesterday (boo!), but I'm about to race out today and begin my epic marathon weekend.*


*I'm not running a marathon. I just have way too much to do and no time to do it.

Last Day

Today is our last full day at the current boarding facility. I took full advantage of the freaking gorgeous fall weather and the amazing trail access, and took Cuna into the hills to my favorite overlook. 

Look how tiny I am!

It was 29f this morning and frosty out, but Cuna isn't clipped yet.He marched along while I dropped the reins and merrily snapped pictures. As long as I don't stop him or make him pose, he doesn't mind.

It was weird to think that this is our last time heading out in the hills like this. Our new facility has some trail access, but just being able to cross the road and wander hundreds of acres has been amazing.

Am holding own reins

Obviously, Cuna was very wild. Once I convinced him that yes, he really did have to go out without a buddy again, he just followed the trail. He knows the drill. I was actually living dangerously for a little bit and not holding the reins, but I kept worrying that he would stop and step on them and I'd be stuck.

You never can escape your inner safety nazi. I guess that's a good thing. I mean, I would feel really stupid if I had to ride back with one rein over something like this. Plus these are my favorite reins.

Love these hills

The sky was amazing. My camera wasn't picking up all the detail I wanted it to, but just the deep, rich blue with the wispy clouds flying overhead. There's a reason to live in the west, folks. The sky is like none other.

Observing the world

When we made it to the overlook, Cuna very obligingly stopped and let me snap away. It's this really cool spot where we're still in the hills, but the city begins about a hundred feet below us. The atmosphere is finally clear and clean after the summer of smoke and fires, so we could see all the way across the valley to the mountains on the other side.






Downtown stretched away to our left. The fall colors just enhanced an already striking view. I love all the yellow, green, and red we're seeing and it's only going to get better.

Most handsome old man

Then a very nice hiker lady came along with her friendly dog. She was nice enough to take a picture of us together, which is officially the only picture I have of Cuna and I actually riding in the hills...

To my surprise and delight, she did an excellent job! Cuna even posed politely and didn't try to leave until she was done.





We're excited for the move tomorrow and yes, there will be a photo tour once we're settled in. This winter should be oodles of fun, even without these wonderful hills at my doorstep.

Different

Learning to breathe

This is one of my favorite pictures of Cuna, (taken by Ellie) when he and I were a brand new partnership. I was just learning to trust him, and he was so wonderful to me. At the time, I was busy working for my trainer and riding horses (any horses) was a cause for anxiety. Cuna helped me to realize that I did this for fun, and it actually was. 

Fast forward six months. I've been riding just Cuna all summer/fall and loving it. He is so much fun to be around and work with. He and I just connect and he's completely rekindled my love of riding. :-) I couldn't be happier. 

Not Cuna, but still cute

Today, I had two other horses to ride as well as the Cunafish. I was a little nervous/curious to see how I would do on "horses not cuna".

Answer: just fine. I started both of them in the arena. It was actually pretty fun to remember what horses that bend and move laterally can feel like. After some good solid arena work, I took them out in the hills.

They weren't nearly as fun as Cuna is for me, but I had a good time. It was good to know that I can still ride other horses.

It was also a reminder of just how much fun Cuna is. Not all horses gallop up the hills on autopilot. Some make you kick. What is that nonsense??

A Touch of Whimsy

We had a jump lesson on Saturday, which was crazy hard--I rode a two stride bending line and was perpendicular to both obstacles. Eek! Then dressage/hack on Sunday...

We are past the gate. 

So obviously we didn't want to work too hard today. Hurrah hacking time!! I talked a western riding friend into going out with us on her midget horse. That's the key--there's one trail I'd never followed because you have to dismount and get through a Montana gate. That is way too much work on a giant horse, but a handy chica with a shrimpy pony? Perfect!

Because Cuna is a superstar, he was totally chill about the whole thing while the midget mare jigged along. She had a massive spook and he didn't even flick an ear. What a guy.



The trail dead end-ed(?) into a paved road and locked gate eventually, so we turned around. This whole time, I've been missing out on a flat, sandy arena with a gradual incline that I could have been galloping on. #fail


We watched the cars go by and decided to explore a fun trail that went up the hill.

At this point, the midget mare was still prancing, so we went up the steepest part to calm her little brain down. She jigged about three more steps and went, "Oh." And that was that. She's old enough to know better.



We got to the top and I had to take a picture. It was gorgeous.

You might also notice the picture is a little lopsided. That's because as I snapped the shot, Cuna spotted ZOMGZZ LOOSE HORSES RUN FOR THE HILLZ!!!!!!

Yes. One ridgeline away, there were some loose horses grazing. They barely even looked at us.

Clearly, this was a cause for PANIC. We pranced! We jigged! We snorted! We went down the hill an easier way, and out the trail we came in on. I did not recover Cuna's brain until we made it to the barn.

Can't touch this!

And then, covered in foam, he's all, "Yeah, totes won that race, bitches."

D'awwwww.

The Countdown

We're closing in on the end of our time at this barn at a crazy rate. I've been pretending it isn't happening, but at this time next week, Mr. Matata will be living the high life in the new barn. In light of that, I'm trying to make the most of what's left. 

So handsome 

We jumped yesterday and did a long/low workout followed by a slow hack today. Then we'll jump Saturday, easy day Sunday, hack Monday... and probably trail ride the rest of the week, with a galloping day thrown in. I do love my ridgeline gallops. 

It's not like the trails are going away forever or anything, but as a person who grew up in the sandbox and only at this barn had to opportunity to ride out literally whenever I want to, I sure will miss them. 

People with trailers: you don't know how lucky you are.

All dressed up

In light of his new shoeing job, Cuna is always only ever allowed out of his stall in bell boots for the foreseeable future. Fortunately, he doesn't really "do" turnout, so I'm hoping they don't rub him. 

In keeping with the schedule, we did a lot of walk/trot long and low in the arena to start today. Cuna and I really have come a long ways together--when we first started, he didn't have a long and low. Period. 

It took a lot of gentle reminders, particularly to the left, but we had some good stretchy work. If I keep riding in an arena and practicing this winter, maybe we can even refine it enough to do a training level dressage test in the spring. Oh my! 

Love this view

When he felt loose and relaxed, we headed to the hills for a slow hack to continue the stretching. I even brought my phone so I could re-shoot one of my all time favorite Cuna pics: 

There's nothing like a good ride on a fall day. 

As much as I'll miss this place, I'm excited for new adventures at the new barn!

Pertinent details: my trainer is leasing a place for the winter and Cuna and I are on board. We'll be bringing along all my favorite horses and clients and have a super time. Maybe I'll even ride in an arena and jump giant things and take PICTURES. Be excited.