There were a huge number of successes today…

-Zoey, Maddie, and Emma stood on their ponies for the first time.
-Zoey and Maddie stood on Peanut and Wallie bridleless in cordeos.
-Emma and Maddie jumped the barrels, and jumped them bareback nonetheless.
-Chloe sat like a frog on Celebrity, cantered him, and jumped him over a bigger jump.
-Blue Man got ridden for the first time. Chloe put the first rid eon him.
-Cinnamon got ridden by someone other than Kali for the first ride. Chloe put the 4th ride on him.
-Desiree rode a horse for the 4th time in her life, getting to ride Celeb. It was her first time trotting bareback.

Apparently PonyPros and ponies flourish in tornadoes and monsoons

Today was Morgan, Katelynn, and Lauren’s second lesson. As part of our program, kids come out for a minimum of 3 hours a week. We’ve found kids don’t improve with less time that that. We theorize that kids need more than one hour a week because working with horses is like learning a new language, you need to be immersed to become fluent. So for the cost of just one lesson, our kids get 3 hours of horse time per week – 1 hour-long lesson and a 2 hour self-directed session on the weekend. Morgan, Katelynn, and Lauren are going into their third week of the program and they have improved so much! Taylor was sick today, so had to miss out.

Morgan’s seat is 5x better than it was just a month ago. She’s looking awesome! She now has a long leg and length through her torso. What a huge difference!

Katelynn and QuickDraw sidepassed a pole while riding for the first time. It was amazing to see Katelynn put the aids together to make it happen – blocking a little in front so Q didn’t walk over the pole, then forequarters/hindquarters on the outside rein. We don’t use much leg in our lateral movements because we don’t need it – just a little reminder here and there if we want quicker movement sideways.

Lauren added some work without hands to her seatwork repertoire. Work without hands is really cool because it is a big perceived risk but is actually even easier than riding with holding on to the pommel because you can sit correctly. It’s always fun to see the kids faces when they realize they can let go!

Gina has been working with Blue Man on the basics. He is rocking at sideways and jumping the barrels. He looked like a pro today! I took him for awhile to feel him out and he jumped a single barrel on the wall from a walk first time I asked. Later Gina worked with Blue Man on Hippity Hop, which prepares the horse for riding. You lay on the horse like a surfboard and paddle (ie., rub the girth area) and slide backwards off the rump. We do Hippity Hop before sitting in the horse in straddle because it is easier to get off if they get scared and because it is even tougher for their nerves than sitting on then. So, you know if they can handle Hippity Hop, that they’re ready to ride. Hippity Hop is tough for the humans, too, though, because it does require a lot of upper body strength and coordination, especially when you’re working with a 12h pony! I jumped in at the end and laid on Blue a few times to help get him over the hump. I ended by sitting on him in straddle for the first time. Soon as we have some decent weather he’ll start his riding career!

Wednesday was a madhouse! Maddie and Zoey had a make up lesson and their nanny’s daughter, Desiree, wanted to ride. We say “yes” as often as possible, so Desiree got to join in the lesson. She rode Celeb and let me tell you, I have never seen a girl in a tutu on a pony before, but it was seriously cute. Tutus and horsehair – every little girls dream.

Celeb’s new name is Rusty. Spencer, the little girl who is buying him, renamed him and it is perfect. Celeb loves it. Rusty is a perfect fit. It’s rare to have a new name that immediately sticks, but this was one of them! Doesn’t he just look like a Rusty?

Rusty was unbelievably good with Desiree. Desiree is 8 and has only ever ridden a horse 3 times before in her whole life. She took one riding lesson with us last summer and has had a few ground lessons, but mostly just watches while Maddie and Zoey ride. Desiree is normally quite timid, but that’s an 8 year old girl thing. We’ve found girls feel really mortal, so we are careful not to push kids at that age in particular. Instead, we let them watch and observe, and then, poof, out of no where, they jump on and ride like they’ve been riding the whole time. We have started telling our students who are not sure they want to ride, “I will teach you if you get on and start to walk, but you have to get on on your own,” so that we’re not in between them and the horse. It’s amazing because when they are no longer afraid, they just get on and go. Desiree didn’t even use a mounting block – jumped up on Rusty herself. She had watched Maddie and Zoey enough to know how to steer and, of course, when there is no fear in the way, ponies do just what they’re told. Desiree rode all around the arena, getting on and off a few times on her own experimentally, and walked over the poles like a pro. All the while, bareback in a tutu Can you believe we’ve only had Rusty for four weeks?

The arena was packed the whole time and you couldn’t hear yourself think over the sound of little girls giggling, lol. Maddie asked me how to know if she was in the right position over a jump. I told her stick her arms straight out to the side and if you can do that, then you’re in the right position. Maddie started out with one arm and eventually progressed to two arms. It was awesome! She could drop her reins right before the jump, then let her hip angle close and allow her body to naturally assume two-point in the air. Very cool!

Chloe tried it next, riding Thistle. Chloe worked on having her hand behind her back instead of out to the side, which helps exaggerate the closing of the hip angle. You can see her working on it in the photos. Wacky hand positions is my new favorite way to teach jumping. We are, after all, all about letting the body find the position naturally. This way, I don’t have to say much about closing the hip angle or letting the hips drop back – I just set it up and let them find it, same as with a horse

Zoey worked on her confidence with Wallie. She trotted around in her Western saddle and cruised over some poles and small jumps. Wallie is getting a new saddle pad soon, which will look very cute with Zoey’s breeches and helmet.

Katlyn had her third lesson on Sarah. She’s trotting in the treeless English/Western hybrid and riding some off the longe at a walk. She and Sarah get along great. Sarah was particularly worked up because Gina had Penny Lane out for a walk and Sienna, who has adopted her, was quite frantic about where “baby” was. So, for their warm-up on the ground, I had Katlyn circle Sarah from one end of the arena to the other so she would learn how to travel with her. It was tough, but they made it!

I think that was about it…plus Les and I riding Koa and Ilo. Did I mention I took these photos from Ilo’s back? It was a long day!