#hack journal

Aye it’s been a while whoop

Promise had some problems with her hocks and then we realized it was actually her shoulder but anyway that’s why I haven’t done a proper hack journal in like a month. She’d been on and off lame for the past couple weeks, then I had a big trip so I couldent ride but now I’m back and she’s sound!

I stretched her before the ride because I learned some new neck stretches for her at the clinic. We warmed up and then worked on canter transitions cause we both kinda needed to remember how to canter. I got the ring to myself which was really nice.

I also realized that focusing on my (left) shoulder position fixes a lot

Surprise! I got to hack again this week!

Trying to get back into jumping just for the fun of it. Did a lot of trot poles today, found out I really have to push her through em :/ She’s not one of those horses that will rush through/over them.

Also! I’ve finally ditched that corkscrew bit that her owner had her in! Instead I put her in the double-jointed d-ring that came on the bridle I got for Xmas (that bridle now has a double-jointed baucher). She went well and honestly at this point goes mostly off just my leg and seat.

She was spooking at the back of the indoor today so I took her outside to do her canter. There was this kid having her lesson out there and her instructor told her to.... 2-point/perch into the canter? Or perch before giving the canter queue. I was always taugh that that’s very incorrect, but is that just how they do it now a days? Hunter folks e x p l a i n .

(I’ve been in this sport for a little over 5 years and I already feel old, wow)

Was half tempted to do some jumps outside but 1) there were young students using the jumps 2) it was my “first day back” in a sense- I was still remembering how I should be positioned over jumps/poles and I didn’t want to push myself too fast specially not in front of the kids.

(I wrote this on Labor Day  and it’s been sitting in my drafts since then whoops)

So I guess we’re all the way at 30... wow.

Rode dressage because I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get two hacks in this week. There was a little girl having what looked like one of her first lessons (she was practicing steering at the trot and keeping the pony trotting) so I stayed towards the foresty-end of the ring. I like to do that a lot even when I don’t have to because 1) it’s shady 2) there usually aren’t jumps back there and 3) Promise is really good about not getting spooky back there, unlike the back side of the indoor >:/

(Funny story from a few years back- I was riding Annie in the outdoor a few days after a big windstorm had come through. We were doing some jumping when I heard a crack/crash towards the back of the ring as I was going into position for a jump. Annie came up in front of me as if she was going to jump but then I realized she had stopped going forewards. A large branch had fallen back in the forest and she had technically reared in fright, but since I had been prepared for a jump I didn’t even realized till I felt her feet hit the ground XD Thats the only time I’ve ever been reared. Scared the crap out of my father)

Besides the normal cirlcing+stretches to get her loose in her back+tracking up, I did some half passes(?) with the jumps (having her shoulders face the jump while I push her sideways) because she braces her neck like heck if I don’t >:/

Almost forgot! My instructor told me to go ahead and get my own pair of spurs because we’re gonna be doing more lateral work. I’ve only used them a couple times but I do like them more than carrying a whip. Didn’t really use them outside the stretches+”“half-pass”” (quotations because idk if I’m using the correct term?).

After warm ups I just did transitions. Lots of transitions. That’s really what she needs right now, I feel like I’ve fallen back on the canter transitions. So we did like 6-8 strides of canter into 6-8 strides of trot back into 6-8 strides of canter. I say 6-8 strides because I was looking more for a quality canter before the downward transitions than counting strides. Anyway, probably confused the lil hunter in the front. “Why is she doing so many circles? Her pony doesn’t seem to want to listen- it won’t canter/trot for more than a few strides! Why isn’t she posting?”

Hacked with a friend! Rode in the hunter saddle and we just kinda ran around and talked lol. Promise was slow but aye at least she’s sound. No jumps up so we tried to do some dressage in the dressage ring that was still up. Friendo thought that was too confusing so afterwards we just did canter transitions and flying lead changes. Well, I got one change and then Promise decided that that was Enough for the day and she would just Counter Canter Fast for the rest of her life. My brother got some pictures of us tho!

Just realized I haven’t made one of these in two weeks, whoops D:

To make a long story short; real life stuff has been preventing me from sitting down and typing up journals, specifically the fact that I’m waking up at 6 for drivers ed and then going to the barn after that, coming home EXHAUSTED.

Promise was lame at my last lesson, so we had the vet check her out, put her on some meds, and when I rode her last (dressage, Wednesday) she started out a little stiff but stretched/worked out of it. Our hack was cut short anyway because it started to thunder. We’ve been getting quite a few storms, I just hope her ‘rot doesn’t come back, specially this close to the show TuT

I’ve been signed up for my first dressage show! At least, the first one I’ll actually be competing in. I’ve been practicing the training tests(albeit on a few different horses) for almost two years now XD My instructor said I could probably do the first level 1 test so I looked over the instructions for that this morning and realized that I don’t think I’ve ever practiced extensions at the canter >.<

Rode hunter outside today. It was nice, no flies :) Did some cantering but held off on jumps because there was a lesson going on using them. Gave Promise a bath after that, her rain rot is getting better. It’s almost completely gone from her legs. Afterwards I had some extra time on my hands so I did a big tack clean where I cleaned all the hunter tack that Promise’s owner lets me use. Saddle, bridle, boots and leg wraps. I usually just wipe it down when I use it/if it looks dusty, but this time I used soap and everything, the let it dry in the sun.