two ponies, two lessons...

Lesson with Tina this morning, and the always charming (ha!) Mr. Bearito. He was nippy and obnoxious on the ground; I tend to snap at him but am now wondering if I just need to speak soothing words to him more, *until* he tries to nip at which point I'd still bop him on the nose...

We had a brief, successful warm-up on the flat, and then went to try a few "basic jumping moves" which in Tina's opinion means starting with learning how to rate a horse over poles on the ground and very small jumps. And oh, Bearito *takes hold* and pulls like mad; he loves to jump. He is very strong, and I could steer him, but stopping him or slowing him down isn't easy.

So I got yelled at for letting the little guy pick his own speed, which was "too fast"; Tina made me pull up and try again, with an emphasis on *control*. And we did OK. I am still a little afraid she'll kick me down to the beginning jumping class, though.

(One other minor complaint about Tina, she keeps reminding me that Bearito is "dead broke and knows how to do this stuff" as if I am really just a passenger. Well, yes, I am the weakest rider in the class. I know that. *Of course* it makes sense to put me on a well-trained horse for a class that's a little bit advanced for me. I don't need to be reminded of it or to have the other students wonder what the hell am I doing there. Just let me figure stuff out already!)

After that I went up to The Hill for a ride on Trumpie; goddessfarmer gave me a nice lesson. After Bearito, I chose to focus on rating and steering over jumps. goddessfarmer is very different than Tina; she's more confident of my abilities and more willing to let me learn by doing. Tina would probably be horrified if she knew that goddessfarmer will let me jump 2'6" or more.

And Trumpie is, well, the opposite of Bearito. He's slowwwwwww. He likes to jump, but puts on a big show about how it's soooooo much effort. He is much more of a gentleman than Bearito is!

I would say that for much of the session on Trumpie, we were not pretty, but we were getting over the jumps, I was steering him effectively, and I was able to keep him from stopping in front of a jump, even when he was seriously considering it. I wasn't chucking him on the mouth, or getting left behind (except for once or twice), and goddessfarmer says we're really improving.

So, two lessons, and two very contrasting experiences.

After lunch with goddessfarmer and her helper, I went and groomed Minnie, who seemed to appreciate the attention. She is still waiting for her hock injection, and she's bored and lonely. She has reached an arrangement with the pigs; as long as they don't try to eat her food, she won't try to kick or bite them. goddessfarmer has seen all the pigs asleep in Minnie's stall while she's outside eating her hay.

It's funny how I treat Minnie compared to the boys; I talk to her constantly, tell her she's being good, and just love on her more. I'll still yell at her if she's bad, but in between I just keep talking to her... and she is rarely bad, just a little fussy. She really wanted to be out of her stall and little pen; I need to ask goddessfarmer if it's OK to take her out to graze on the lawn.

**Everyone keep their fingers crossed for goddessfarmer. She has found the horse she wants, a TB/Connemara cross gelding (barn name Skippy) who's eventing at Training level and can definitely go higher. A trainer she has worked with in the past offered the horse to her, even though he's not officially for sale, because she thinks goddessfarmer and this guy are a perfect match. There's still a bit of negotiation to get through, but as long as he can pass the vet, this is the right horse. goddessfarmer was having a very bad day today, but her face lit up and she became much happier when she was talking about him. I would like to see more of that from her :)