Robin

              So today i rode Robin. She is a sweetheart. Today it was cooler than usual. So she was VERY fresh. I haven't ridden her in about 6 weeks. She doesn't like having her girth tightened,which i knew. But i thought that she was over it. Well i figured out that i was wrong. She threw her head around and bit me! It didn't pierce through any skin thankfully. So i scolded her. At our barn we do NOT smack our horses unless they do something truly bad. Or that is not tolerated. For example,M&M has used me as a rubbing post. That is ok. As long as he doesn't get too rough. So he just gets scolded. Biting is one of those things that deserves a smack. Ok well i've got to go! More from today tomorrow!
~Ellie

First Canter!

                                  So last Wednesday I got to Canter for the FIRST time. Well that went how i wanted it to. I rode Fred again. The main thing about cantering is that you have to lean back,so that you feel like you are tipping TOO far back. My problem is that when i'm nervous,i hunch over. Not a good thing. Trust me. Well i got on and he wouldn't start cantering so i was bouncing on his back because you can't post before you canter. Right before you canter you have to do a sitting trot. Basically a western trot. You don't post when riding western.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thpmgolDsbQ
This is posting trot. I couldn't find a good video of sitting trot though. This was the best i could find:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3xjhcuwiRc
I also learned that while cantering you have to "dust the saddle" Which means like follow the horse's gait. I'll explain more later,but long story short,it went really well. Fred's canter is fabulous!
More later!