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This summer is flying by. It seems like just last week I was so excited for it to begin, now nearly three months have gone by. That isn't to say Jean-Luc and I haven't covered some miles though. Honestly, it means something to me to know that since we've been together we've logged conservatively 200+ miles together - mind-blowing. The riding club I also ride with is having a "Buns of Steel" competition. The rider with the most hours in the saddle by the end of the club season (in this case it looks like October 2018), wins a prize! I never thought I would even be a contender, but what's the saying, "never say never?" Since April 28, 2018, the two of us have logged 83 hours together (specifically in the saddle, groundwork doesn't count). I had taken that number twice because it just feels ridiculous. Little hour rides add up, though. Last week we added 25 miles alone! Today, though I have no pictures for proof, we even had some amazing canter work. It was short, sweet, and in a round pen, but it was the most solid I've felt in the saddle yet. The key to this seemed to be a two-fold.
The other part of this, though is that I felt strong enough to hug his barrel with my legs and roll with the motion. When I sat harder or thought about slowing down, that's exactly what happened! I guess what I'm saying is despite less collection and in the mouth, I had a much better contact in my legs - a good thing. Trying to piece together what was going right is a little difficult. I really wish I did have a video of this because of how connected I felt. While I can't remember Jean-Luc's head placement, I do know it was the first I actually could have held a dollar bill in between my thigh and the saddle and not lost it - apparently, this is an old trick parent around here use to encourage children to learn the correct way to sit the canter. Other things I would credit would have to just be the sheer amount of miles I've put in on any horse in the last week. A blog for another time is definitely about going to between two different quarter horses and Jean-Luc's gaited self this past week. The short version, though, is that I was reminded just how differently those horses can be. Thanks to Liz, I had the opportunity to ride up and down Timberline resort on her rock solid quarter horse Stan, or as we lovingly now refer to him as Stanimal! The one thing I will say is that there truly is a serious difference in speed. I knew this, heck everyone can say that gaited horses just move out much faster. What I did not realize, because I've only been riding my gaited horse for the past year is that his walk is even faster than Stan (and other non-gaited breeds) trot. Liz knows she has a tendency for being a bit brutal to ride with if you don't know what you're doing. I was nervous to even go ride with her because I'd already done 8 miles on a rail trail with my husband biking alongside earlier the same day we were supposed to ride, but I figured, what the hay! I could hang on long enough. What I wasn't ready for was the fact that I COULD handle it all. Maybe she's making me feel good about myself, but the fact that her horse was just as smooth at his trot as I'd been working at the walk made my life cake! I really could have gone on forever - something a year ago that would have killed me. We rode less than four miles but that put my total for the day at 12 miles, something I usually only do with the riding club and make a pretty big ordeal out of. To do this like it was nothing made me feel really good. And can I just say, riding a horse you can post on rather than do the hula on (pacers) is really nice. I plan to go in detail about some of our other accomplishments soon, but the short list includes
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AuthorMy name is Chelsey. HorseGenerator's Cuevo Gold, or as he's known around this barn, "Jean-Luc Ponycard", was foaled in 2004 from Generator's Hurricane & Cheyenne's Little Bit. Top 10 Blog Favs.Archives
January 2019
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