Barn buddies

We added a third member to our Sunday trail rides, and the promise of a fourth and fifth in the future!  The goal was never to have a huge group, but it's nice to have a few people interested in going out for safety reasons, and because all the horses get experience going out in groups and dealing with being in different places in the marching order.  Today was a nice little outing with our usual pals plus a third rider from the barn who was looking to get a good trail experience under and her horse's belts.  Everyone behaved and had a good time.  Mission complete!  :)

I took care of some "horsekeeping" projects today too; Soonie got a bath and had his sheath cleaned (everybody's favorite pastime...).  I don't think either of us really enjoyed his spa day, but now he's totally clean and trimmed up for those horse shows that I still can't get motivated to go to.

Zenny was great today too.  I just did a repeat of yesterday; a quick lunging session to make sure she was listening, there weren't any YeeHaws, and that she got a bit warmed up.  Zero drama on the lunge, and she was much better undersaddle when we started because she didn't jig at all. Just settled into a relatively productive walk.  Her trot was a little rough tracking right (her stiff side, plus she's toed in on that side which creates a little extra challenge), but to the left she was much improved and even had a few moments of self carriage.  All this with a beginner lesson going on in the other end of the ring, and she wasn't bothered at all.  I'll get her out of the indoor and around the farm, probably on some trail rides in the future.  No cantering yet, as I want to get some more strength on her and balance.  Because she's not very fit, I want to keep the riding to about 20 minutes right now, and there's no point in cantering if I can't get a balanced, consistent trot yet.  She'll get there though.

Soonie and I have our second dressage lesson on Wednesday night and I am PSYCHED!  Also scheduled a jump lesson the following week, so I'm really excited to get down to work.

Also, I got home from my five hours at the barn (which is a big deal for me since I got used to being the amateur rider with one horse), made myself a nice dinner of steamed rice/veggies and grilled turkey, and then proceeded to wreck it with lots of chocolate.  And I also got one of those nostalgic YouTube moments and watched Celine Dion music videos for like 45 minutes.

...AND I LIKED IT.  That's right, I like Celine Dion.