Buds are bursting

Taking on a young horse is a time consuming project.

It requires a lot of dedicated work and patience.

I bought Fame when she was three, she is six now.

It has been a long road of establishing the basics, not only when it comes to the dressage work - but with everything else that is included in the day-to-day life of a horse that has to behave among humans.

I had a dressage lesson on Friday, and after we had finished I went through in my mind what we have been working with the last half year.

In the autumn/beginning of the winter I was working with her contact and engagement.

I had to get her better engaged over her back and in her hind legs, and thus establishing a better contact on the bit. When asked to work more, she wanted to increase speed instead, and tense up in the neck and back.

This improved over time.
Entering 2009 she put in the necessary energy, but the problem was instead that she turned a bit deaf when I asked her to slow down, or make a half halt.

She still tensed up sometimes in the neck.

Now I feel that things are falling into place.

The last weeks she has been a pleasure to ride.

Soft and through in her body, and listening to the aids.

I want her to relax and be so submissive that she goes a bit jelly-like in the crest of her neck, and she has been working really good right from the start of the lessons lately.

I feel that after that dedicated session with the canter diagonals where she took off, something happened.

Her canter work has improved, not only in the arena but also out hacking.

She is definately getting stronger, and of course that helps.

But in a way, I feel that all that earlier work we have been doing, all those hours in all weathers, finally is paying off.

My little pony bud is bursting into a dressage horse.

And it is just wonderful.

Today we took a day off from dressage work and went trail riding again.
I decided to ride her bareback out on trail for the first time.

The last months I've been riding her bareback in the arena in average once a week, and taken some small trips in the forest just to cool off, but we have never taken a long trip.
But today was the day.
When we came down to the creek, the water level was quite high.

I just placed my legs as high up the sides of Fame as I managed, and out we went.
She almost had to swim, and before we reached the other side I was wet both on my legs and on my bum , the water flowed up along her back...
It looked suspiscius if you get my meaning. Hehum. Luckily we started out early, so there were few people out.
When we got to the other side Fame got a little wild, being proud of herself and letting the tension go. I told her to behave and she did. At least a bit.

We rode up a small gravel road, Heikampen - a very nice riding road, no cars - but we cannot use it in winter time as it is ski paths there then.
People don't get very happy if you ride in them, to put it mildly.
It winds up a about 3 kms, with a steady climb.
During WWII they dropped supplies to the resistance on the top.

Along the way, we have some waterfalls.
Depending on how much water there is further up, they are either small or more powerful.
Can be interesting as it is a steep drop on the other side.
If the horse shies, you might suddenly find yourself uncomfortably close to that side.

Fame used to be quite tense when passing them earlier, but today it was not a problem.
Nice, as I was riding bareback!
We had some canter sessions on the way up.
She was really a good girl, no shying, no speed increase, just working in a nice outline and ready to take a transistion down whenever asked.
When we got to the top, I jumped off and walked down beside her.

Then it's party time for Fame.
We take poo-smelling stops, and grass-eating-stops when there is grass available.
A bit early in the season, but she tried her best!

The snow is almost gone now, and the springflowers are coming up, one by one.
And the trees are soon to burst out too - the buds are swelling.
Springtime is lovely!