Our morning ride had quite a surprise for me in store. Remy got a walk-warm up from JP while I was helping Chambord getting rid of some of his pent up energy. It's tough for the boys right now, the ground is frozen and as they are luckily (!) careful they don't tear around in the pastures (ok, not too much). So what's a horse to do with all the energy when on nice, springy ground in an arena that's 72x200? Yep, you guessed it. Hence a bit of long-line warm up for Chambord first. He can yeeha like a rodeo bronc with all four feet in the air, not something JP or I need to be sitting on.
Remy was pretty chill, and after our warm up I played around and asked for flying changes every three strides down the long side of the arena (having the wall kept us straight, as opposed of trying it on the diagonal). And wouldn't you know it, they were smooth, big, and clean! I was ecstatic. Roz' word's came to mind "Don't be so surprised when it works!". Well, yes, I AM surprised and super happy. It's those elusive times when things click. An acquaintance of mine and very successful rider said the other day "Daily dressage training is not pretty". That made me pause for quite a bit, because while yes, everyone has tense and difficult moments, it should not be the rule. Where is the fun in that? I'd rather go for the frequent "delight" (according to the quote from a riding master "be happy with little and then build on it").
Speaking of "surprise and delight" - I re-discovered ice skating, thanks to Donna, a very interesting woman I met while out with the dogs on the horse trails. Turns out she is an accomplished rider and polo player, and despite a broken back returned to the saddle and on the ice (even way more impressive when considering that Donna is an 'Early Boomer'). So sure, skating sounds like fun, why not? My skates are about 40 years old, but the TUV approved steel (same organization that passes and fails vehicles in Germany) and good leather had held up well sitting in a box in the garage. Question was: How about my "German Quality"?? It's been over 30 years since I last skated. JP was not too confident in my abilities: What if I would fall and break anything so close to going to Florida?? Perhaps I should wear my riding helmet and body vest? What about protecting other extremities??
Well, long story short: I am still in one piece and I had a blast! So, let's see if Donna will talk me into playing polo next?
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