Weekend Report!

Hey My Fishes!

How y’all swimmin’ today?

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Oh heckers do I have a weekend report for y’all! This weekend was super exciting and fun and I can’t wait to share it with y’all!!

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Thursday!

Yes, I know Thursday isn’t technically part of the weekend but I’m going with it. Anyways, on Thursday I did a private dressage lesson with my coach on Leonardo!

We practiced A TON on 20 meters circles and having enough energy and impulsion throughout them! Leonardo was amazing as always and I was so happy with him! I unfortunately didn’t get any pictures but it was an amazing lesson!

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Saturday Part 1!

Wow Saturday was one busy day! Hence why I split it in two. But anyways let’s get into the first part of Saturday!

So, on Saturday I had a dressage show! I brought Leonardo as that’s who I’m bringing to an overnight dressage show this summer! We did Intro A and B and did well! Our Intro A was good but definitely could have been a lot better. We ended up getting a 61 on that test! Here’s a clip and some pictures from warm up before hand and one from us walking out of the ring!

Then once my coaches had gone over the test with me, I hopped off for about 15 minutes to let Leonardo get some water and for me to get something to eat and drink as it was about 90 degrees Fahrenheit!

Then, I got back on to warm up for my Intro B test and do the test! Our Intro B was definitely a lot better and we ended up getting a 65 on that test! Anyways, here’s some pictures and clips!

And then we were completely done for the day at the show! We waited for someone else at from my barn to finish up and then sponged off our horses to cool them off. Once we had done that we put their head bumpers and shipping boots on and then we put all our stuff away. Once everyone was ready, we loaded up and I hopped in Ashley’s (my coach’s) truck and headed back to the barn!

And then comes...

Saturday Part 2!

After we had gotten back to the barn, I had about 20 minutes until my regular lesson started but 10 minutes until I had to start bridling and stuff! In that time I changed out of my show shirt and into a regular T-Shirt. I then realized I had forgotten other riding pants so I did my lesson in my dressage pants! After I had changed I went to see who I was riding!

It turned out that I was riding Polar! So once I got myself ready with my helmet and gloves I went in the office to get Pony’s bridle! I then bridled him and headed out to the ring. Once I had tightened my girth and done my stirrups Ashley held Polar at the mounting block so that he didn’t walk away while I got on.

We warmed up at the walk, trot and canter on both reins. I was super happy with him because he usually has an issue with his left lead but he got it the first time! Then we came into the middle and talked about different things like usual! Once we had done that we went back out and started jumping! This was a bit of a shock as Ashley had originally said that we weren’t gonna jump :sweat_smile: .

We started off with doing a cross rail to start off simple! Once we had trotted and cantered over that we did a line with a vertical to an oxer! We trotted it once and then we cantered it! Now keep in mind, I was on Polar so cantering it was interesting!

Then once I had almost fallen off three times from him getting excited and taking off, Ashley told me to trot the jumps and do an exercise with him to hopefully teach him that’s it’s easier to go slow and jump it correctly than it is to go fast and get super long and flat. Here’s a picture from jumping!

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Sunday!

On Sunday, I worked at the barn and then did a lesson for a makeup! I can’t really what I did when I was working so let’s just get into the lesson!

So, my barn got a few new horses! Stormy, Onyx, and Salsa!

Stormy is a grey, I’m guessing quarter mix, pony mare. And let me tell you, she is a bit... let’s go with... interesting. She was very obviously western broke but now she’s being ridden english. She is very lazy and doesn’t really know how english steering works :sweat_smile: .

Oh goodness, Salsa, Salsa, Salsa. That pony is a firecracker! Anyways, he’s a chestnut, I’m guessing mustang or mustang mix, pony gelding. He loves to buck but other than that he’s a pretty chill guy!

I rode Onyx for the lesson so let’s just use the lesson to describe her! The first thing I notice as I walk up to her stall (before the lesson) with my friend is that she is HUGE. We think she is at least 16 something hands :open_mouth: . Now this bean is the definition of a gentle giant (to humans at least :sweat_smile: ). She is super sweet and loves attention.

When I got on her I immediately noticed how little muscle and fat she had on her. For this reason she is only being used in one lesson per day. Anyways, in the beginning of the lesson I was almost kicking her every stride so she wouldn’t break. I don’t blame her for this at all, she is very skinny and weak right now and has barely any stamina. Then we tried to canter but only got a few strides in on each rein for the same reason.

We then moved on to the actual lesson which was basic dressage movements at the walk and trot. This included 20 meter circles, free walk, coming across the diagonal, and coming down the center line and halting at x. After practicing all of those multiple times, the lesson was over! Here’s a picture from the lesson!

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Swim well my fishes!

~Nemo :blue_heart: