New Day, New Partner-in-Crime...
Dec. 12th, 2010 06:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
endlessrarities I made a new friend at the riding school today. Her name is Diva, and she's a recent, and evidently not very popular, arrival.
She's a piebald cob - surprise, surpise - and therefore unlikely to catch my eye, and she's a bit bigger than Molly, about 15.1 or 15.2. And she really is a smashing little horse. She's very light and responsive, and she's drops her head and neck into an outline at the slightest urging.
Getting her down is the easy bit. Getting everything working is something altogether harder. She's so responsive that if you change the balance between hand and leg in the slightest, something changes. It's a constant challenge to try and get everything together, but when this happens, the rewards are considerable. I didn't even need to use a stick! I'm still concerned, however, that she's too heavy on the forehand, and doesn't engage the hindquarters - I'm told it's the way she's built (she's all shoulder) but I think there's plenty of scope for improvement as she gets fitter. And her trot? It's incredibly comfy!!
They're trying to persuade me to ditch Molly in favour of this new horse. I'm really fond of Molly, but I can see the wisdom in this. If I want to learn how to use all the aids on an animal that's going to reward me for sitting still and using everything properly, then Diva is probably the horse for me. She's certainly less hard work - though I'm pleased to report that I still felt like I'd had a good workout when I took Her Ladyship back to her box after the lesson.
I'm not sure whether it's going to be Diva or Molly on Wednesday, and to be honest, I'm not really sure I mind who I end up with.
And you know what? After two days of blissfully warm temperatures, the weather's turned cold again. The Big Freeze (oh, what a cliche!) has returned for its next installment.
She's a piebald cob - surprise, surpise - and therefore unlikely to catch my eye, and she's a bit bigger than Molly, about 15.1 or 15.2. And she really is a smashing little horse. She's very light and responsive, and she's drops her head and neck into an outline at the slightest urging.
Getting her down is the easy bit. Getting everything working is something altogether harder. She's so responsive that if you change the balance between hand and leg in the slightest, something changes. It's a constant challenge to try and get everything together, but when this happens, the rewards are considerable. I didn't even need to use a stick! I'm still concerned, however, that she's too heavy on the forehand, and doesn't engage the hindquarters - I'm told it's the way she's built (she's all shoulder) but I think there's plenty of scope for improvement as she gets fitter. And her trot? It's incredibly comfy!!
They're trying to persuade me to ditch Molly in favour of this new horse. I'm really fond of Molly, but I can see the wisdom in this. If I want to learn how to use all the aids on an animal that's going to reward me for sitting still and using everything properly, then Diva is probably the horse for me. She's certainly less hard work - though I'm pleased to report that I still felt like I'd had a good workout when I took Her Ladyship back to her box after the lesson.
I'm not sure whether it's going to be Diva or Molly on Wednesday, and to be honest, I'm not really sure I mind who I end up with.
And you know what? After two days of blissfully warm temperatures, the weather's turned cold again. The Big Freeze (oh, what a cliche!) has returned for its next installment.
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no subject
Date: 2010-12-12 07:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-12 07:31 pm (UTC)I think this may be the start of a beautiful friendship!
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Date: 2010-12-13 02:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-13 05:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-14 10:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-14 06:08 pm (UTC)