The Grind

 There's this saying "Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life" (I consulted google and it seems that the source for this is unknown). I disagree. I have had a wonderful career that I really enjoyed, but honestly some days were hard. 

Quaid: yeeessss, that's the spot! 

Horse training is no different. I love riding and lots of times it is fun and it makes my soul sing. But that doesn't mean it's not work. The show gave me a ton of information and I've been putting it to work. I put cantering on the back burner while I worked on my posture. If I couldn't stay up and balanced at walk and trot then cantering made no sense.  As this improved I began to re-introduce the canter. It felt like things were going well. 

Then  I had a lesson shortly after with Jane and it was really good.  And by good, I mean he was not feeling this riding thing at all. So the lesson was on getting him to work through it. To quote Jane "he needs to work even when he's feeling emotional". It was a good lesson, even though I really couldn't tackle the canter. It felt like he was just bouncing up and down almost on the spot. I honestly had no idea how to ride it. So Jane switched things up and had us trot forward, asking his front legs to wait while his hind legs caught up. When he gets excited he flails his front legs and his hind legs go out behind (hopefully that makes sense). I could feel how this work really balanced him. It was hard because the temptation is to hold the front and push with the legs but it's more of a feel wait, just wait.  This ride was hard and fell into the not-so-fun category. But it also fell into the this-work-is-really-gonna-pay-off category. 

Since then our rides have been pretty good. He throws the occasional I don't wanna but I'm getting way better at riding it forward. I'm feeling a lot more balanced at the canter too- I'm not falling forward or gripping. Even though it takes a lot of focus and determination I can feel how it helps him to balance under me. 

Property ownership is also work. I've repainted the riding ring fence and put up new letters. 

looking a lot better

We also got our small bales this week. We have to get them off the field. It's hot and hard work but now that I just get 200 it's not as awful as when we had to get 500.  

we can get 100 per load

With the summer temperatures hitting I've been riding early and usually just one of them. That works them less but I tend to ride longer so I'm sure it balances out. Regardless, I'm enjoying this schedule. Carmen has been going really well these days. I can feel improvements in our transitions and counter canter. Not perfect but better. Each time it feels more flowy.  The other day I brought her out to ride and when I looked at her left haunch I thought wtf? It was covered in small scabs and a big swollen area with what looked like a bite. I think she rolled in an ants nest or something. 

I rode her lightly and she felt fine. After the swelling was down a lot. I scrubbed her and then put some witch hazel on it. The scabs are still there but it's a lot better. Honestly, I was surprised it was Carmen and not Quaid, given his propensity for getting into trouble.  But other than that I've really been having fun riding her. She's become a really solid mount. 

Earlier this week my friend Tanya came over with her mare and we rode together in the ring. I rode Quaid because I really wanted to practice him working around other horses. At first he was very distracted and kept losing rhythm. But as we went on he relaxed and stopped worrying. Tanya was great riding close to us and then away. 

It was fun and work. 

In a couple weeks we're doing a 3 day clinic. I plan to ride both of them all three days. Two of those days will be away which will be great for us. 

I wouldn't say "Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life" I'd say "Do what you love and the work will be worth it".