A bolt is the cure for every evil.

Alexis, Lynn and I had planned a full barn day yesterday, and it ended up being the best weather we've had all week.  The plan was for Lynn and Alexis to both jump Max a bit, and Alexis and I were going to swap rides on Gali and play dressage pony.  Gali's been very well behaved this week, but I guess expecting him to be good three times in a row was asking a bit much of the pony Gods, as he was strong and avoiding outside aids for both Alexis and myself.  He's certainly been worse, and if this is his new "bad", I'll take it in a heartbeat.

DERP I RIDE A HORSES. DERP.

I really was no help to him yesterday - my paddock boots are out of commission (ahem, Lynn!) and I've been riding in my muck/lake/yard boots - which, while perfect for our swimming adventures earlier in the week, are really not the best to ride in.  They're slippery and lightweight, and I'm used to riding in my sturdier Blundstones and half chaps.  I know it isn't any excuse, and for hacking around and trail riding the lake boots are great, but I do think they contributed to my awful position today.  I had no base of support in my leg, and the instability combined with my natural tendency to be tense when Gali's got attitude, and his tendency to get tense when I'm tense, led to me looking like I really shouldn't be on a horse in the first place.

Gali was happy, though, for the most part.  His favorite thing in the world is jumping, and while he's not allowed to jump regularly because of his ringbone, I can pop him over a crossrail once in a blue moon.  Today, I let him walk over a few as part of his warmup, but I guess he doesn't see the point in crossrails if you don't jump them, because he just walked straight through the second one.

Figures, it would be one of the first days in a long time that I had Jason out to get pictures of my ride.  Oh well, it really illustrated what I need to work on (Sit back, have elbows and GTFO Gali's face, Kim!) when I have days where I get nervous and let myself get in our way.  As Alexis repeated from the ground all ride "Check yourself, before you wreck yourself!"

I hopped on Max for a little while today, too.  He was acting lame and Lynn wanted to see it from the ground instead of his back.  When he was on the forehand he looked worse, and it could be foot soreness.  Lynn's putting front shoes on him this week.  The good news is that when I half halted him, did some transitions and got him back on his hind end, the lameness disappeared and he felt great.  More position failture: I wanted to be off of his back so we could see if it was back soreness that wasn't letting him come through, and I was in a jump saddle.  I was in some awkward combination of half-seat and just a forward riding seat the whole time I was on him.

Getting some good work out of the big dumb.

Alexis rode Gali for the first time since the winter.  She's not a huge fan of him, because he's big and dumb and tends to take off with her.  To her credit, she does get on him and has gotten much better at bringing him back from his canter-bolts, which was something she had trouble with when we boarded together at Nouveau.  Her position has improved tremendously since she started riding at Centenary, and she looked a lot better than me today.  Gali responded appropriately and looked much better for her today than he did for me.

Lynn hopped back on Max and while Alexis coached her over some jumps, I flipped through the pictures Jason was taking and told him that I wanted one series of canter shots where I didn't look awful.  Famous last words.  I hopped back on my horse and walked him over to a spot in the ring that has very good footing and isn't too cluttered with jumps, and decided I'd do one or two more canter circles, try to look like I have been on a horse before, and call it quits.  Gali was getting tired and I wanted to end on a fun note.

Leaving.

I trotted a circle to get myself together a bit, and Gali immediately sucked back and played his "I'm done!" card.  He tossed his head down, threatened bucks, tucked his chin to his chest and braced against my hands.  When I was done laughing at his antics, I sat down and booted him forward.  He went forward.  He grabbed the bit and launched us out of the circle and up past the shed.  I had to laugh at him, though, because his "bolts" have gotten so much less serious in the time that I've owned him.  I did recognize that his fit was an "I'm tired!" protest, and after I made him trot a circle and down to the jumps and back (and he cooperated), I let him be done.

Oops.

Right about this time, Alexis hopped on Max to jump him over some crossrails.  He was a good boy, and because the theme of the day was "Let's not know when to quit", Alexis decided to take Max over an oxer than he dumped Bekka on a few weeks ago.  Alexis took him over a crossrail and cantered back around to the oxer, and the usually-brave Max put on the brakes.  Alexis didn't let him run out, and made him sniff the jump so he would see that there were NO tigers hiding behind the gate, and took him at it again.  Twice more he refused, and she came off both times.  It was the type of "fall" where you just end up over the horse's shoulders and land on your feet, and Max seemed perplexed both times when she was on the ground but still attached to his face.  In the end, she got him over the fence twice, and he leapt it like a deer both times.  It might not have made for the best jumping lesson, but I got some good pictures out of it, and Alexis did a great job sticking with his jumps despite how... well... you see.

More pictures and captions behind the jump.

Elbows?  Nah.

At least we had a few good transitions - despite my desperate attempt to ruin them.

SIT BACK, ME.

As soon as she got on, Gali picked up the canter on his own.

She got him back though and they looked good together.

Proof that no matter how much Gali tracks up, he can still run around like a giraffe.

I still have no elbows, but Max was moving nicely for me.

Why?

Almost.

Probably the best one of the day, and I still have so much to work on.

Right after a "buck" in the last canter circle attempt.

Grabbed the bit

If I were not in defensive mode (aka launch mode), this would be an awesome picture.

You can't see from this crop, but I'm cracking up at his "buck" sequence

Oh.. uh.. yep, yeah, gone.

Coming back from around the shed like "This shithead horse..."

Right back to work.

Ending on a good note.

First fall

Unexpected deer leap, great sticking.

Still attached to the horse.

Do that one more time, horse...

More geat deer-riding

And a well put together landing!