Cob Jockey

So how about an actual Connor update for the first time in a week?


I'm riding way less right now - maybe 2 times a week.  For a variety of reasons, including giving him a low-pressure month's psuedo-vacation, and oh also, currently being unable to get to the barn:

We got another two inches after this was taken yesterday, for a total of eight inches.  I was supposed to have stalls today but literally cannot make it out there.

This week the high is not supposed to make it above 20F for a couple of days, with a low of 5.  No productive ride is going to occur for either man or beast in that weather.

But he's at a point in his training where he's not suffering for the reduction in riding.  In fact, our lessons have been better than ever.  We've had two back-to-back jump lessons in which he was taking the fences so much better than just a few months ago.  There's none of that scrambly "Well I know I have to go over this but where do I put my feet?" feeling anymore.  Mary contributed to that quite a bit, but my trainer also says it's because we've worked hard on the canter in Dressage purgatory, and he's comfortable enough in it now to know where his feet are and what to do with them.

We also jumped some of the scary looking fences the guys built last summer, like the bright red ramp with the orange and yellow sun painted on it, flanked by starburst and lattice standards.  Connor has spooked at it a million times going past it, and finally my trainer told me to ride defensively, put my leg on, and trot it.  He went over it like he didn't notice it!  He does seem to prefer facing and jumping his fears to going past them.

On Tuesday I went out to ride but Connor had just been fed minutes before.  So when life hands you a recently fed horse and a 50 degree night/unfrozen hoses in December, you get in the wash rack and wash that yellow tail!

Still wet here

I'm afraid of tail bags so it will eventually go back to being yellow, but I did Showsheen the heck out of it .  Maybe it will put an anti-mud force field around it.

Finally, as the rain and the temperature started falling on Thursday, my trainer and I decided to cancel my lesson, but I left work early and raced the freeze line to the barn in order to put his blanket liner and hood on and kiss his nose and give him some treats.  I was serious when I said I do not want to burden the barn staff with putting his liner on when I went to the liner system, and plus, I just missed him.  My husband said I was crazy for driving an hour and a half for that.  Oh well.  Hopefully he's warm and snuggly!