Field Trip for Trotting and Jump Work

Here's to mud....  It was entirely ice here yesterday morning while I was feeding, and I pondered how Olympians manage to not only stay upright but skate at record breaking speeds on ice when I could barely walk a straight line with a bucket of mash.  Now on to the mud wrestling.  First thing in the morning the ground here was frozen enough that I could get the truck and trailer out without too much mucking around in the mud, so we seized the day.  Grace and I went to the neighbor's indoor arena this morning to ride.

When we got to the indoor arena Grace was a little wound up, and I considered that this is just a lot to ask of a 20 year old mare.  Basically what I'm trying to accomplish with Grace is the equivalent of getting a 70 year old woman who has been living as a sedentary hermit emotionally, mentally, and physically ready to run a 10k with a large crowd of people in only 45 days.

But she truly is Grace Under Pressure, and after leading her around in the arena and setting up some cross rails and ground poles she was quiet enough to let me mount.  She was wearing her jumping saddle and her bit with the bridle, only her third time with the bit in her mouth.  In a slight oversight on my part, I had cleaned and conditioned the saddle before last weekend's horse show.  Today I was wearing full seat breeches, and it wasn't until I went to sit in the tack that I realized it was a noisy combination.  As soon as my buns touched the saddle there was a ridiculous amount of squeaking and noise as the fabric of my pants and the tacky conditioned leather saddle touched and rubbed against each other.  A lesser horse might have panicked and bolted at the bizarre noise, but Grace just froze and aimed her ears back at me as if to ask why I hadn't considered this possibility.  I told her it was ok, and that while it would be a noisy ride we would be fine.  She started walking for me, keeping at least one ear on me.

Grace and I then walked and trotted around the arena on the rail, going over the small jumps as we went.  This was her first time trotting with a rider because of the footing and weather being uncooperative for the last week or so.  She is very smooth at the trot, and figured out steering with the bit and a rider easily.  By the end of our ride today she was working well off of my leg and only needing the voice commands once in a while for clarification, and mostly she steers by my weight shifts with the reins as backup.  Though we weren't working for a very long time, she was sweaty when we were done and mentally ready to stop.  However, after reasoning through trotting figure eights and serpentines, while incorporating crossrails and ground poles and adding transitions between the walk, halt, and trot I completely understand her fatigue.

We headed back to the trailer and untacked, and she was happy to hop back inside for the short trip home.  I'm impressed again and again with Grace's willingness to try new things and her bravery in the face of completely unfamiliar tasks.