Ponies, Dandelion Love and More

I have written before about the pony Sophie from Bill's neighbor. Bill has been working with this horse to help her overcome some of her fears. He's made a series of videos (13 in fact!) on Sophie's progress. This past week, the progress continued.

Here's the little darling on Thursday night (bah! I mean the horse not Cowboy Bill!). Thursday at lunch I had gotten a text from Bill saying Sophie was ready to be ridden again. He had the round pen set up and she was ready. I finished work at 6 and since the weather was perfect, I headed over.

While Bill tacked Sophie up, I hung out with my brumby who was in an extraordinarily snuggly mood. She was probably laughing to herself that I was getting on Sophie and not her. 

I gotta tell you, I don't remember what kind of saddle Bill had on this little mare, but it looked very nice. Bill put a little tiny bit in her mouth, checked all the tack, lunged her for a minute and then it was my turn to get on. First I just stood in her stirrup. Then I bounced in her stirrup. And then I climbed aboard. Yes, it was a very comfy saddle.

Before I got on Sophie, I told Bill if he spied a buck before I felt it, he was to yell NOW! and then I'd disengage her hindquarters, Chris Cox style (or try to anyway). I need not have been worried. Sophie was very good. No, she was perfect. We started at a walk. We walked around the round pen, changed direction several times and then I asked her for a trot. Gorgeous, all of it.  I'll tell you though, my legs are kinda long and this was a pony so I felt like a giant person on her.

Sophie has a trot that is as smooth as ice cream. It was fairly windy too and she just kept trotting around. I will also tell you that this pony neck reins a lot better than my brumby! To see part of this ride and other desensitizing that Bill has done with Sophie, follow this link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMNPEryTKuc
It is  Bill's most recent Sophie video in the series, Sophie 13. You can watch 1-12 too  if you want to!

Saturday I was back at the farm. Bill and Jackie were off to Maine so Jackie could run in the Sugarloaf Marathon (she ended up finishing first in her age group!). I decided to try split reins so here is a picture of Lilly wearing them. I think they look very nice, very western. What I like about them is that she can't get caught in them like she can with rope reins.

In my opinion, the weather was lousy all weekend. On Saturday I was chilly heading down the road but by the time we got to the trailhead ten minutes later I was broiling. So I hung my jacket on a tree thinking that it looked weird and scary and when we came back it would be a good training moment. Never pass up a training opportunity!

Even though I am the only one who uses my saddle, sometimes I need to adjust the stirrups. Now I wonder, why would this be so with all  factors remaining constant? I just don't get it. Barn elves? In any case, I had to lower this stirrup one notch.

We had a fabulous ride. Here we are at the ice pond on the short trail. I also call this Ansell Adams Pond. Brumby took a nice big drink here and this is when I realized that the split reins meant that I could still sit up in the saddle while Lilly bent her head down very low to drink. Very convenient and comfy.

We ventured into the Blueberry Pasture to have a look around. I have not been in there in MONTHS! I could see the opening to Trollwood beckoning. But I wanted to wait. Maybe the first ride of the season in Trollwood might be more fun if I were with Bill or Christine. While I pondered, my brumby lost no time having a snackfest.

It was quite nice out in that field.

I am amazed at the pictures my little Olympus camera can take. Take this fern for example. Isn't it gorgeous? I love the idea of it beginning to unfurl and get its life started. What will this summer hold? What will we all do with it? I think this little fern is suggesting it is going to be beautiful.

 At the BP I stopped to count heads since Bill was away. Ruby, Glitter, Charlie, Freddie, Jodie, Pokey. All present and accounted for!

 Always a friendly bunch at the BP. I should have been filming though because Lilly made quite a squealy production during our visit. She acts like she has no idea who these guys even are. Sometimes she kicks a front foot out too which I find scary and ridiculous! But alas, I am a human and they are horses.

Footnote to Saturday's ride: remember how I hung the jacket on the tree thinking it would give Lilly a pause? Nothing of the sort. She walked by that jacket like it had been there for ten years!

Another footnote: When we finished this ride, I picked more than 50 ticks off of Lilly's legs! Now that's gross!

On Sunday, in spite of the gloomy, wet weather, I was back in the saddle.

The Gobbler was at it again. This brumby loves dandelions. Each spring she has a love affair with them. Saturday she ate so many of them I worried that she had overdosed and so I did not give her a single carrot when we returned to the barn, which is extremely unusual! Can one OD on dandelions?

Not if you are the Dandelion Queen, you won't!!!

Here's a closer look at the Queen.

Another ride, another blissful weekend gone!

Hope everyone is enjoying themselves and their horses, and CONGRATS to Jackie C again on her win in Maine!!