ξƞçɧαƞtєđ wrote:June Bug: Oh...cantering bareback...I love it! I can understand what you mean about keeping your balance. I have a tendency to lean a bit forward or a bit backward and that tends to throw me off so I have to constantly check myself. If you want to start the cantering bareback a bit more smoothly, try using a bareback pad or even riding him with his winter blanket on? I used to do that with the horses up in NY and it helped me get used to the whole feel of the animal rather than just learning as a went. ;)
I wish I could have decorated my babies stalls- our house looks so Grinchy this year. We only have a tree and some stockings, and they're probably coming down today or tomorrow. xD
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Pictures to come...I promise. xD
As of now, it's pretty warm-ish outside and there is no snow! Woot woot! I got my green Christmas after all (Even if it is a bit muddy). I haven't been working my boy or girl since the rain hit hard as I don't want them slipping in the mud and hurting themselves so they've been let out in a smaller pasture and have been being put in their stalls earlier. They're taking it in stride though and as long as they have food to snack on, they're happy. But yesterday, I went to my local Co-Op and with some money I got in a Christmas card from my grandfather, I was able to buy my two a Christmas present after all! It was a miracle in my own eyes. So after some debating with my dad, I walked out of the store fully equipped with a Jolly Ball. I introduced them to it yesterday and they both loved it...too much in fact. It made my day and it tickled me to no end. I shall post pictures of them with it...you will die of cuteness. xD
I don't really like the feel of bareback pads and he really doesn't need one (super comfy and super smooth) so I don't have one and even though I have a blanket for him, I never put it on him unless it's under 15f (It's currently in the 40s and 50s) because his coat is so fluffy and dense, he overheats easily in it.
We cantered a total of four times that day and after the first one, it got easier and easier. I've been riding him bareback for quite a while, and canter him with a saddle every time I use one, so I'm used to the feel of him. X] I just need to work on smoothing out his transitions so we don't have all those awkward strides between the nice trot and canter.
Jolly balls~! Granix plays with everything EXCEPT balls. xD I wanted to get him one so bad, but the one we have floating around the barn, he totally ignores.
@ Gifts
I didn't get a whole lot of horsey stuff, but that's mostly because no one in my family is at all horse-savvy so they have no idea what anything I ask for is, haha. I did get show clothes though, breeches, a shirt, jacket, and boots. My mother took me out shopping for them a couple weeks ago, so I already knew I was going to get them as I was the one to pick them out. She also picked up a new grooming bag, a couple browbands I was looking at (Granix has a cob-sized head, but a horse-sized forehead so his current browbands pinch a bit), and a head bumper that she saw on sale (which I actually did need so I was really happy she managed to pick out a good gift without my help).
My dad gave me a nicely-sized wad of cash which I'm going to use for a couple clinics my barn is holding on New Years, so I guess that sorta counts, haha.
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The friend of mine that's been training my other friends' 3-year-old hung around and helped me do some free-jumping with Granix yesterday. After a couple rounds of him taking the jump, but not very confidently and knocking it half the time, we played around with it and found that he has trouble judging the size of a jump if it blends too much with the footing or if it doesn't have a ground pole. Once we fixed those two things, he had a ton of fun! He went from choosing to jump the larger cone off to the side to not wanting to stop and wait for us to adjust the height, lol.
We started at about 18" and took him up to 3'6". He maybe jumped a total of ~15 times. We don't jump a whole lot so he was pretty tired after that, haha.
We then played with the 'super scary' Spider Man ball that she was playing with with the baby earlier. He didn't seem to understand it. He wasn't bothered by it like some of the horses have been (her dad's huge Irish Sport mare was terrified of it), but he didn't seem all that interested in doing anything with it either.
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