Stll Thinking Forward

Okay, I know I said that Stitch was done for this year and was on his winter break.

But I managed to get a rare four days off in a row this week, and last week he was looking pretty balanced again. So I figured I would hop back in the saddle for three or four rides.

Stitch was lunged on the weekend with a saddle on as prep for my mid-week ride. There was a little bit of sass - there was one kick that was definitely aimed at a dangling stirrup, but the butt-tucked-underneath-him-scoot at the canter was probably due to the cool weather. Or so I hoped.

The plan was to take Monday off from the barn as per normal, and then lunge him again and practice at the mounting block on Tuesday so that getting on on Wednesday wouldn't result in any surprises. But that didn't go to plan after I spent an unplanned 12 hours at work o Tuesday on very little sleep and spent the evening clunked out in bed.

Thus, I hadn't put as much prep into Stitch as I had hoped. It's only been a month since he was last ridden, but he's only had a total of 18 rides. Not enough time that everything about being ridden is been there/done that for him.

I'm not that stupid, so before getting on on Wednesday I popped him on the lunge line first for just a few minutes. He was super boring so after a quick trot and canter it was time to hop up.

Again, I wasn't stupid, and had my mom there to hold him at the mounting block. I wasn't sure how easily Stitch would come to the block as the last couple of rides before we stopped he was a bit fussy about it and I haven't practiced it since. To my surprise he eagerly lined himself up, so eagerly that he stumbled over top of it, knocking me off and moving the block about 10 inches. He gets an A for enthusiasm.

He stood perfectly still and relaxed for me to get on. I had my mom lead him the first few steps, but having a leader and me on his back trying to steer seemed to confuse him so I quickly had her unclip the lead and let us free.

I couldn't get any post-ride pics with his ears forward. Guess he wasn't impressed about being back under saddle.

I had absolutely no agenda for this ride. If we only walked, I was going to be perfectly happy.

For the first couple of minutes, Stitch felt a little unsure about the weight on his back, but it didn't take too long before he relaxed and started to wak more forward. 

I decided to try a trot. I gave a little nudge with my heels and clucked - and Stitch slammed on the brakes. Oh no.

I tried again on the long side heading towards the gate and he picked it up right away. He trotted nicely forward and we did a whole lap before I asked him to walk. And then we went the other way and did an even better lap.

I was happy to leave the trot there because homeboy is feeling rather downhill at the moment. He didn't feel this way in September, so yeah, I'm pretty sure he's bum high again.

But Stitch had other ideas and broke into the trot when I asked him to walk forard. I didn't want to squelch his desire to go forward so we did some walk/ trot transitions with him going from a lighter and lighter aid. I added a quick turn on the forehand off both legs, and ended the ride.

All in all, I was super happy with him. My hope was that he would continue the forward thinking that we had been getting on the last few rides , and happily he did.

The plan is to do two more rides this week. They will probably be just as short and sweet since he's feeling so downhill, but that doesn't bother me. Then, depending on how high his butt is at Christmas, I might do a few more days in the saddle when I have some time off again. Provided it's not freezing cold, of course!