Weekend Recap, Part 1

I love my horse!  We had a fabulous weekend that included Dee's first ever foray into sidesaddle and a XC clinic that saw us schooling mostly training. 

The weekend started with me having Friday off (I actually don't work a Friday until August) and hauling out to a friends place to see if her spare sidesaddle would fit Dee. With a little adjustment and the girths on all the last holes it was actually a decent fit. Dee took to it like a duck to water. WTC was no biggie, so Jacky set up a few small cross rails.  When that went well she changed them to small(ish) verticals. Never has a 2'3" jump been quite so intimidating, but we never had any dicey moments. My equitation left a whole lot to be desired but it was a ton of fun. 

Dee looks less than impressed here

Sidesaddle really requires you to have impeccable posture.  You must sit up tall and sit straight in the saddle, no twisting. I have trouble keeping my right side back even astride, so aside is even more challenging. I feel so elegant and ladylike when I get it right. I'm looking forward to the sidesaddle clinic in August, I could really use some help to improve my position.

BEST PONY EVER!

Since I was having so much fun and my core muscles weren't screaming, Jacky and I even hacked out aside. All in all I rode for the better part of 2 hours and I was hardly sore.  All the gym time is starting to pay off.

Sadly, my Annie's breeches wore right through (after less than a dozen wears) and I was mooning everyone after the sidesaddle jaunt

We then headed back to the barn for a quick bath and EM and I loaded all our gear and horse and hit the road for Cochrane. We had a fairly uneventful drive down, until we hit the big hill down into Cochrane.  This hill is fairly intense (remembering it's in the foothills of the Rockies, we're used to hills) at just over 2 miles with an elevation change of just over 400ft. Turns out my trailer brake controller completely gave up the ghost. By the time we got the the bottom of the hill you could smell my brakes.  Thankfully, they are relatively new brakes and other than some excessive wear seem to be fine. My new trailer brake controller should be here this week.

Dee's now a BoT model: mesh sheet, no bows and bell boots

The rest of the evening passed quickly with no surprises as we got the ponies settled in and then we headed to a friends house for the night.  I managed to drink half a bottle of wine and consume basically my body weight in pretzels before we managed to get off to bed.

Spider striking his model pose

Next up? XC!!