Birthday Ride

Today is Opie's ninth birthday!

He got a fresh Uncle Jimmy's hanging ball and Likit, a bag of his favorite treat in the entire universe (GHM), and a new heavyweight turnout blanket that doesn't hang weird AF and leave giant gaps at the neck. 

birthday lunch!

We've been light on the riding lately. We haven't touched changes in a couple of weeks at this point because I can't bring myself to work up the energy I know I'll need to attack them. Plus it's been single digit cold off and on and nobody wants any part of that--especially me after doing three hours of barn chores. 

I brought Hubby along on Sunday for some fresh riding media, but K and BM were there and K had some jumps set so we did a little bit of boring flat work and then jumped a couple things. Not the best for media, but more fun that a ride that required brain power.

The January/winter riding burnout is real right now. Even once I'm in the saddle it takes all my energy to just convince myself to keep riding and to find something to work on. Yesterday we didn't even canter. I tackled getting the trot collected instead. I've been really bad about asking for more especially when it comes to collection because it's hard work and the easy work is so nice and...easy lol. It ended up quality-ish. He wanted to ping back and forth between my legs every time they moved even a centimeter and there was some mouth noshing because hard, but the collection got done and the connection was soft. 

The "you can stretchy trot instead of walk" thing came back to bite me in the ass. Now he thinks he doesn't have to walk ever which is false, so we did a million transitions within walk until the point got across. 

forever working on the TOH

For his birthday ride I set a couple of jumps...and then decided to get on bareback instead and go for a trail ride. Too bad so sad though because despite the second day of 40* none of the ice out back had melted enough for Opie to break through so back to the ring we went. 

We did some trotting where I FINALLY made a mental breakthrough about the outside rein. 

Like, use it. 

Instead of pulling on the inside rein.

And then your circles are not just neck bent circles. 

Straightness EVEN ON A CIRCLE is a magical thing. 

Mind. Blown.