Outdoor ring fun - the bridge

Bestie can be a bit unpredictable, calm and willing on some things, emphatically against others. Crossing the bridge shows her calm and willing side. Who knew?

The photo above really doesn't do the bridge justice; it looks a bit ho hum and almost rickety. But in reality the bridge is a sturdy little thing that's several feet long and just high enough to make crossing interesting. It's just one of many items that can be found in the outdoor and indoor rings that help familiarize horses and riders with trail-like features and that function as general confidence builders. We've mastered the mattress and the tire step-in - no biggie, says Bestie, but not the "gate" or the carousel-like spinner that the horse is supposed to push with its chest.

Crossing the bridge for the first time was sort of like our first time walking over the mattress - she just did it. Didn't balk at all, didn't look at the bridge, just calmly walked across. The only time she's had any hesitation with the bridge was one time recently at the end of our ride when I directed her toward it and she sidestepped right before putting her hoof on the bridge, but when redirected, walked across. I think that sidestep was her little way of telling me she was Done With The Ride.

We've had a few good rides recently. It has been fairly quiet at the barn, so easy to get in the indoor arena. We've been doing trotting patterns, mostly with my feet not in the stirrups so I can work on my seat and balance, followed by a little bit of time in the outdoor ring going over poles on the ground. Summer has definitely been a challenging season for finding riding time, with the hot and humid spells our area has experienced. I've tried to ride every chance I've had when both the heat and humidity have dropped. 

A few rides here and there

Thank you, Bestie, for posing in front of the new addition to the indoor. :)

In the photo, the little part that juts out from the main building is going to house a bathroom and a viewing room, both of which will be great additions to an already wonderful facility. The barn hosts quite a number of clinics as well as many people who trailer in for lessons, so the new portion will offload some of the traffic to the main barn as well as be much more convenient for visitors.

It's been amazing to watch the progress on it - much of the work was done in extremely hot and humid temperatures that didn't seem to put off the construction team. The exterior is now done and I guess there's still a bit of finishing work inside before it's officially completed.

I rode a couple times while they were working, which was generally fine. The only thing Bestie Did. Not. Like. was the nail gun. I think it was the randomness of it -- boom boom boom .... pause ... boom boom boom boom. She entered the indoor fine while they were using it, but once the pattern became irregular I could feel her tensing up. We stuck around for a bit but eventually moved to the outdoor ring.

Last weekend the temperature and the humidity dropped and the weather was super pleasant, so I rode both Saturday and Sunday. Just some serpentines and figure 8s at the trot and practice of our fast walk. :)

On Tuesday there were lessons going on in the indoor, so I rode her around the back paddocks, and inside the paddocks, which were empty. It wasn't a long ride, but it was nice to be outside, and she seemed to enjoy it too. We hadn't done the loop in a while and she was super curious about "stuff" - like the new automatic waterers in the fields, a plastic bag that had blown in, the mineral blocks in each field, and a black thing that looked like it may have fallen off the mower.

The girls' field is pretty overgrazed at this point in the summer. It greened up a bit when we got rain late last week, but it's been so dry that it's no surprise there's not much growing. I've been continuing to graze Bestie when I go, just for 10-15 minutes. She seems happy to get out of her stall at the midpoint between when she comes in and when she goes back out.

Her feed bucket has been licked clean every day; I guess the Cosequin is a hit.