Ivy
Farm Blog

Heated indoor arena

January 09 / 2008 04:05 PM
My friend Jane and I took the Fjords to the indoor arena at the fairgrounds this morning to ride during their "open riding" session. Ah, how nice to get out and ride again! The weather has not been very cooperative. We were both dressed for frigid temps because we didn't realize that the indoor would be heated. It was rather toasty in there.

Neither Belle nor Ivy had been ridden since I took lessons on them in early December, but they were both very well behaved, especially considering they'd never been there before. There were several other riders there, all on Quarter Horses, and one of the QHs was a little freaked out by the Fjords. He kept staring at them as if he couldn't quite make out what the heck those little mohawk ponies were! Pretty funny. But it reminded me that whenever I take the Fjords somewhere, they're going to end up being "ambassadors" for the breed just because the breed is so rare. So they better continue being well behaved!

The county just opened up this morning "open riding" session, and we plan to make good use of it in the future!
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Ivy's first canter in the arena

September 14 / 2007 06:45 PM
I took Ivy over to the boarding barn where a friend keeps her horse and we rode in the arena. It's a nice, big arena so I figured I'd try asking Ivy to canter. She doesn't really know any kind of canter cue, so I had to kind of chase her into it, she did great! She even got the correct leads going both directions. And she's so smooth! She was pretty easy to steer at the canter, but now I need to start working on teaching her the cue for the canter depart. She's a quick learner, so I bet she'll pick it up pretty easily.
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My first canter on Ivy!

September 05 / 2007 03:01 PM
I took Ivy to the Niwot Trail today, which has several parts that are wide, flat, and open, with a gentle uphill grade, and that are therefore perfect for cantering on. I'd only cantered on Ivy once before and that was on Monday's trail ride and for only about fifty feet. This time we got some real cantering in, for stretches of a few minutes each. I have to work a little to keep her in the canter, but she's very level-headed about it. And very smooth! I'll need to keep working on teaching her the canter depart cue, but I sure like doing that on the trail when it makes sense to the horse to go. I'm sure horses are confused at first about why we want them to canter in tiny little arenas. Where's the fun in that?!
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My first trail ride on Ivy

August 11 / 2007 08:55 PM
I got Ivy back from the trainer's a few days ago, so I decided to take her out on a trail this afternoon. She was super! She's pretty relaxed and is a lot slower than Belle. Her steering needs some work, but I think she'll be the type that anyone can ride, whereas Belle needs a more confident rider who won't mind her energizer pony outbursts.
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Ivy's first trail ride in two years

July 07 / 2007 04:47 PM
Ivy hadn't been ridden in two years, so I put her into training and she's coming along great. Back when she was first started she went on a few trail rides, but the trainer took her out today for her first ride in a few years and she did great! I rode Belle and they both just motored along, like seasoned trail ponies! I look forward to getting her out myself soon.
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