Writing . . .

. . . about Riding. My goal is to post 30 times in the month of November. It is NaNoMoWri month, which is intended to encourage writers to put 50,000 words on paper. I am going to use it to encourage myself to blog about Ashke every day for 30 days.

On Sunday, Chris left Christensen's for her new home. Chris said Robyn was almost in tears saying goodbye on Saturday, which I find pretty hypocritical. If you are going to kick someone out, then don't act like you are sad to see them go. I didn't need to help move, since Chris had a ton of help from clients and friends, but I was there for moral support and to help load the horses.

There was quite the lag between when the gear was loaded and when they came for the horses. During that time, I saddled and rode Ashke in the indoor arena. I know we both hate the indoor, but the outdoor was really muddy and there was no one else to ride with.

His walk was super fast and stretchy. He lowers his head and really relaxes into it. His trot was inconsistant. One moment he is slow and smooth, with his neck curved and relaxed, the next he is trotting faster with his head thrown up. It is a work in progress. I went back to the martingale. He responded well to having the direction of pressure changed. I rode him across the arena at an angle (sidepass in Western, leg yeild in English) in both directions and he wants to speed up when he feels the pressure.

Then we cantered in figure eights. I broke the figure eight in the middle and we slowed to a trot and then picked up the circle at a canter to work on picking up the correct lead. He caught on fairly quickly and is better at maintaining his lead in a smaller circle. In a larger circle, he has a tendency to switch leads. I'm hoping that will become less and less as he gains strength in his back.

I asked J to film me tonight so I can see how he goes and how I am riding him. Yea! Maybe videos tomorrow.