OK ladies (and Whammy), it's time to put the domestic shit aside for a bit and post the friggin' pictures from my lesson. My neighbour and best friend Fronie has taken up the sport and had her first lesson. She is a real character (fashion diva is an under statement) and went through 2 wardrobe changes BEFORE she even got on. The weather was beautiful on lesson day. Katrina (my coach) came up to do her farrier job on Stretch and Thunder while the rest of us girls sat outside the barn on lawnchairs and enjoyed the sun.
Fronie and Katrina
Fronie is also the queen of bling so she had to put one of her bracelets in Jasper's forelock.
Getting ready for the ride. This is usually where Stretch has a little snooze. I had to get a new off billet and latigo for the used saddle that I bought and it's still pretty stiff so it takes awhile to get it snugged up.
Getting Warmed up.
Here are just a bunch taken during the lesson. We had alot of laughs - I think I dribbled in my pants a few times. Fronie was priceless. Her biggest accomplishment was getting Jasper to move forward and then steer a bit. My biggest accomplishment was convincing Stretch that he COULD lope more than 3 circles in a row (lazy old cat!).
Then Katrina realized that I hadn't a clue how to neck rein or steer western style. I'm only a recent convert you see. So she taught me.
Katrina trying to explain to Fronie what "straight" meant!
Jasper got a little bored!
And the latest in western wear ...
Yesterday we trailered down to Katrina's for another lesson. I have pictures from then too but have to post them on photobucket first and then over to here (can you see where this is going?). The maiden voyage of the Stretch Limo went great! Both of the boys just walked right on like they'd been doing it all their lives. I am totally in love with having the tack room up front. We stuck in the tack, lawn chairs, cooler, and pretty much everything else we could think of. And STILL lots of room.
Gord had his first lesson on Stretch. Kayla took Thunder so I was helping her while Fronie and Gord started their lesson. Katrina's ring is absolutely beautiful. Her father owns the sand and gravel pit so she has an endless supply of sand. It's sooooo soft - just like a beach on some tropical island (NO, Newfoundland is NOT tropical!). So Kayla and I were walking around the ring and the next time I looked at Gord, Stretch was going down onto his knees. I thought the friggin' horse way dying. And there's the Lord sitting on top of him, calm as can be. When Stretch started to roll over the Lord calmly took his feet out of the stirrups and hopped off. Stretch wasn't dying after all, he had just decided that he couldn't resist the sand and just HAD to roll. OH ME NERVES !!!!!!!!!! When Stretch got up he looked more like an appaloosa than a QH because of the sand sticking to him. And THAT'S when Katrina decided to mention that most of the horses try to roll the first time they come to her ring because of the sand. Like ... THANKS FOR THE INFO !!!!!!!!!!!! Once we confirmed that Stretch wasn't dead and the Lord was unshaken, we did some laughing. Then Kayla pipes up and says, "Dad, it's your first lesson - you shouldn't be trying to do tricks!". I think I wet my pants when she said that.
The rest of the day was uneventful. Mind you, it'd be hard to beat that. After Fronie and Gord rode then it was my turn. I am learning how to sidepass on Stretch so that we can do some trail classes. We didn't have a log so used some PVC pipe. I must say that Stretch doesn't have to worry about straining any muscles when lifting his hooves, that's for sure. We managed to crack the pipe once and the other times we just sort of took some of the finish off. It was great! Our biggest challenge is that he's so sensitive to commands that he does what my aids as him to do - which is usually very different from what I actually want to happen.
I'll try to get some more pictures up this week.
And BTW, it's official. The Lord has now been bitten by the riding bug. He spent hours on line last night looking for cowboy boots. YIPPPEEEEEEEEEE !!!!
Mon Jun 15, 2009 8:06 am
