It's cold here. Really, really cold, which made India a bit skittish. She'd not been worked in two weeks, so when Jenny first asked her to move on the long line, she bucked! Unfortunately, I didn't have the camera set on its movie setting, so I missed it. Well, India calmed down quickly enough and was calmly cantering soft circles around Jenny. So, Jenny asked her to stop and come to her, which India did willingly. Next, Jenny shook the stirrup while adjusting the cinch.
India was perturbed by Jenny shaking the stirrup, so that became the next lesson: stirrup shaking is No Big Deal! Jenny shook the stirrup for as long as it took for India to accept that it happens, it's no big deal, not to worry, be soft. See that here!
Later, Jenny rode India. No cow work today as Jenny is taking all the stuff she learned about India's progress from working cows and is concentrating on the weaknesses that cow work illustrated. Such as India not wanting to move out immediately when asked. India doesn't need to explode forward, but she needs to willingly increase or decrease her speed as soon as asked. So, Jenny worked on that, as well as asking for more "soft feels" on India's mouth while cantering. This is new stuff for POTU.
India's doing well. She likes going long and low. Look at these pictures of India from three years ago:
I titled this one, "Dreaming of Winning in Western Pleasure." Oh yeah, she's old skool Quarter Horse for sure!
I decorated my stock trailer for Christmas!
Asia and I went riding in Dooly yesterday. It was very, very cold. Not as cold as Ottawa or Berlin, but cold enough that we only rode for about an hour. That and the ground was so squishy from the 7 inches of rain (17.78 centimeters) that fell in the last week that trotting was as fast as I wanted to go. Too slippery to go any faster.
Because I've not ridden Asia since early November (aack! I hate when life conspires against riding my mare), I rode her in her Mikmar bit. I figured that with it being cold and windy, a little extra stopping power might be a good thing. Thankfully, she was an angel. Really, she was. Please ignore the unpulled mane, the mud, the mess. It's rained. A lot. We're all a bit muddy and unkempt.
And here's stuff I see on I-75. I saw both of these the same day on my drive home from work. First, a Cadillac in serious need of some body work:
A POLAR BEAR LICENSE PLATE! From Canada's Northwest Territories.
The Canadians win the coolest license plate award! Double click on the photo and see the polar bear better. Sorry it's a bit blurry.
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