prettypurpleponies

[prettypurpleponies]

Short work day, lots of transitions and trying to always get a nice forward trot and sharp off of the leg. But nothing too tiring. Trying to both raise the standard of quality of work but also not be too tiring. I was so tired but we both did our best. Nice long walk around the property at the end. Pony got to graze at the top of the hill because I wanted a picture of the sun setting over the mountains (and for positive associations with walking around by herself but mostly the picture)

#Luna #riding journal #she’s such a good girl #what a lovely day for a ride #I was stressed all day #but not in this picture

[prettypurpleponies]

Had a great trail ride today with my friend! She only had 16 minutes of trot and a lot less transitions because poor little pon pon has short legs and often has to trot to catch up 😂

But the pony did so so good!! Every time I see my pony I become even more obsessed with her.

Then she got a bath and a lot of grazing in which was just the perfect way to spend a beautiful spring day

#look my horse just is the best horse to have ever lived #sorry not sorry but she’s perfect in every possible #my Luna #I love her so much #riding journal #Luna

[prettypurpleponies]

Really working on a big, but balanced canter lately. It’s so easy to just go slowly and putter around but then it’s harder to make it over the jumps. Pony is tricky sometimes because she actually will work fairly well over her back while doing an itty bitty trot so I think everything is Gucci but then we can’t get a good canter with that level of energy. So working on really raising the bar. And really making sure she is sitting back and using her but and listing in the canter and not just faster.

Which has the weird side effect of me just muttering (or shouting) butt to myself with every stride.

Also so so much leg and so much hand.

#annoying that riding better means working harder #trying to raise the bar #which will hopefully make it easier to go over higher bars #raising the bar to raise the bar 😂 #at least I think I’m funny #Luna #riding journal

[prettypurpleponies]

#shiny ponies! #love

[prettypurpleponies]

Chill day in the indoor with some pole work. Some good trot work even though the poles were a little uneven and long.

A couple circles of canter poles (three poles nine feet a part) the horse stride is a little long for the pony but it’s good practice.

Also did a bunch of walk trot transitions which got better quickly. And then some trot canter transitions which started bad but had a couple good ones mixed in.

Also look at my filthy beast. She may be the perfect pony but that’s only when she’s black and not brown. Don’t change yourself for anyone Luna

#riding journal #love mud season

[prettypurpleponies]

3/16/24

Jumping lesson in the indoor! All the other horses were crazy from their lack of turn out and then there’s Luna doing her slow little pony trot. We had six people in half an arena so the flat part felt kind of useless with basically no personal instructions unless your horse was losing its shit.

But the jumping part went well!

I had learned my lesson from previous indoor lessons that I need to give myself a good bit of runway/set up space to ensure I have a forward enough canter in the indoor. But with that it went well! I got a little bit doing too much too fast to get her going but settled into and the pony was a rock star. No leads (but good Simples) and she tried a couple. We had zero refusal or runouts and mostly good distances. We did have a rail at one when it went up from a cross rail and neither of adjusted. But I was really proud of our line because I pushed for the correct distance and stride. Especially the first time I did it cuz I added a stride before the cross rail so had to really move up for the three but at that height the four would’ve gone badly. So over all feeling really good about our progress!

#Luna #the most perfect pony #riding journal #so muddy outside #there were rivers #all the snow melt #thank goodness for indoors

[prettypurpleponies]

Whyyyyy am I so bad at canter transitions. Ugh.

Some okay trot work really working on extending on some trot poles.

Did some more canter adjusting between poles going from a five to a six stride and back. The poles were four strides jumping for horses.

#riding journal #trying to get better at documenting my rides #and tracking with Equilab #we will see how it goes #Luna #enjoyed the daylight savings here #but not this morning

[prettypurpleponies]

Had a productive learning lesson! We did have three refusals but the issues were easily sorted and the rest was good. Generally did a much better job of keeping my leg on and adjust my eye to that being the correct stride and speed. Did have one refusal that was classic me which was annoying where I didn’t put my leg on coming out of turn so didn’t have the canter for the long spot and then took my leg off and didn’t put it back on enough for the chip. But I had been getting stung out before the turn so getting why I had slowed coming out of turn. We came at it again and it was fine and got a perfect four strides in the line (three for all the horses). The second refusal my trainer said was Luna’s fault. We had a good canter and I have a gentle squeeze but it was to a large oxer and I think she didn’t see the second pole until too late and then said oh no basically. We came again and I really kicked and she launched over it. And was good about my chacotic position over, my foot came up like 90:degrees.

Our final course was really good and felt great until that last final oxer at the end of a five stride. I let/pushed her to get too long because I kept my leg but didn’t sort of rebalance at all after the first jump and then she said no to a bad distance with a jump that big. We did the line again and I help her balance in the middle and it was perfect.

My favorite kind of lesson where I feel like I’m making progress.

And then my friend really wants to a show in three weeks Easter weekend because there’s also an egg. But honestly if the weather is good I think it would be fun and I’d think we could maybe do .70 course successfully.

I just want to go fully clean at the .70s. The closest in a show that I got was one rail, all my other course had one or more refusals.

But .70 is just an effort for my little 13.3 pony and while she will bail me out she can only do so much if I don’t set her up well consistently. So here’s to progress and hopefully more success this year!

#Luna #riding journal #she’ll jump absolutely everything under about 18 inches #but over she needs some support #and if I’ve been riding well and building our confidence she’s more willing to bail me out if I have a miss #so just gotta keep working that good quality canter #and building fitness and strength and confidence #but she’s just the best and I love her so much #even if her size makes the jumps harder

[prettypurpleponies]

Had a wonderful lesson out in the sunshine! And zero runouts or refusals!! For what feels like the first time all year. It’s so nice to be back outside where it feels so much easier to generate impulsion which as a little pony with a scared cat mom we really need. But today was good! And so fun!

Also the crupper seams to really be making her more comfortable, we’ve had no more bucks! And the non slip pad underneath seems to do enough to help with the side to side slipping too. So for the jumping lesson I added the matching bonnet to her saddle pad so she could be the prettiest pony as well as the most perfect

#perfect pony is perfect #Luna #riding journal #wow do I love the sun #so much better #also look how cute we are #gotta look good to stay in the diva lesson #peep the sparkly ear bonnet from my friend who videod #gotta keep up

[prettypurpleponies]

Solar energy has so many benefits. Raising salaries for teachers is such a needed narrative.

[prettypurpleponies]

Got the new crupper in! Luna the most perfect pony to ever live now officially has a matching crupper and bridle! And resins and stirrup leathers. She

She was indifferent to the switch on the flat but I’ve yet to jump in. But have my lesson tomorrow. And I’ll get my trainer to double check the length/fit. And then I really got dye her nonstick saddle pad to match and then everything will purple and perfect!

#now just to ride as good as she looks #my jumping lesson group is nicknamed the the divas #everybody got matching saddle pads ear bonnets and shirts all the time #the rest of them have different colors they switch thru #but I just have the one set and everything I own matches #or will match once I dye the saddle pad #other lesson groups have nicknames too like the weirdos and the midgets #both children groups #but we are adults and thus we must look good #or really have our own disposable income #Luna #look good ride good

[prettypurpleponies]

Beautiful daydream 🐎

[prettypurpleponies]

Jumped a jump without my pony today but at least I landed on my feet afterward so don’t have to count it as a fall. Didn’t even take the jump out.

I feel like I’ve just been such a shitshow in the saddle lately. My position is terrible I can’t see a distance to save my life, I keep making my pony refuse, getting jumped out the saddle, falling off… just nothing is really working. At least my pony is still being good. And I should get my purple crupper on Friday so maybe that will help.

#sigh #trying my best #and just not feeling like I’m getting anywhere #such it goes #riding is hard #Luna #riding journal

[prettypurpleponies]

Garmin watch vs equilab 😂😂 just a wee bit different.

Trying to build back up the pony’s endurance after a lower workload from the holidays and January. She needed a lot of blow drying after

#yes I blow dry my horse #she fuzzy and lives outside and I ride in the evenings #Luna #riding journal #Equilab #garmin

[prettypurpleponies]

Shout out to two horse tack for adding the purple stitching option to their crupper when I emailed and asked about it 🙌

And yes I will happily pay ten extra dollars for purple stitching

#I will use it multiple times a week so it’s well worth it #also my bridle has purple stitching and they must match #also 84 total isn’t very much for a crupper #more with shipping #but still #it will have purple gemstone on it! #I love custom ordering exactly what I want #and the lady helped made sure I got the sizing exactly right too #so I am very excited #and will just keep using my boring black leather one in the meantime

[prettypurpleponies]

Purple Celeris boots. 💜

#💜💜💜 #😍😍😍

[prettypurpleponies]

Had a lesson and tried out a crupper on the pony!

She was mostly good and didn’t seem to mind the crupper and it def seemed help her saddle not slip forward to much. She did have one moment where she took off bucking/crow hopping for a hot second but I’m not actually sure that was crupper related. And she was a little,funky after the last jump, but I think was mostly sorting out her leads and I think I got her just a touch in mouth on the landing 😬

But otherwise she felt good and seemed unbothered so we will continue riding in it!

And now to return the four other crupper options I got in an attempt to get the correct size. (So many don’t list their size at all or don’t say what it is they are measuring to from 🙄 and I also wanted free shipping sooo) and then after a couple more rides to confirm that it is working I will get her a custom purple with purple gemstone one to match her bridle. She has to be the prettiest pony after all

#pretty purple Luna #he most perfect pony gets a crupper #because if the pony is not happy nobody’s happy #and because I like to not get bucked off #and obvi want to keep her comfy #also I was almost late and in such a rush for this lesson #because my brain short circuited and I thought I needed to leave at the time I needed to get there #but my friends helped me and it worked out okay #riding journal