Too Shy To Unzip? More Like...

Too Lazy To Unzip.

Seriously. Sienna is one of the laziest horses I have ever ridden. How lazy, you ask? Well, trying to move her out results in her going slower, something that I am working hard on correcting. No, thank you.

Fortunately, Sienna generally picks up the canter now only a couple of strides after I ask for it- versus trot, trot, trotting around and into it. Also, she usually gets her leads. However, all of this depends on how tired she is- seriously. I have to be careful how much I longe her beforehand, because if I do it too much, all of the prompting in the world won't get this girl to canter.

She is going to be in for a real shock in December at our next show, which lasts all day. Maybe by then, we'll both be in fight-ready condition.

On a serious note, I am very happy with how she is coming along. My riding schedule the last couple of months has not been at all consistent, and yet, almost every time I get on her, she remembers what we worked on before. Sometimes I wonder if she has been practicing in the pasture.

Yesterday, after riding, I decided to go off and re-tackle the infamous ravine from my March post. Sienna has come a long way since March, and I was curious to see what would happen. As we approached the ravine, her steps became more hesitant, but I pushed her forward. She walked down into the ravine like she  was walking into a foreign land- step, halt, STARE AT EVERYTHING SCARY, step, halt, STARE AT EVERYTHING SCARY- but then we got down the first side and calmly walked through the middle and up the far side. There, she stopped again, but every time I asked for forward movement, she gave it to me. There was no fighting me like back in March. Satisfied, we turned back and more quickly maneuvered through the ravine, complete with going over some fallen tree branches.

I am pleased as punch with our ride from yesterday. Sure, there was some creative riding on my part as I used everything I had to keep her moving into and at the canter. But we had a peaceful ride otherwise. She gave her head much more easily than our ride Monday night, and she was just very, very pleasant.

My girl is growing up!

Video! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdyEvZc1ZPE&feature=plcp She's a little quick in it, and let's not even start on me, but I was really driving her forward since this video was taken after we had already worked and cooled off. Also, she's a big fan of leaning into me on the left lead when turning, which I'm hoping spurs will help with. But that little spin in the saddle at the end? That was the second time I've done that on her, the first time being about 10 minutes before the video. She's just so chill!