Everytime I ride Arwen I at least try and take her on a little trail ride to cool her off. I think its good for her (even though sometimes we do encounter cows which just BLOWS HER MIND) to get out of the arena, not only for the mental stimuli but for walking on varied terrain to help build up/keep healthy those tendons and ligaments in her legs. Its also great to check for straightness, since the horse doesn't have any arena walls/rails to balance on.
So the other Sunday I decided to just hack her around in the grassy field next to the arena. The area is pretty well kept, with a gentle slope in a few places. I hadn't actually ever ridden her in the field, with the exception of sitting on her back and letting her eat grass, or just walking around when I was waiting for my lesson to start. I was hoping she would be a good girl, and let me tell you-she was awesome! She felt totally relaxed and quiet, both at the trot and the canter. I was even able to do some work on a pretty loose rein/light contact, and keep the pace with just my seat and body. She has actually been getting really good about this lately, which is a big step in my eyes because when I first got her she was quite the bolter and had to be ridden on a fairly heavy contact. But I think with some time, consistent rides by my trainer and me, and a bit change, she has finally started calming down a bit.
We then went into the indoor to hop over some poles on the ground in there that were already laid out (I'm lazy, and it was shady in there) and again, she was AWESOME. She went over them super quietly, didn't try and scoot out from under me on the other side. I'm wondering if it has to do with the new saddle I got (new Antares, its LOVELY) and the fact that it fits her infinitely better than my old one. I think since its not putting as much pressure on her shoulder/wither area, on the landing side of things she doesn't have to scoot away from the pain. The same thing was happening in my jumping lessons over the weekend. She was kind of horrible Thursday night, but then Friday and Saturday she was perfect. I think Thursday was bad for a number of reasons, namely I used a different bit that I tend to get a little too handsy with. I usually ride her in a gag, which when she does get speedy, allows me to do a quick correction and soften right away. In the other bit, I can take more contact, but in a horse that is pulling down the lines, it can sometimes result in a pulling match. Which causes her to charge between fences, and leave out strides (never a good thing!)
I'm definitely going to try and ride her out in the field at least once a week. I think it just makes for a happier pony!
And onto other somewhat unrelated topics, I attended a nutrition seminar at my gym. It went over a lot of fundementals I already knew about, but it was nice to get it all in one comprehensive presentation. Also gave me some good nutrition resources to look into about eating Paleo. I think that my diet is the one thing I really need to buckle down on in the next couple of months. Its been what, almost two months of doing CrossFit and while I feel great (which the exception of a few weird sprains, like the muscle that runs along my ribs. I mean honestly, who sprains that muscle??) I haven't been seeing the numbers on the scale I would like to see. And granted, that was even brought up in the seminar. Apparently a lot of women who start CF don't see any movement on the scale for the first couple months. No scientific backing really, other than the thought that our bodies have evolved to survive in harsh conditions and when put under stress, go into conservation mode. Once your body gets to a certain point and realizes its not going to die, thats when it will start letting go of excess weight. So I'm hoping I'm approaching that point. I've managed to lose about 7 lbs, which isn't horrible but I definitely want to make much better improvements than and average 1 lb a week! So, time to really start cutting out the grains and sugars. Sigh. It makes me sad because I really do love bread. But...I expect Arwen to be fit, so its extremely hypocritical for me not to do the same. Pony, I sure hope you appreciate this!
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