How Beautiful....

Just wanted to recount some of the beautiful little moments I had today while being with Lady... and there were quite a few of them, surprisingly!  :D

Earlier this morning, I went out to give her hay and found her laying down in the middle of the pasture.  I LOVE being with my horse when she is laying down... so of course, I went up and snuggled with her for a few minutes... she's so big and warm and soft and I could lean against her shoulder and hug her while she nibbled her hay.  It makes me feel so safe.  :)  I climbed on top of her and she got up on command, so I sat there for a minute and scratched her before sliding down.  It felt so very very special :)

This evening, playing with Lady, also brought out a few beautiful moments.  Her Right Brain Introvert side was coming out this today, so I had to play with that, which is almost always fun!  :)
Her Figure-8s are getting nicer and nicer... and she is still offering to jump the barrel when I don't send her correctly... >:)

I played also a little bit with cantering again, and she was quite responsive.  For a minute, it seemed like she had forgotten I was there, she was concentrating SO hard on maintaining the gait, even though she didn't look completely comfortable with it :)  I was proud of her :)

By the time I had finished playing OnLine, I felt too lazy to bother with putting on her reins and riding, so I just sat with her for a little while... and then decided to be brave and not bother putting the reins on.  I picked up my Carrot Stick, asked her to come pick me up and off we went... bareback and bridleless!  I more or less just let her wander for a while and then asked very very gently, with my leg and my stick, to go over to the barrels on the other side of the arena, where we had been doing Figure 8 online just a few minutes before...  My plan was to go over there, maybe stop and rest, go around one of the barrels and come back.  It seems Lady had different plans... we got over there and she most definitely wanted to do the pattern... so... umm... we did!  She did the whole thing by herself with very little support from me, letting me focus on my riding skills, hehehe!  We walked back and I got off and gave her a hug...

As usual, I asked for a tiny bit of Liberty after taking all the ropes off, just to see how good the connection was.  All the basic games were in place and she was doing Stick-to-me fairly nicely at the trot, so I went out on a limb and asked her to circle... in the gigantic arena... >:)  And... she did.  I could feel the connection... like an invisible rope between us.  When she drifted any, all I had to do was shift my weight, cock one leg, something and she would be right back on track.  !!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Needless to say, I am totally ecstatic about the whole thing.  I am so blessed to have such a beautiful . horse and such a wonderful connection with her through Parelli.  Maybe those Level 3 auditions aren't so far-off as it seemed...?  ;)

Savvy on!
-Kit Marie and Lady Hwin

So Much Fun :)

Despite me being a bit sick yet, I went out to play with my wonderful partner today and it turned out to be the greatest thing I could have done.  :D  We played with quite a few things on the ground, after she had galloped around the arena looking for her friend... lol!  :P  I was quite happy with how light and soft she was, even with her clumsy feet at times!  For the first time in what feels like forever, we did the Figure-8 pattern smoothly at a trot!  It seems my revelation (see last post) has made a difference and Lady's turns were flawless!  :D :D
I also picked up where we had left off last time and played with some canter circles... I'm still walking around to give her more room to practice with, but am working towards being able to stand still and have her maintain gait... its coming!!  :D  I'm still struggling a little bit with how to make her trotting change-of-direction smooth and full of TROT!  She is still slowing up and then launching off again, which isn't bad... but its not what I'm wanting right now...

At this point is where I got on... and realized how clumsy my mounting process is... guess what I'll be working on... :P  I would love to be able to get on bareback, smooth as silk, and not have my poor horse grunt and grumble while I'm at it.  Hehe...
Again, picked up where I left off last time and headed down the rail at a calm walk.  Had a tentative plan in my head and ended up going through with it completely.  About halfway around the arena was where I had the barrels set up for figure 8, close to the rail.  We walked all the way over there, with only one tiny correction when she wanted to turn around and look at Tempest, but I wanted to stay by the fence.  When we got to the barrels, I asked, as politely as I could, if we could do some Figure 8s, right by the fence.  She obliged beautifully and we went through it three times before heading back the way we had come.  :)  As we went down the fence this time, I asked for a few 180s and 360s, just to see how soft she really was.. and all went well!
What happened next?  Well.... I got off.... :D  And I am ever so proud of myself for it... For once, I managed to dismount when everything was smooth and soft and perfect... on a very very good note.  :)

My favorite part... because of my timing in getting off, we walked back to the gate in true harmony.  I never touched  her rope and she kept her head under my arm the whole time.  I cannot remember a time that this has happened after a ride.. it made my day!  :) 
To finish off, I did a few tiny things at Liberty... hindquarter/forequarter yields with Driving and Porcupine and a bit of Yo-Yo... she was focused and connected... :)
I love my horse!  <3

Savvy on!
-Kit Marie and Lady Hwin


-hay bales from our spring cutting :)

 Tempest :)

 Tempest again :)

 And again :)

 My gorgeous Lady-girl :D

 Tempest exploring Lady's domain  >:D

 Caught red-hooved!

 Lady again :D

 and again :)  Love her!

Back to Normal :)

I FINALLY played with Lady today.  Really played with her, on the 22’ Line, all over the arena!  :D  She was her usual self, just the same as I remember her being… mild LBE with a touch of RBI. 

I started her off with refreshing the first four games.  Friendly was good… Porcupine was a bit sticky, but no more than usual, Driving was good and Yo-Yo was good, so I went on with my plan of doing circles.  We did travelling circles each way with me walking twice around the entire arena.  She trotted most of the time and looked pretty good (left was a lot better than right, but still…) and I very gently asked for a canter, which (!!!!)  she gave to me.  To the left it was great; she started off on the wrong lead but after about half a lap, she switched over the correct one and tucked her head neatly.  :)  With the way she has been sore and stiff (and still is) she impressed me a lot!  To the right she was definitely more hesitant and broke back down to the trot quite a few times, but she tried SO hard.  I am starting to wonder about her naughty bucks though… because they showed up while going to the right… hmm…  :)

I went on and asked for Figure-8s and here is where I learned something!  Her turns around the barrels weren’t doing so well; she kept stopping and facing me and I would have to send her off again.  I finally figured it out after about ten revolutions and changed my approach accordingly!  I let her go around the barrel and moved back to draw her towards me… and only then did I send her on around the barrel.  Success!!!  Everything instantly went much smoother and she was visibly much more happy :D

At this point, she felt pretty solid and calm, so I decided to go ahead and get on…. And just that thought made me so happy!!  I changed out the 22’ Line for my Finesse Reins, checked lateral flexion from the ground and got on, yay!!!  All I had in mind to do was walk around the arena once and then get off.  Lateral flexion while mounted was pretty good, to the left she kept her feet still but to the right she went in a circle. 

All went fairly well during the whole ride.  She broke into a trot twice, but I managed it calmly, used my one rein stop and once she was relaxed we went on.  No explosions.

I got off and gave her a hug!  The end… and it was awesome!! :D

Savvy on!

-Kit