School's Out and I'm Celebrating!

Jetta and I joined four friends to head up the canyon and ride the Ponderosa Trail. It was quite chilly, but I was still happy--I am out of the elementary school till August! Yay!

I arrived half an hour before everyone else so that I could work with Jetta a little bit. I walked her down to the river and sent her out into the water. She hesitated for only a second and then walked on in. She trotted up and down a small hill on the lunge line. She grazed. She did NOT whinny, paw, fret, or worry about being the only horse up there. I tell you, I love this mare!

Everyone arrived, saddled up, and we headed out. Jetta took the lead from the get-go. She walks out really well. Mikey and Sharon led the way through the river, but it was a non-issue, and then Jetta was back out in front marching down the trail. It's a long, sometimes steep, climb of a couple of miles to the cattle tank. She led the entire way. Tammy's three-year-old was a little excited, but nothing fazed Jetta. She was looking at things, but no hesitation or "stickiness." It is such a relief to be back on a forward thinking horse!

Nobody drank when we reached the cattle tank; maybe the very cool temperatures kept the horses cool. We rested for a few minutes and then carried on. We had a short trot in an open meadow, then Sharon and Tammy left on their own to push Tammy's horse a little. Jetta had a moment's worry about carrying on, but then she seemed to get over it. We did a small loop back to the trail we rode up on and headed down the canyon toward the river.  About half a mile from the trailers, Jetta was out in front when suddenly a wild turkey hen jumped up on the edge of the trail about five feet in front of her nose. Here I am riding a green four-year-old Arab and what do you think happened? Nothing. Jetta said, "Hey, look at that turkey!" And she walked on by. I know I keep saying it, but I really love this mare!

We crossed the river and arrived back at the trailers where I sponged Jetta down and gave her a hay net, while we headed down to the river to eat lunch. (Actually, I just visited since I didn't bring any lunch, but it was fun anyway.) I want to do this all summer!

She's a Race Horse

I wish you could have seen Jetta run this afternoon in the arena. She has gained weight and some fitness and it shows. She loves to run! Loose and alone in the arena, she ran laps (mostly to the left!) for almost ten minutes. I worked her on the ground for another ten or twenty minutes. I planned on riding but had left her girth cover and saddle pad on the dryer at home. We are still battling a few small outbreaks of the girth itch rash, so I didn't want to put Keno's tack on her. I called it good and we headed home again.

Tomorrow Jetta gets to go on the Ponderosa Trail which is my favorite trail up in our local canyon. A fairly steep, but very beautiful climb up to the cattle tank, and then a small loop and back down the way we came. A couple of friends are going, too. We'll have to cross the river at the start, so we'll see how that goes.

I'm relieved to have sold Flyboy, my mustang, to a nice family up north. I can now concentrate on getting Jetta some experience, training, and conditioning. I'm looking forward to a fun summer with this girl; today was  my last day at the school--it's officially summer break! Yay!

A Real Trail Ride!

Wow, oh wow. Today's ride was great! Sharon, Judy and I rode all the way from Chicken Creek to Pigeon Creek (one canyon to the next), up and down some big hills. Jetta was fabulous! She marched right out in the lead. She can follow if I ask her to, but she likes being out front. She did get a little jiggy a couple of times, but she was mostly good at listening to my seat. She did much better with the bit and we didn't have any big tug-of-wars. She did get a little anxious about the hills and tried to barrel her way to the top at high speed, but even that improved along the way. She got a bit scared when we rode though some very low-hanging oaks where I had to duck over her neck. No real spooking to speak of, she just rushed her way through.

The very last 1/3 of a mile the trail splits into two parallel trails about 30 yards apart. Sharon and Judy went down one trail and Jetta and I took the other. I thought she might stress about the other horses being out of sight (she could hear them, but couldn't see them trough the trees), but nope, she just marched on down the trail toward the trailer and didn't worry about where Mikey and Janie were. I am amazed at her maturity. She's only just turned four, but she is pretty secure and sensible.

Jetta is going to need boots. I need to call Easycare and order a fit kit. I tried all the sizes I have at home and none fit. I am guessing she will need an 0.5 wide Glove. I'll measure her tomorrow and get them ordered.

It was a beautiful day and a spectacular place to ride. Just what the doctor ordered for me today!

Jetta and the Birthday Party

It was a busy day, but more than half of it involved horses so I call that a good day! I spent the morning at my regular job at the school, then I headed out in the afternoon to trim three horses at a boarding facility 45 minutes north of here, then I came home and loaded up Jetta and Keno and went to the arena. After riding Jetta and practicing the suppling exercises we learned in our lesson on Tuesday (which she did very well with), I loaded them up again and headed out for a trail ride. Today is Keno's 15th birthday, so we needed to celebrate! I rode Keno and ponied Jetta around a hilly loop in Dog Valley. It was a great way to celebrate the wonderful gift he has been since coming into my life more than ten years ago. He's a great horse--fun, willing, capable, and just a total solid guy with a (mostly!) good attitude. I love that quirky boy! Thank you, Keno, for being such a great guy! And thanks for being on the job with the greenies we've been training!

Jetta was pretty good at the arena, and she ponied easily on the trail. She's a nice girl, too. I feel very lucky to have them.

On the Trail With Jetta

I'm still smiling about our trail ride today! Jetta was so good! I just love this girl. She was very forward and took the lead from the start. She out-walked Mikey, Sharon's trail horse. I've been riding with Sharon and Mikey for over ten years and I've never seen a horse out-walk him. Holy cow. Jetta can really travel!

We mostly walked and followed the jeep trail over the Roller Coaster Hills which are a series of short, steep (as in quite steep!) hills running a mile or two along the west side of our valley. It's terribly rocky, but a fun and somewhat challenging training ride. Jetta was not fazed and headed enthusiastically down the trail. She seems inexperienced with climbing and descending the steeper slopes, but she was game and handled herself well. She tried to trot and canter on the uphills, but never got silly or too pushy. She did get jiggy a couple of times and I worked really hard at staying soft and relaxed on her back and not giving her anything to lean on. It helped-she's very sensitive to my seat and knows if I'm tense at all.

We came to the big cattle tank and a tiny stream. Jetta put her head down to take a good look at the stream (a trickle, really) and then she calmly took a little hop over it. We crossed it again, and I was able to just ask her to step over it. We stopped there and turned back in the interest of time. This time I asked Jetta to follow Mikey, which she did very nicely. After a while she took the lead again, though. We climbed up and down all those hills again. A couple of times she stopped and didn't want to go forward anymore. I think her feet were getting sore on the rocks, so I'll probably fit her with some Easyboot Gloves. About half-way to the trailer we headed down into the cedar trees and bush-whacked our through them. We took turns following and leading as we wound our way through the trees. Jetta doesn't hesitate to lead, which is a huge relief, since that is something I have struggled with on Flyboy.

I could not be more pleased with this mare. Yes, Jetta was leaning on the bit at times. And yes, we have lots more training to do before I'll feel confident with her. But what a nice girl she is! She is going to be a fun trail partner. I figure another four or five months and she's going to be great on trail. A year from now I hope we'll be cruising down the endurance trail with confidence and a fair bit of speed!

Finally--A Real Lesson

Well, Jetta and I finally did a real lesson today with Marleen, my longtime friend and riding instructor. We worked the whole time on just one thing. One VERY important thing. Getting Jetta to bend through her whole body. And we made some fabulous progress!

Jetta has never been asked to bend or flex. She was trained for the track in a running martingale to force her to keep her head down. But the braces in her neck muscles created by the martingale are starting to soften and dissolve. I could really catch a glimpse of what she will eventually be like today. She tries very hard and seems to be thinking about what I'm asking, so I think she'll learn very quickly.

I kept her on a very loose rein but asked her to bring her head around toward my foot while bending and stepping under with that inside hind as I asked with my inside leg. Marleen explained it as basically four corners. One rein to direct each front leg and one of my legs/seat bones for each hind leg. We flexed one side and then immediately went to the other side over and over. By the end of the lesson Jetta was softer and licking and chewing, AND reaching for the contact. She was also stretching forward and down. We got a couple of big releases and processing moments. I cannot tell you how stoked I am about this mare! She is going to be wonderful.

Tomorrow I am taking her out for a trail ride. Sharon plans to ride Keno and Jetta will get to try out the Roller Coaster Hills. I was hoping to have time to ride Flyboy while I was out there, but I'll have to get back for my 3:30 lesson. Keno won't want to miss his little student!