Wednesday, September 09, 2009

Lungeing on a Rainy Morning

The Weather Looks Foul

Yesterday, I drove down to the outlets in Jackson to meet an Ansur client to pick up a saddle she had borrowed. I'd never been there before. Good thing I didn't know about what was there before I stopped teaching.

There are 70 outlet stored for name brands. I won't list them all, but it's pretty impressive. I did get some shoes at Skechers, some underwear at Jockey, and some casserole dishes at Corning. I browsed in some of the other stores and saw some really cute dresses, tops, pants, sweaters, etc. But since I no longer need an outfit a day, I didn't buy anything. I have so many clothes now it's ridiculous. One of the banes of teaching is that the students notice what you wear--especially high school students--so clothes become an added expense of the job. The Ansur client used to teach as well and she said she has a closet full of clothes just gathering dust now that she is no longer in the classroom.

It will still fun looking. And it was a good exercise of will power and pocketbook protection.

This morning it was "spitting" rain. Since Chance is likely the "horse of choice" for the next lesson, I geve him a good lunging. I'll see what the weather does the rest of the day. I have a medical appointment later which will fill up part of the afternoon, and then I'll see. The forecast is not too promising.

Chance really likes to canter. I noticed that out on our hacks when I asked for a bit of trot and he went into a nice little "soft" canter instead. When I lunge him, he will also just break into canter on his own after he has trotted for whatever he considers too long. I will usually correct him back to trot and then ask for canter just as an exercise in obedience, but he is so willing I try not to make a big deal about it. No point in discouraging a horse that wants to go forward, even if it is the wrong gait.

I'm not too sure what to do with Tucker at the moment. If the weather gets bad, I will not be able to work him much which then leads to a "no go" on the plan to leg him up really well to see how his hind end is. "On again, off again" is not exactly the best way to evaluate him.

So, I guess, once again, I will just have to see what the weather is going to do.

5 comments:

  1. I'm a new follower, so maybe I'm just missing something obvious. You have ansur clients? My saddle search just ended with an ansur KK (in the mail), so I'm curious as to what you mean.

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  2. I am with Chance. Canter is my favorite gait too and it's a gift to have a good canter as I have read that it's harder to improve than the trot.

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  3. You can sell your clothes on Ebay and get some money back, and get some new more relax oufits ^-^

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  4. looks like a new client there, jean, lol.

    i've a question ; i'm not sure what you mean by "leg up" as you used it in the tucker context.

    i always think of a leg up as the process by which one person chucks another into the saddle....

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  5. Thanks for your response! Fortunately, my trainer is moving away, but only about 5 miles further away, so we're set there.

    I haven't gotten my KK yet, but I'm already trying to figure out how it will work. I've been using the classic. I know a lady who has an Excell, but her Friesian doesn't exactly have withers. Will I need any special pads? I've read a little about suber and skito pads, but I've never seen one. Can you help with this?

    As for the curling issue, Izzy is doing really, really well. From the first time I rode her in an ansur, she started flexing at the poll, lifting her back, and going forward into contact. Dang pony picks the most expensive saddle, but there was no way I could say no after that. Anyways, thanks for your input, and I'm hoping she'll figure out what I'm asking her for soon.

    Thanks,
    Aimee (the notorious "SprinklerBandit")

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