India trots, oh yes, she does. Note the head tossing, of which there is a fair amount. This is because Jenny is taking more feel of India's mouth for a longer time period than what the POTU is used to experiencing. Jenny's moved from "here I am for a stride" and then dropping that feel to "Darlin', you need to get used to the idea that this feel in your mouth isn't going away, so stop fighting it" and then India does and Jenny relaxes the contact and off they go some more.
There was cantering yesterday, too, even by me. No pictures though as the camera battery was just about dead.
However, I did get this picture of Windy, Jenny's mare, who was led into the arena and parked in this spot and told to stay. Which she did for close to an hour, not moving except to shift her weight off one rear leg to the next.
Here she is when she's resting the right. You can see Windy thinking about her lot in life, which is much better than the horses in China. Windy, is not convinced and still won't eat her brussel sprouts.
I told Windy what a smart girl she is for standing where put. Windy just sighed, shifted her weight, and sighed some more.
We did all this work in very cold weather. It was that winter weather that's raw and cuts to the bone. I bought a pair of Irideon winter breeches earlier this month (thank you again, Kelly and Lissan for that very generous gift certificate to Dover that made this possible) and I can't sing their praises highly enough. Warm! My legs were warm, but my hands were like ice. Anyone got any suggestions for warm, winter riding gloves, please let me know because the Manzilla gloves that I got for biking that are made out of polarfleece aren't cutting it. At times when we were riding I could see frozen precipitation spitting down. Wasn't sticking, wasn't even really getting us wet, but it was wet enough that I was glad I had on my oiled slicker that I bought in New Zealand oh so many years ago. And India didn't mind at all when I mounted her while wearing the slicker cause of all the desensitizing Jenny did with it and a blue tarp a few months ago. YAY!
Today's forecast was supposed to be sunny and warmer, so I thought I'd haul Asia down to Dooly and ride with Jim. Well, it was not sunny and not warmer but overcast and COLD. The temp didn't get above freezing until mid afternoon, which was too late to haul and I've turned into a couch potato. No, not really, because television is booooooorrrrrrriiiiiinnnnnggggg, but I have surfed the internet a good bit and the house is pretty darn clean and I went and got three more bales of hay and to Zaxby's for dinner because I was going starkers. The dinner was lovely, but the cashier had to ask me how much change she should give me for a $5.57 meal when I gave her $6 and she shut the cash drawer before looking. She wasn't even embarrassed that she didn't know how to make change. Weep with me for the educational system of Peach County.
I also listed two dog collars on Ebay. They're for an invisible fence system that I bought two years ago at PetSmart and then never used. Right now there are two other sellers on Ebay selling them for $70 and $80 for one collar. They're commercial sellers. I listed two for a reserve price of $25. I started looking around for other stuff to put up and thought about the wee foal blanket I had for India when she was first born and pulled it down off the shelf to take its picture and then got all sentimental and put it back. I used to think that I would breed Asia again because she adored being a broodmare, but the cost of raising a foal to riding age is so incredibly high. I just finished writing a check for India's shots, I owe my hay man for 33 bales of hay and I want him to deliver a lot more, Asia gets new shoes next week while WonderPony and Babe get trims, so realistically speaking, no more foals for me. I will pull that wee foal blanket off the shelf in six months and see if I can part with it then. It doesn't take up much space.
Here is the POTU in her foal blanket.
Yes, I was there to capture that embarrassing moment of falling face down in her mother's feed bucket. ;p
Love this picture, too.
Stay warm. Eat your brussel sprouts. As Abe Lincoln said, "Whatever you are, be a good one."
1 comment:
Windy looks more Mongolian than Chinese.c
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