Owwww

Ohh boy am I going to be sore. I didn't fall off or anything thankfully, I just rode three horses today. And I'm not used to that so my body is saying ouch!!

First I got to ride my neighbor's handsome boy Wes. She's been having some soundness issues with him and he just got his hocks injected a few days ago so she asked me to watch her ride to see what I saw and then I hopped on and put him through his paces so she could see what he looked like, plus I've never ridden him so it was fun for me. He's a Friesian/Saddlebred/Warmblood cross I think? Very well put together, but has the tendency to be short-necked and not want to stretch down so I just worked on that. His go-to defensive position is with his head up and he's not really accepting of the bit. He's shown up to 3rd level so it was fun to kind of play with him and see what he could  do. He did feel a little short on his left hind, but I think it's more muscle memory than soreness.

Next was Colton, or rather I should say Tuxedo or Tux for short. My mom and I finally settled on a name and I think it fits him. Now just to figure out a show name... I'm leaning towards something like All Dressed Up while my mom likes RoyalT (a play on Royalty and a shortened version of Royal Tuxedo). Hmmm. He was so good today! He remembered his lesson on being soft on the bit from last time and was very good with that so this time we worked on getting him off my inside leg. We were having a lot of trouble to the left last time, it's definitely his harder direction and he likes being counter bent and coming off the wall. I think I asked him maybe 4 times to move off my inside leg, backing it up with a little tap with the whip then giving him a big release and a pat on the neck when he moved away in the slightest. By the 5th time I asked, I put my leg on and he moved off as easy as if he'd always done it. We worked on it in both directions at the walk and then in the trot and he was such a good baby. We took a walk break and I'd ask him to move off my left leg for a couple strides, and then off my right leg for a couple strides, then left again. He was so good! Then I trotted him up and down the hill next to our field. He was awesome and we even cantered. I think hill work will definitely help him build the muscles necessary to have a nice canter and he tried so hard. I wanted to canter again in the arena to finish off our ride but he was so sweaty and tired, I guess I'll leave that until tomorrow. Such a good worker boy :)

Then was Jazz. Boy did she make me work for it today. I don't think I've ever had such a hard ride on her and it's sad to say that I got a little frustrated. I don't think it's her fault, just the result of a year with a different rider, especially one that is a beginner and rides western (not that there's anything wrong with that) just that she wasn't expected to be on the bit or carry herself correctly, so all those muscle groups are unused and she's just overall going to take some time to get back to her normal self. It's just hard because she was so resistant today. I don't know if maybe she needs to be adjusted because her neck is out or if maybe she's developing some arthritis there, but it was really hard for her to bend to the inside and keep it there and she didn't want to stay on the bit. We've always had trouble with her softening through her jaw, but she's never actively resisted me so today was rough. She had some really good moments, but I think it's 90% just not having the muscles for it. I know it's not her mouth because she just had her teeth done two months ago. I think next week I'll bring my side reins and pop those on her on the lunge so she can figure it out herself. Definitely not going to take her to the show next weekend because she just won't be ready.

Overall, I'm pooped. I was planning on riding Jazz and Tux tomorrow then heading up to school and riding Jetta but I think I'll skip on riding Jazz, she's probably going to be sore as well! The BO texted me and said that Jetta's settling in great so I'm thankful for that. I can't wait to ride her in our new big arena!