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Finally I can take all the horrible mirror selfies I desire! |
Well the Pony has settled in really well to her new home. I am unbelievably happy with the choice I made. I had (well still have but I'm working on) confidence issues after the stress of my last job which transferred over to my riding. My first ride at the new barn was... interesting. After I stopped having a mild anxiety attack and actually got on her Pony was a rock star, though any one would be after being round penned and lunged twice before you anxiety riddled mom hopped on. I learned just how much I love mirrors in the arena. I couldn't stop watching how well we were doing and Pony was very interested in her new mirror friend as well.
Once I decided we wouldn't die if we rode outside we tried the outdoor dressage arena the next day. And we didn't die! Or buck, or do anything insane. We even went by a man with a chainsaw cutting logs like five feet away with naught but a tiny ear twitch. She then spooked at a dog, but that's fine it was black, small, and quite possibly vicious. The rubber in the footing was interesting, but didn't make any huge differences, not that I really expected one. What does seem to make a difference is putting some Vaseline on the corners of her lips. After reading reviews of Effol mouth butter I decided I was too cheap to actually order that and pay just as much in shipping as the product costs but I have Vaseline so that would have to do. She was soft in the mouth and didn't do any of her hideous chomping we sometimes do when we tried it! So that's a win.
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So much room to run away! (can you spot her?) |
I finally rode out on the cross country course and we had a blast cantering around. Today I went out and we almost got up to a proper gallop, though she still is taking it slow and not quite opening up the way she can. Maybe she just needs someone to race. I forgot the Vaseline and she was a spooky, chompy mess. Maybe it was a coincidence and maybe not. I do know I'll keep up with the Vaseline though.
The other thing I've noticed is that she no longer tries to run away from me when I go to catch her. She did walk away the first day, but after that every time she's turned to face me and actually taken a couple steps towards me! Which is huge, since she used to run away when given a lot of space. It was a five minute walk to get her from pasture, and that might get annoying but right now I'm just so thrilled she isn't standing in mud or running when I come up to her.
Over all I'm really happy at the new barn and I can't wait to get into lessons and show this summer. We probably won't do great, but its really just about having fun and getting out there. As a bonus everyone thinks she's just the cutest thing. Which is, of course, true.