Flying Ponies

It seems that my life is developing a pattern. I get up, walk the dogs for a few miles, go to work, then off to the barn where – let’s face it- the real work begins.


Yesterday was slightly different in that, silly me, I went for a jog/walk with the dogs instead of just a walk. Ow. I know this last ten pounds is stubborn, but I’m not sure if it’s worth jogging. People run for fun? OW!

So off I went to work, leaving my happy tired poodles sleeping happily in their boxes, with my quads burning. Work was… uneventful.

Then barn time! Best part of my day! Seriously, that physical activity (that isn’t mindless running/walking) is probably what keeps me sane some days. I started with Chantilly, since there was an empty arena and I was going to use it! As it would turn out, she’s a whole lot more comfortable without ponies careening around. Steering is sometimes a little iffy, and she was very very suspicious of the ground poles that I left set out in the middle of the arena.

So, Chantilly (we need a nickname. Chanty? Tilly?) worked well for about half an hour. Check.

RC’s turn.

I chose RC because I knew there was a lesson scheduled, so I assumed that it would be easier to stay out of the way on RC (who is 90% better now!) than on Delight, what with the weather changing and having had a few days off. In the time it took me to get tacked up and out to the arena, there was already another little pony out there. Fine. We can deal. No problem.

Shoulder in, leg yield, baby half-passes, renvers, travers all at the walk for some warm up. Just as I pick up the trot in comes the instructor. Not just for kid 1 on the pony already in the arena, but with four more kids and ponies in tow. So much for that ride… Bogies at 4, 6, 10 and 12 o’clock. I bowed out gracefully, and took RC back to the barn for some serious grooming.

I dawdled getting Delight ready, since I really was hoping for an empty arena (not totally out of the realm of possibility, since it’s usually pretty empty after five), but we had one other horse and rider to dodge. No biggie. We’re both descent riders, we can share.

Since lunging is for weenies, I just hopped on Delight. Turns out, that wasn’t my brightest moment. The other rider chose to lunge, and with the first snap of that lunge whip to get her steady eddy moving, my Delight decided to show off her prowess for airs above the ground. We had a leap and a buck, followed by the typical warmblood proposing.

Side note: Ponies are damn quick (thanks for that sound bite Wayne).

After two more rounds around the arena where pushing Delight forward seemed to not be fixing the problem (think forward leaping and bucking) I wimped out. I wimped out hard. Out came the bright pink lunge line, and we lunged over cavelettis.

Now, I don’t lunge to get the sillies out. I lunge to make them work in the case that there might be some sillies that I don’t want to have to sit out. Ten minutes of lunging, and she was no longer leaping the cavalettis as if they were 3’ oxers, so on I got. Again.

And we had a good ride. Thank goodness.