What We've Been Up To

March has been a busy month. I've been having weekly lessons on Colt with the fabulous Anne. Unfortunately, that's about all I've had time for, thanks to work/weather/daylight savings time. Boo, hiss.

Anne has had Colt and me working on some fairly basic concepts. Bending has been a big one. Colt is a big, green, unbalanced horse. It's hard for him to keep himself balanced, and it's a challenge for me to help him sometimes. We've made a lot of progress at the walk and trot. The canter is still kind of a mess, but it's coming along.

We've been doing a few jumping exercises here and there. I pulled out my bible (aka Jim Wofford's Training the Three Day Event Horse and Rider) and set up a gymnastic for Colt, which he handled pretty well. Thanks to our lack of jump standards, the back rail of our oxer was precariously balanced two barrels. Colt wasn't very sure about that at first, but with enough encouragement from my legs, he hopped over it without much fuss. He does a good job sorting himself out when jumping; sometimes he knocks poles, but I'll take that over getting anxious and fast any day. Colt also doesn't get upset when he knocks poles down- he just canters on like it's no big deal. What a nice horse.

I haven't been totally neglecting Gina- I hauled her out to the nearby lake with some friends a couple of weekends ago and she had a blast. She certainly isn't a trail horse for a beginner, but I really love taking her on rides like that. She's sure-footed, plods through mud and water, and doesn't mind the other horses running up her backside. Kyla and Cal were with us, and we had a little match race on a huge, flat grassy stretch that was about a half-mile long. Despite my verbal encouragement ("GO GINA GO! YOUR GRANDSIRE WON THE TRIPLE CROWN!!") and Gina's closing speed, Cal beat us (that horse is freaking fast). Congratulations to sweet baby Cal, who probably thought he was back on the track.

Over the last two days it's rained about 12" here in Oklahoma. As long as the horses don't float away or drown in their pasture's giant mud puddle, I imagine I'll be able to get riding sometime next weekend. If not, I'm hoping I'll get out a few times a week after work. After all, it's only about a month until our first show!