#1 - they are effective. Saturday's ride was so amazing, and in full blown Dressage tack, aka the French mouth loose ring:
 |
| New show pad - pony sized PRI Dressage pad for the win. Side note - DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA how hard it is to find a pony-sized Dressage pad? Good lord. |
We had one of those rides that was so good, I quit early for fear of, I don't know, breaking something. Uninstalling something that had been installed by my trainer the day before. He was lifting through the back and at the base of the withers, solid yet light contact, changing the bend at the slightest hint from my seat. It felt fantastic.
Just like in this picture:
(Not really. I just wanted an excuse to share this photo from the World Cup this week by Rough Coat Photography:)
 |
| I first saw it on the McDowell Racing Stables Facebook page, where Laurie's quote was "Mark's personal photographer Valerie was here in Las Vegas too. She summed up Blueberry's (Valegro) essence in one shot. Notice the loose rein, the effortless expression, the showman enjoying his own show. Thanks Valerie for sharing with us all." |
(Turns out my trainer had ridden Connor the day before in the grassy field, where he "wanted to be heavy" which gave her a chance to work on that. Time well spent indeed.)
#2 - they are expensive. Which is why I jumped at the chance to pick up yesterday's stalls and next Sunday's stalls since the regular girl is out of town.
 |
| Bonus: getting to watch this dappled butt eat his breakfast. |
I haven't done stalls in six months, so that's a shift, but they're pretty pleasant when it's warm out. It means I won't be going to Rolex this year most likely, but lets be honest - making money that goes toward trainer rides > spending money on stuff. Which is what Rolex is all about - besides standing next to a **** XC jump and peeing your pants.
13 days til Penny Oaks!
Training rides are so wonderful! But yes, expensive. *sigh*
ReplyDeleteIn training rides I trust. I'm glad you feel like you are getting your value out of them!
ReplyDeleteI don't even need and XC fence for that, I have the same problem going into the sandbox! ;)
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain with the pony sized dressage pads and Katai, I beleive, is even a little smaller than Connor which makes it worse :(
ReplyDeleteThe best fitting pads I have are my euro fit Mattes (but who can afford to have multiples of those), an eous dressage pad that I LOVE, and the awesome Horze pony sized dressage pads
Yeah, training your actual horse > SUPER AMAZING SOCIAL HORSE FUN.
ReplyDeleteBut it is a hard call. Glad you are both learning so much. :-)
So glad you can really feel the rides working for him!
ReplyDeleteLove trainer rides! But yes, the $ :(
ReplyDeleteMy trainer doesn't do this type of ride anymore, but I get a similar feeling after the working student rides Miles! All tuned up and so fancy.
ReplyDeleteyea... training rides are definitely an investment - but they usually pay dividends, esp with your first show of the season coming up so soon!!
ReplyDelete