#NOBADDAYS

People that know me closely understand that I have a pretty sarcastic wit about me, I'm much more serious than my online persona may reveal, and that I am unabashedly optimistic and idealist.  I don't know how the last part developed because I've had enough strife and heartache in my life to turn me into a hateful, negative person... but what remains is someone who is constantly looking for silver linings even in the face of defeat. I try very hard to keep a positive attitude about things (and yes, I struggle and fall apart sometimes too) and I try to lift people up around me. I've spent the last several years culling the fat of toxic, negative people out of my life because to me, it's just not worth having people in your life that don't want to see you happy, or that try to bring you down into their negativity.

So, maybe it's just a result of getting older (hell, I'm pushing 40 this year YIKES) or wiser (doubtful) but lately, I've been feeling less stressed and more certain about the future.

<3

This feeling relates directly to Scout because since I've owned him, I think my whole outlook towards riding and horse ownership has changed. I have goals yes, but they are small... all I truly care about is having FUN. Hence the hashtag #NOBADDAYS. He makes me smile and laugh and is constantly worming his way closer into my heart. He's easy on the eyes and kind. He's a good mover, has a nice jump and good work ethic. What more could I want?

So this weekend even though I had ridden him ONCE since he got cast (if you're counting it was a solid month) the day before being invited, I jumped at the chance to take him on a fun hack with blog friends on Saturday.

And he was a perfect gentleman. It was the first really nice day we've had in weeks and it seemed foolish to stay at home. The two horses we were meeting up with are also rehabbing/coming back into work, so it was going to be a quiet ride (perfect!).

I went into the ride thinking we were going to have a great time and lo and behold, we did. The ponies were terrific, the sun was shining and everyone left with smiles. #nobaddays

Love these perfectly manicured trails

Love that my horse doesn't care where he is in the group

Love that he doesn't care about riding next to the road

They were all looking around quite a bit when we first arrived, but since it was a nice day the park had lots of families rolling in to enjoy the weather too which the horses found very interesting. Scout responded with his telltale teeth-grinding (that's primarily how he communicates tension) but was flat footed once I got on (really need to get that ironed out).

The loop around the park takes about an hour, so it was plenty of time for all of them to settle in and cruise along at a nice pace. We chatted about horses and life and everything in between. Laughed at our horse's individual personalities. I made a new friend and Scout fell in love.

Lovers

Mocha's side eye is REAL

Just a couple of handsome fellows

Sebastian slobbered all over Scout's neck and was whispering sweet nothings into his ear!

Something as simple as an hour long trail ride on my wonderful horse was enough to remind me that sometimes the best days are spent in the sun, with a couple of horse crazy women and their horses just walking around a park. And I was reminded again just why I love my horse SO much.

LOVE HIM

YAY NEW FRIENDS AND OLD FRIENDS AND HORSE FRIENDS!

I'm looking forward to continuing this trend of #nobaddays and I hope I'll see some of you out there in the bright future that lies ahead.

Flat work progression and something exciting

The face of a very good boy

Big things are cooking up over in Scoutland as we plug away at getting Scout fit again. Namely, we've stopped just hacking about with no real plan and I've started expecting and asking for more "real" work under saddle in preparation for our very first show this Sunday!!! We've entered a local dressage schooling show just to get Scout's feet wet with the show atmosphere in a safe and comfortable environment. It's a farm he's been to a few times and he seems quite nonchalant there, so I think I can up the ante by exposing him to more activity pretty confidently. We've entered two dressage tests Intro A and Intro B, so as long as he can stay in the ring I think we'll make it through. That said, I haven't ridden in a dressage test in a VERY long time, so I've got my work cut out for me in terms of remembering my tests and figuring out where the letters are!!! So while writing and reading about flat work progression isn't the most exciting thing, I do have lots of photos to help ease the reader throughout this post.

I start each of my rides with lots of work at the walk. This has really been paying off even if it's excruciatingly boring. But there's plenty to do at the walk, so I generally work on getting him to engage his hind end with lots of transitions from walk to halt, serpentines and circling in and out. He still wants to get hollow in the upward movement when I ask him to stay connected, but each ride the time he spends resisting gets shorter, so we'll call that a win. He's also starting to have some nice lightbulb moments in the connection where he'll lift his back and drop his head when I put my leg on.

Adding some poles on the ground helps keep things interesting.

At the trot the name of the game for us is TRANSITIONS. He has to learn to step underneath himself and I have to stop letting him pull my reins away an inch at a time. Trying to ride a strung out, on-the-forehand baby giant is not fun, in fact, it's exhausting. He's been rewarding me with some very nice trot work, but we're still working on straightness and real bend (he's very good at faking it). When I lift my shoulders up and keep my reins shorter, I'm able to ride his hind legs much more effectively and ultimately keep him up in front of me.

I like his frame here, though he's slightly braced against me

Tracking up nicely

He's getting a touch deep here, but it makes me feel very excited about our future

Our canter work is a serious work-in-progress. He lost a ton of condition from being on stall rest and the transition to full work has been a slow one. Whereas when I first got him I could get on and canter him around on a loose rein, he's actually not coordinated enough for me to fully trust him to do that without my support. And by support I mean asking him to bring the canter together a bit more and engage his back, which makes his canter feel very powerful.

Exhibit A (this will be amazing XC!!!!)

Right now, it takes a lot of half-halting and core work to keep him from getting strung out. What I'm feeling under saddle looks very differently in video (where he looks light and very rideable). But what I do like though is that I can see a definitive change in is gait when I ask for the half-halt, and he's able to hold a nice light canter for a few strides at a time before needing a little more support.

Starting strung out

Core = engaged. Lifting the canter.

A lighter canter stride to sit

So we're progressing, which I suppose is all you can hope for with babies. His transitions upward are less exciting and his downward transitions are feeling less discombobulated. He's giving more and bracing less. We had a few major lightbulb moments since these photos were taken, and I think I've got some new tools to help unlock true bend (at least at the walk and the trot). I hope it pays off for our little show!

Wish us luck tomorrow:)

Crystal Lake Park, NJ (our first off property trip)

A huge side benefit of moving Scout was that he was going to be in a location near several blog friends, so when Stacey asked us if we'd like to go on a hack to check out one of the nearby parks I jumped at the chance.

You see, this would be Scout's very first off the farm excursion (going to New Bolton doesn't count!) and I can hardly think of a better duo to help make our first trip a success.

Who has 4 hooves and loves adventures? This guy!

I arrived early to factor in extra loading time if I needed it (so far he's been an absolute superstar for loading). What I really needed the extra time for was cleaning him. OMG, homeboy found the stream in his paddock and has been having a ball.

Like this, but worse

So, I attempted to hose him off, let him stand in front of his fan and then I scraped mud off him until it was time to load. Some first impression you're going to make on Klein, Scout!?

He's not a confirmed self-loader (yet) so we still count on having someone to do up the butt bar for us, but he loaded quietly and we headed out to the park, about 30 minutes away. Crystal Lake Park is a gorgeous place with manicured trails, designated trailer parking, running water, real bathrooms and even a huge concrete horse mounting ramp.

We basically kept to the dotted green but also went into the woods a little for some hill action!

Stacey was already there and we chatted for a bit and I put Scout's bridle on and unloaded. He looked around a bit (he suddenly seemed MUCH taller) but took a deep breath and relaxed and started grazing. I fully utilized the mounting ramp to get on and we were off!

Our super partners for the day

miles and miles of this:)

I seriously had nothing to worry about though. This horse man... I feel like I've got PTSD or something because I'm always waiting for the other shoe to drop, for him to act stupid or hot or spooky. But, I think what he's taught me in the last 4 months is how to trust. I feel like now, I trust him to behave how he has time and time again. He definitely looked around and was quite aware of his surroundings, but his only tension could be detected in some initial teeth grinding. Before I knew it he was stretching over his back and swinging along like he'd been doing this his whole life.

Always a good sign when you can pull your phone out early in the ride:)

We trotted for a nice portion and I'm happy to report that Scout felt super sound. He just cruised along behind Klein who set a nice pace. After going around the perimeter we headed into the woods where Stacey promised some very steep hills! It was probably some of the steepest terrain that Scout's ever encountered, but he picked his way up and down and even crossed a narrow wooden bridge that I thought he might give me grief about.

This was my face the entire ride!

Through the woods

We rode for about about an hour and fifteen minutes before heading back to the trailers. We certainly could have stayed out longer, but I felt like that was enough time to get a true feel for his attitude and ability in a new place. I couldn't be happier with his ho hum attitude about the whole thing. Having a horse that you can just throw on the trailer and go is such a blessing. And while Scout's appearance left little to be desired, I think he made a pretty good first impression on Stacey and Klein with his chill attitude:)

I dropped him off at the barn and then drove the 2.5 miles to Stacey's farm (how awesome is it that she's so close?) to meet the rest of her crew! I introduced Mocha to the All Ears app and she was hilarious about it. She was curious about me and then puzzled as to why this strange human was making horse noises! She's completely ridiculous and opinionated but so inquisitive, and almost human-like in her expressions!

And meeting Wes was just the icing on the cake for such a great day. He's like a giant teddy bear and he's just so sweet and gigantic. I was in love!

I couldn't be happier with how our first off property adventure turned out and I cannot wait to have more with blog friends (I'm looking at you Megan!).