After Hurricane Clean Up

I'm a little behind on my posting but I haven't had a chance to work with Mr. B in a few days! Hurricane and all. Here are our ponies nice and warm - Pretty, Brantley, Lucy, and Kid. We all survived Sandy with minimal damage at the barn. Mainly just leaves and such but still a long day of clean up but couldn't wait to get back on track. 

Chevy spent most of the day with me going from barn to barn. He was tired at the end of the day! Long walk with Mason my brother at Wilson Park. He made some new friends and had a blast!

That left Dad the day to work on his new project and favorite toy... Wood pellet stove. So far we're already saving money on oil. Very excited. This means showers with HOT water!

Last night and tonite I spent some time with Brantley. We worked in the indoor for over an hour with our circles (quality) - and then throwing the rope over the saddle while he walked forward. I tried to be really careful to catch him before he shut down. I caught him a majority of the time but he still had a few moments. Practice practice practice. Focus on the quality and feel of the exercises and not the quantity and just going through the motions. We're working on it! We also worked on the motions of the stirrups and he did really well. I start to question myself sometimes if I'm doing things correctly but for the steps that I'm taking, I have to keep up my confidence. If I lose that, I'll start to break down again. Mounting block was a piece of cake! Still have to write my letter to Brent. I think I want to meet with the girls from the clinic and go over a few things first though. Kate's coming with me so it should be good.

As for riding, Ms. Kate let me ride Lucy! It was pouring out but we had a blast. I had to experiment with my aids and getting louder vs. staying as soft as I am. It's what she is used to. I really had a great ride and a lot of fun. Definitely set my head back on straight.

Do you ever feel like you lose your mind a little more every day you don't ride?

I started to ride Kid again for Deb because he was getting a little too overly snotty. Excellent ride yesterday and just went through different exercises. No fight, no fuss. Tonight was a different story. Completely different horse. I had my brother come and ride him and I tried to work Brantley... Kid with another horse, not a good idea. He's worked so long without other horses around that I think he's become socially awkward. Problem is he wants to pull you to the other horse... And then once he gets to the other horse (if you let him), he throws a fit because the horse is near him. I switched places and got on him and I think we worked through it. Obviously issue is not solved but it was a step and we landed on a good note! Until tomorrow!