Poor Connor has to be forgetting what I look like - the last time I rode was last Saturday, then I rode today, then I won't get to ride again until next Thursday. I think there's going to be a trainer ride in there at some point, though - she hasn't gotten on him in a while, and it's been good for her to get on every few months so she can more accurately coach me. I think she'll be pleasantly surprised, overall, he's felt really good lately.
I did manage to try out his Christmas gifts! First up, a sparkly browband from my little brother, who will likely now be receiving Smartpak catalogs and emails - way to take one for the team, Drew!
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| His fuzzy winter head does not do any part of this bridle justice! It's going to look awesome when he's shedded out, with the point of the browband just touching the point of his blaze. Ignore his sweet hair, I tucked his forelock out of the way for the photo. |
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| Listening to the BO fire up the tractor for some ring dragging |
Connor also got a quarter sheet from my momma. I tried it out today even though it was a balmy 40 degrees outside, and it was nice to not have to mess with the cooler!
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| I have given up on green as our color, since everything I own is accidentally navy, so I asked for a navy quarter sheet. |
Our ride today felt like 30 minutes of slogging through crap/10 minutes of awesome. It was a distraction thing today - we rode in the grassy field and there were horses hacking across the field and four teenagers walking up and down the road. I wasn't in a rush, so I just sat and kept patiently asking, asking, asking, all the while thinking that this was great practice for the show ring. First I got his attention, then I got his mind on his job, and last, the body followed and he softened and pushed. Bend, counterbend, bend, counterbend, leg yield, spiral in, spiral out, all the while evaluating how evenly I was sitting, whether my legs were braced or not, and whether I was pulling back on the reins.
It was hard to leave knowing I wouldn't see him for six long days, so after I took his halter off we played in his pasture for a while, with me scratching him all over and him nuzzling me. If I am being honest, he was probably hoping I had a treat, but he has good treat manners, so it just came across as gentle sniffing and head shaking when I found the right spot for a scratch. What a good boy, it's hard to leave him for that long!
Is that a blue browbands?? I love the second picture, it almost looks like there is a lightsaber coming out of his head!!
ReplyDeleteHaha, it does look like a lightsaber! No, it's white, I think the outside light just made it look blue.
DeleteRandom question - do you remember how you got your comments set to threaded posts? Where you can reply to one specific post?
ReplyDeleteI'm getting a new template and I'm using the same site as the one listed at the bottom of yours. I can't get a reply setting to come up and none of the fixes I've found online worked. I'm hoping maybe it is something directly related to the HTML the person who makes these templates uses and perhaps you remember what you did. I know nothing about HTML so there's no way I can fix this on my own, haha.
You can email me at julie_leblanc(at)hotmail.com if you want. Thanks!!
Nvm, I got it!
DeleteNice job! Yeah, there's no way around editing the code, but there are some good tutorials out there on how to do it. I like this template too much to get rid of it even though I have some spacing problems with it.
DeleteWow. What a nice gift from your brother. I'm impressed!
ReplyDeleteMe too, it was totally unexpected!
DeleteGreat sibling gift! I don't normally get horsey related presents. :)
ReplyDeleteAmazon wish lists that include Smartpak items are amazing things. ;-)
DeleteI just gave both of my boys head haircuts. They looked like old man goats! Speedy looks so much better without the gigantic beard. :0)
ReplyDeleteI call it the goat beard too! I try to keep up in the winter, but it grows so fast. It will literally get 3-4" long if I let it go. Agreed, they look much better without it. :)
DeleteYeah for family who give appropriate horse related gifts!
ReplyDeleteTotally! And it means a lot, I'll think about him when I see it.
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