January Week 4 Review and February Plans

1/19/09
I meant to school today, but it was so nice outside that I wanted to ride out around the roads -- so, we compromised. After convincing Pandora to at least do a little arena work,we hit the trails, if by trails you mean roads (and I do). The arena work was okay. Nothing spectacular, she was feeling really forward and didn't want to slow down much, but we got some nice shoulder-fore done.
She did not want to do shoulder-fore to the right. Need to make sure she's bending okay that direction since it is her stiffer way.
Riding outside was lovely, though it got super cold before long and my hands were totally numb by the end of the hour-long ride. It's a nice big loop, the roads are well-paved but pretty quiet (without many blind curves, which is nice!), and it's a fantastic mental exercise for the horses. Walking past unfamiliar houses, dogs, people, flapping flags, etc was certainly a mental workout for Pandora. She behaved herself well - several in-place spooks (you know, where all of a sudden the saddle drops two inches but nothing else changes). We spent a lot of time riding next to the road where there's nice grassy areas, and got a lot of practice going over ditches that way. She tends to want to leap, I'm sure she'll be great on XC!

1/20/09
Our arena schooling session tonight definitely made up for our lack of one last night. I rode for almost an hour. We practiced lots of shoulder-fore (less stiff to the right tonight, but still a little more resistant to bend this way), and I got some really nice work for her. I'd like to have my mom take some video from directly in front and behind so I can get a visual on what we're doing.
Canter work was a little rough. For whatever reason, I have a super hard time finding a good seat in that dressage saddle - I really need to try a little riser pad in the back, I think it's just a little bit off.
But still, we got some very nice work done. Lots of nice walk/trot transitions. She is really getting good at those.

1/21/09
I almost rode tonight, despite it being a day off...but then I didn't. ;-) They were outside today, so I don't feel too guilty.