A difficult course of no height and an old show is back baby!

Sunday Annie got to take another LAZ lesson and she was very happy indeed.  So happy she didn't want to do any on da bit trotting and kept trying to canter.  She bravely tackled 3 groundpoles at the canter despite my worrying that we were going to face plant over them.  Since we were in a lesson with some lower level people I got to do my first couple courses over groundpoles which was amazingly difficult trying to get the correct distance and not get left behind or ahead over a jump of no height.  Once the fences were raised I think it actually got easier! 

Then we got to go out into the XC field and do a little course of XC fences cold.  It was fun! 

After our lesson she got a massage by someone studying equine massage.  Which is interesting since I don't get massages after my lessons and I think I need one more then my horse!  For some reason jumping around with LAZ makes Annie walk a little tall and my dressage school after a lesson is always puncuated with lots of "THIS BORING CANTER!!!" The massage, lesson, and a Pentosan shot and I had a fire breathing chestnut mare Tuesday.  We did some sort of sproing thing because she accidentally got herself in collected trot in her tizzy and couldn't figure out what to do with it. 

For all the moments when Annie is a total cow there are so many more moments when she's a solid horse that gives me a lot of confidence.  She's not spooky, she has a ton of whoa, and she's not afraid to go.  She settles into work and seems happy to do it (Except for dressage that is).   Sometimes I find myself grinning like an idiot when I start off nervous and then realize I have nothing to be worried about on her. 

In other news DAN HOBYN IS BACK!!!!  They stopped hosting shows for 2 years during an instructor change but when the instructor took a job in another state they decided to host a "welcome back" CT.  Thanks to the kindness of other horse people Annie gets to hitch a ride for their September 1st show and I am going to enter her in BN and look at the pre novice.  Now before my fans (If I have any!) get all excited BN is listed as 2 feet and pre novice at 2' 6"  It'll be a great opportunity to go to a strange place and jump around and a real test of her bravery and my ability to pilot her around. 

Visit their Facebook page here https://www.facebook.com/DanHobynStables?ref=br_tf for information about the show.  I'll be there, will you?