Finally....

I finally get to ride again!!! Our last ride was the trail ride on Wed. Then I worked Thursday and Friday. I got home Saturday and should have ridden then, but decided I'd nap first as it was a long night. Well... I woke up and went to get Fleck and he was standing with his back to me. Awww man.... Are you stuck in the fence, buddy/?! Sure enough... I love the fact that when he gets caught... he waits. But I HATE the fact that he finds the need to seek out the last little remaining bit of fencing I haven't replaced to stick his foot through. So, I walk up and poor guy... he's got his right front through and halfway pulled his shoe off with the wire. The other foot is all bloody and fly covered. So, I grab his foot and as I get him untangled, his other leg starts shaking. Poor baby. Luckily all he did was create a tiny scrape on his heel bulb and halfway rip off his shoe and twist it slightly. So.... SUPER glad he wasn't hurt, but a little annoyed that  I can't ride. Argh... it's been a really rough week and I needed a ride to help soothe my heart. Oh well... At least Flecky was fine. But still... I had to work Mon through Thursday morning, then Fri and Sat half day, then Monday... then back to work Wed... And we've got Chatt Hills coming up soon!

And that also meant that I couldn't do my Beth lesson... Grids at WTF. And she said it was the evil grid again, but with a twist!!! Man....... oh well. So anyways, Kip said he'd come out Tuesday am, so Flecky spent the weekend with his foot wrapped. I did manage to pull the bent nails and duct tape his shoe back on, so he wasn't too uncomfy. Kip came Tuesday and fixed him up. Then I swore I would ride Wed am between my shifts since it had been so long, but... Sunday, Monday and Tuesday were long nights... and I was starting to really get exhausted, so I bailed. I had to sleep.

Which brings us to today! FINALLY I get to ride ;) I had a lesson with Beth and it was soooo worth staying up for! We worked on striding today. I forewarned Beth that she would have to tell me things more than the typical excessive amount because I was tired. So... we started with two lines... a four stride set line, but Beth wanted us to do four in one and then five in the other. So we tried... and didn't accomplish it. But then we fixed things and got it.... The trick is ....

Half-halt with my core... and my elbows. NOT by raising my hands... And do it quicker, then release so he can be soft to the jump. It worked :) We're getting it. Yay!!! And I'm so proud of myself.. I don't think Beth ever had to say anything to me about my hands. Yay!!! Though I did feel them creeping once or twice, but hey... I felt that they were creeping up. :) And corrected it.

So.. while I was trying to get the five in, I asked Beth "Do I have to add a stride in to get the five"? ha ha... Peri and Beth just looked at me and burst out laughing. Hee hee... That's not what I meant... Honestly!!!! I meant that I had to ride him a little deeper to the first fence and add the stride in instead of taking a flyer at it. Hee hee... But it made us all laugh.

So anyways... then we did some fun crazy S bending lines and roll backs, etc. Which I sucked at. I used to be the queen of rollbacks... But eventually it dawned on me (with Beth's help) that I needed to start the turn over the fence. Duh... HUGE difference.. our rollback went from a 40 meter circle to a 15 meter circle and the jump was even smoother. Yay!

So fun day... then I came home and slept and... now am going to go sleep some more.