Faye, great progress in your riding of the new boy. Good for you!! I have trouble riding more than one horse if I’m tacking both up myself. I don’t mind tacking one up, riding, and handing him off with my husband, trading for horse number two. Otherwise, it’s just so much work! haha.
What did your Filipino TG meal consist of? I do a traditional Polish dinner for Christmas! I am looking forward to that, for sure.
@ParadoxFarm No joke, tacking /grooming is hard stuff! Filipino meal had grilled fish and veggies, turkey wrapped in bacon with some amazing sauces, beef stew! So delicious! What are you planning to do with the Polish dinner?
@Faye the fact than when you pull he canters in place shows you how well he is trained.
A horse should stay in the gait you ask for until a transition is asked for.
We never pull. Not in dressage and you know that Showjumping is dressage over obstacles. 
You never pull on a rein. Your elbows never move back. They can move forward but should not come back more than when they started. You never pull a rein, that is riding back to front and is not what you want.
You hold a rein and give instead. Practice at home. Get some one to pull and tug and raise and lower the rein. You hold it. Elbows to your side and hold. When they suddenly give there should be an immediate looping of the rein. You should not fly back 3 steps and have elbows move back etc and keep the rein tight.
Instead you half halt. This starts with your seat, then your legs, then your hands. You push to slow a horse down, not pull the reins to slow a horse down. This is riding back to front.
Another way to put it is that pulling on the reins drops the hind legs. Pull on the reins and you will pull rails in a course. You push to slow, you push to go. You get around faster and better than the horses that are pulled, you win and become a role model to those who watch you.
If he is really well trained and you want to go from canter to trot, stop your back moving!
For riding 8 horses in a day. You learn to tack and groom at the same time. Call horse to come. Groom saddle put on saddle cloth and saddle, drop the girth down on the other side. Continue to groom rump, legs, face, etc… Do girth up a hole now and then. Pick out hooves, oil if riding on a sand arena. Run comb through mane and forelock. Bridle on and continue doing up girth so it is ready for mounting when you reach the mounting block.
Untacking - horse is taught to stand still. You undo throat lash, noseband, etc and put reins behind ears. You undo the girth place it down so as it does not hit the off fore. You take off the saddle, place the girth upside down across the saddle, lift the saddle blanket and put it back on the horse to allow the back to cool slower. Put the saddle on your left arm. Step up to horse’s head and remove the bridle. Go in tack shed put saddle on rack, and dip the bit in water to rinse. Hang up bridle. Go back out and remove saddle blanket and put over saddle. Now you are ready to hose or brush over with water to remove, sweat scraper and put on day rug.
Now the riding. Quality over Quantity wins every single time. Do you remember my signature. 5 minutes a day is better than 35 minutes on a Sunday. Study that saying. Understand it. It has to do with horse getting used to tack, the mental and the physical.
I was riding a pony at Willow Park. I got in trouble for not getting work done. I said I had ridden the pony for half an hour as that was what they were paying for.
No.
They are paying for half an hour. That includes catching, bringing up the driveway, tacking, untacking and putting away.
I devised a 5 minute work out. Tacking and untacking was very quick and I could get another minute or two. That pony learned so quick and went from green to elementary in months. Not only that but she was fit and muscled as well.
There is another saying when riding. ‘Novice riders work too hard’
As your riding improves the horse does the work instead of you.
Faye, your meal sounds great! My Christmas dinner from last year was my first year doing Polish pierogies. They are very time consuming to make, but they were very good. In addition I made kapusta, which is a cabbage side dish. As a kid I hated it, but the last couple years that I made it myself, I’ve learned to like it! And also I make my great grandmother’s meatball recipe, my favorite. None of this is fancy food, just good hardy fare! And it reminds me of my grandmother and great grandmother and all the fun we had as kids over the holidays. 
Faye- thanks for asking about Granddad. Far as I know he’s still asymptomatic and has passes the 10 days without incident. BTW, I second PF, that meal sounds delicious. Our thanksgiving meal is a huge cauldron of Chicken Corn Soup simmered all day- waiting on us at the in-laws in PA. Chicken, egg noodles, corn, potatoes, hard boiled eggs. It tastes wonderful after over 10 hours in the car with the dogs 
Hi all - really enjoyed hearing about your non traditional Thanksgiving dinners. Will probably do something different for Christmas dinner this year! Just got back from a week in Wellyworld, dropping off DD, opening the current house and closing on the new house! (We’ll move in in Jan., have to get the fencing small dog proof!) Got a few rides in but strained my back lifting something I shouldn’t have so that limited my rides. Got to see my horses with trainer #2 who are all going well. Calvin even won his class yesterday! We didn’t go over to watch, tried to stay low COVID risk since I was heading back to PA but the show management is taking COVID protocols very seriously. They actually evicted a group for not following the rules (after giving them warnings). Hopefully that will carry over when the big shows start in Jan. Although, this week’s show was big enough, there were 35 horses in Calvin’s class. DD had her first jump session since the fracture and is feeling good. She’ll ease in to showing in a week or so with her trusty jumper and my G in the hunter ring. They’ve been live-streaming all the rings (more or less) so if you need a horse show fix - or a break from zoom meetings, check the schedule at www.pbiec.com.
PF: Your polish meal sounds like fun!! Even though it’s time consuming, this year it means that much more, especially when it brings back memory!
Lucky: So glad Granddad is asymptomatic, this virus is so scary. Do you have recipe for chicken corn soup? Sounds delicious!
Austen, thanks for the link. I always like to watch the live streams! I will tune in for sure. I bet you’re excited to move into the new place. Hope all moves along seemlessly! Good luck to DD. Glad she’s feeling better and ready to show!
Faye, good point. It is time consuming, but heck, what’s one thing most of us have right now? Extra time. 
I’ll enjoy it. And I’ll have leftovers for months, haha. Good thing we have a decent freezer. Cooking for two is difficult, so I just make the big batches.
lucky, granddad still doing okay? Jingles.
Nothing going on horsewise here. Too cold. I’m a weather wimp, admittedly. It’s 41º right now, which is too cold for me right now to ride. Tomorrow it will warm up, though, so I need to get out there. I have competitive trail videos due by the 16th!
PF- as of now Grandad is considered recovered. He can’t be taken out of the facility for 90 days, so at least they are being smart about that!
Faye- I will find the recipe for you. It’s in the Mennonite cookbook that MIL cooks from.
Finally get some Pony time tomorrow- work in the am and ride at noon.
Ooo! Competitive Trail videos sound fun @ParadoxFarm!
I hear everyone about the grooming, tacking aspect of riding. And now Milton has come to expect a nice warm mash of soaked alfalfa pellets before his rides as well. I like doing it because I know it’s good for his tummy. He’s out 24/7, but the pastures are pretty sparse now, and he and his pasture mate scarf every stem of their hay up long before I get out there in the afternoon (3:30-3:45ish) to ride. So I’ve got to get the hay pellets soaking, get all tack and grooming supplies out and ready. I go ahead and put on my helmet and spurs, and then I groom him while he’s gnoshing on his alfalfa pellet mash (and getting it all over his face). Then it’s into the cross-ties where I saddle, bridle, and off we go! I don’t ride for very long, and most of it is at the walk, but we do a good 10-15 minutes of trot and canter with plenty of transitions and changes of direction.
Today we rode up in the big field around the covered arena. That’s his favorite. He’s much happier in the field than either of the rings…prefers grass footing and wide open spaces. He sees the rings as work, but the field and just hacking around the farm is fun…ears pricked, happily forward. He was super brave today, and we rode around the farm in places we’ve never ridden before, including one area that he used to be so tense and spooky it was hard to lead him through there. No problem today, and it was cold and windy! I was proud. He’s so much more comfortable now, and it shows. He did spook a couple of times today, but they were half-hearted and short-lived.
We both love the cold weather. It gets dreadfully hot and humid here in the summer, and he has a lot of issues with that (anhidrosis, respiratory problems, overheating). But today was about 50 degrees (maybe a little cooler by the time I left the barn) with a light breeze and sunshine. Perfect Milton weather! It rarely gets cold enough here to keep me from wanting to ride…but nearly the entire months of July and August are too hot to ride. We do have the shady covered that usually has a breeze, but I’ve even been in there when it was horribly hot.
Sorry for the ramble. It was a good horsey day.
Faye- soup recipe: cook a whole chicken in ~ 4 qts water, salting halfway through. Remove and shred chicken. To the broth add 2 1/2 c corn, 1/2 c celery, 1 onion chopped, package egg noodles. When almost done, add chicken back in as well as two hard boiled eggs. We leave out the celery and the noodles are added at the very end. I eat 2-4 bowls/day. It’s also great for when you’re not feeling well.
Had a fun time at the barn. Got to see the baby who’s not a baby anymore.
Pony and I had a great de-stressing ride, playing around and she even fell asleep. Fab commented how she was proud of us, how we were working together. Come to find out, Pony was a total snot the last two lessons, spinning, bolting, being a nut job. She was the perfect placid Pony for me, thank goodness!
Lots of Pony cuddles afterwards. If I’m even in reaching distance, she’s nudging me and rubbing on me- it’s nice to be missed.
In other fun news, DH decided that my Christmas present is to relax our two dog limit and add a new puppy. So I’ve been casually looking, all the high kill shelters in a 50-75 mile radius. Of course it may not be a true, on Christmas, present. Whenever we find the right fit. I’m super excited 
Aw…a new puppy!! How exciting. And sounds like a great ride, too!
@RhythmNCruise Any good horse day is to celebrate!!! I too like riding in the field (with the right horse), some are just too stressful for me to deal with. I don’t know how you ride in cold weather, i hate it so much, such a california girl of me. Yeah don’t get me started on the tacking untacking cleaning, its like a full time job.
@luckymaverick Thank you for the recipe! SOunds so delicious!! So comforting to have for winter!! And one more puppy?? I’m SUPER excited for you!! I love that feeling of being missed. Not gonna lie, i love it when the pony behaves for me, and is an absolute ahole to others, i feel so special
@ParadoxFarm. Yeah, too cold? No thanks!
It’s been a long week at work, and it’s so dreadful. Finally weekend is coming soon, and I’m so glad, so so so glad. Riding fri-sunday, since when i became the weekend warrior!?
Well, glad you’ll get a good weekend of riding in, Faye!!
I finished my virtual trail competition filming yesterday since it was so nice out.
Faye- I hope you like the soup. And yeah, I get rather tickled when Pony lets it be known whoever is riding her is not “one of her posse”. It shows we’ve earned the status and sat the rough stuff!!
I’m excited for a new puppy, however I’m nervous about managing three dogs. I’m hoping they won’t form a pack and exclude us- I’ve heard it’s a thing.
PF- I’ve enjoyed seeing your trail practice. Good luck.
I had a great weekend of riding! It was cold (for me) but started with a jacket and took off after warm up
@luckymaverick. I can’t wait, the corn in it makes it sound so yummy!! LOL, they will not ignore humans. Don’t worry!!
Riding wise, my week was really good. I discovered i can actually trot in jumps, including 2’6 oxers. I had that little vomit in my mouth feeling before, but felt so great after!! We also did a little course on baby jumps, where both of us were super confident, and no matter the distance, he hopped over everything beautifully!Hope everyone had a great weekend!
LOL Faye at the Zone Championships all us D Graders went around a jump and cantered in to the largest jump in the course. 3 foot high and 3 foot wide. For the C Graders, that jump went out and up. It was sooooo much bigger. The C graders cut the jump out we went around and trotted over it. It waa was eye opening at the time.
No riding for us. The arena has a lot of water on it. Everything has greened up.
Faye- trot in always makes me nervous, even when I used to really jump. I love your perspective- your small jumps would be akin to 3’6 to me and Pony. You guys looked good, he was clearly relaxed and stepping over nicely.
Suzie: LOL, yeah, at my level, trotting in the 2"9 vertical was considered really big for me and i was a little nervous, and it really taught me to keep my leg on. I also REALLY like that our trainer is focusing us to not pull over fence, and we are only jumping one fence, and someone reminding you along the way, it’s very helpful
Lucky: Right? So scary. I love doing small fences with him, he’s such a good boy.
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