The big move.....

Yesterday Woody moved to his new home. I am very excited to have him so close to me, less then 10 miles from my house!!

I got to the barn right before Jerry arrived and found out where to put Woody. Since he will now be turned out during the day, I put on his new turnout blanket with his sleazy and let him roam free in his paddock. Of course he had to try out his new digs and decided to roll a couple times. Luckly it wasn't muddy out!

I went over a couple things with Jerry, wished him good luck at the show this weekend and said goodbye. By this time Connie had arrived and we went over everything. She showed me where I could put my stuff and I proceed to unload it all. I did find out that I needed to get a break away halter for him, so I went to the tack store to buy one. They didn't have either one of my colors (black or purple), but I sucked it up and just bought one.

I decided to let Woody settle into his new surroundings and not ride him. I hoped that since I was on call tonight for my part time job that I wouldn't end up having to go in and would be able to ride (and I was right, they don't need me tonight). The only problem is that the work bridle and reins I ordered still have not come in and I still have not bought a bit yet, so I hope Connie will allow me to use one of hers and by early next week I should have a bridle all together. If all else fails, I can at least longe him and work on showmanship.

Christina

More pictures....

A long weekend of riding....

My plan for the weekend was to get as much saddle time as possible since I was sure if I was going to be able to have any more one on one time with Jerry before moving Woody closer to home.

Well, I defiantly got a lot of saddle time this weekend as planned. I also got blisters on the side of my ring fingers from the reins, rub marks from my jeans and sore muscles!! I guess that's what I get for not riding for almost a month. Well it's not my fault entirely; one weekend the weather was crappy, then the next weekend I had drill and last weekend Jerry was out of town at a show.

This weekend I saw an overall improvement in Woody. His jog has improved and he is no longer doing the little pitter patter jog anymore. When asked to long trot, he still sometimes try's to go up into the lope, but not as much as he did the last time I rode him. He is also starting to collect more at the lope, though he is not as slow as he should be.

An issue I am facing with him is that is not used to the location of my spurs since Jerry is much shorter then I. So pretty much every time I get on him, he gets hesitant, not wanting to move forward so I turn him in circles for him to get used to it. I am hoping this will get better when I start riding him more often once he is moved closer to home. By having him closer to home, I hope to take weekly lessons and improve myself as I am sure some of the problems I am having with Woody is not because of him, but because of myself. I have been working on making sure I sit on my pockets, but I will catch myself going forward and have to readjust. Also I feel like my legs are horrible. I feel like I have an issue keeping my lower legs on him, I guess my calves just are not as strong as they used to be. I also tend to toe out some which causes my spur to tap him which will make him shut down due to the spur stop he has.

I was unfortunately unable to get pictures or video taken of me riding Woody, but I do have some with Jerry riding him to post. Once I figure out how to get the video on here I will post it.

Overall the weekend wasn't bad. I learned a lot more about my horse and what WE both need to work on. Next week I will be moving him close to home so I can ride 3 or 4 times a week instead of 3 or 4 times a month. Hopefully this will make a big difference in both of us.

Christina

NOTE: This was suppose to be published on 10/20 but I was having issues posting it on time.