In which I post pictures of riding and helpful comments like "look up and stop making that stupid face"

Since I convinced my husband to take pictures last night of me riding in my new arena (don't get excited, it's just t-posts and tape, but it is weed whipped :) I have decided to start posting some pictures at the first of every month, for progress noting and critiquing.

It was a very nice ride, she was fairly relaxed and happy to work, despite the hay guy cutting in the back field and my diabolical plan to keep Baby Horse out of the arena failing. Worked a lot on transitions,circles and balance, she feels stiff right now. It is great to feel her relax and soften though, a great exercise for her is the constant circle, where we put in a ten meter circle go on the track for a few strides and put another one in, and repeat. If I really work on keeping my outside rein steady and give with my inside, and add a few little half halts she will soften nicely.

Overall I am happy with the pictures, I know my weak areas and the things Joy needs to improve in. I am not happy with the position the saddle is putting me in though, I am going to try a different pad and see if that improves it, I really feel I just need to bite the bullet and get her professionally fitted.

happy with her here,she is moving forward nicely

My leg is to far forward and I need  bend in my elbows.

Look up! and close your fingers

I would like to see her shifting more weight on her hind

Canter, upper body to far forward.

And in case you were wondering this is what an explodey bottle looks like.

I swear my brain has fallen out, day before yesterday I put a bottle of water in the freezer to cool it down for drinking fast, night before last we heard a weird popping sound and I couldn't figure out what it was, I just opened the freezer to get a Popsicle and there are glass shards form the Perrier bottle all over the freezer. I wouldn't be so hard on myself except I have been doing this shit all week, I'll be lucky if I don't burn the house down. 

So this is us now

 And this was us last year about the same time

So definitely an improvement there.
Except I think I look pudgier, but at least I am not throwing away contact. But time to start running again and try to convince my metabolism to do something rather then crawl around. Although to be perfectly honest I haven't done much in the way of dedicated exercise in awhile, unless sex counts.

 Now I need to go find some breakfast,since I have been neglecting feeding myself in favor of my blog, also going to take some ibuprofen and vitamin c, since all that weed whipping yesterday killed my shoulders and my allergies are crazy.

On community.

There is a horse forum I like to frequent, lately it seems I have been spending a lot of time there and was thinking about why. It is unmoderated and is generally full of people with interesting things to say, But there are some crazy folks who enjoy being rude and nasty thanks to the anonymity of the internet. I have learned a lot about different types of riding and horse keeping, gotten helpful advice and participated in some good discussions.

Mainly I guess it is about not feeling alone in your expensive, time consuming habit, My husband is super supportive of my riding but he doesn't get all geeked about the excitement of getting the correct lead or a good leg yield. I used to have a great horse community in the Upper Peninsula and I spent less time online then and more time talking horse and riding, I still do those things when I am up there and generally always pick up some horse work. I miss training for those people, and I miss people knowing who I am and getting good training jobs based on my capabilities.

I think I have a healthy relationship with the internet forums I belong to. Sometimes you just want to show someone pictures and have them go "wow, what a cute horse!"  Sometimes its nice to be able to help someone with an issue or check out someone's cute poneh.  I don't see the point of getting torqued over what people say though, there is a lot of nuance lost over internet communication and sometimes it is hard to have clarity and understanding. I don't post things I wouldn't say to someones face or that I would mind having some I know in real life read, which ended up being a good thing when I recently found out my Mom was reading what I posted.

There are some local people I enjoy riding with, but they have to trailer out and it is a bit of a drive, I wish there were more people around me who liked trail riding who aren't full of crazy. 

It is shitty and windy out today, I am cleaning tack and going to wash Joy's tail (since is pee colored, not a good look for a grey) I figure I want to be set for Sunday today so I can enjoy tomorrow without worrying to much,although I might bathe Joy tomorrow which is always as much fun as a barrel full of dirty, poo throwing monkeys. She gets highly offended when wet, although she likes getting a liniment wash down after a hard ride, so then she can roll and get as dirty as possible. Which is very very dirty.