Adventures with Jane and Blaine

I am a fortunate to be able to work from home for my job.  This allows me to spend more time on personal things instead of driving to and from work.  Last spring my husband and I finally were able to buy our own property so we could move the horses home.  I don't know how I ever had them somewhere else.  The best part is recently my hours changed so I have a full hour lunch.

I've decided to get motivated by the RAC and take advantage of my lunch at home.  Our driveway is about a half mile long so going to get the mail requires time.  We either walked or picked up the mail if we drove somewhere.  Not anymore!

Today I rode Jane down to get our mail in non-Pony Express fashion (we walked and did some trotting)


Our first obstacle arose before we even left the yard.  The ground was snow covered for the most part but there was this patch of driveway that didn't have snow...it must be a black hole and should not be walked on.  After I convinced her to cross it by doing circles and leg encouragement she took a few steps and discovered she was still on planet earth.  We walked/trotted down most of the driveway and once we got close to the mailbox I dismounted.  Our neighbors who live by there have two beautiful Huskies who think barking and running around the horses is part of their job.  Jane hasn't seen them out yet and after Abby's reaction last week I decided to be on the ground to support her if she got scared.  Second obstacle averted...the dogs weren't out so I got the mail and hopped back on.

 She was a little rushy
 to get back but overall was a lady.  We took a path around our property where she could hear the other horses but not really see them.  She wanted so bad to get back to them but was obedient and relaxed.
In the great words of Aaron Rogers....Jane needs to "relax"  she is a pretty tense horse and it took some time  over the summer to get her to stretch down into contact.



We have a lesson next week with our trainer and I'm excited to see what we can accomplish.  It's been awhile since our last full lesson.  I've been riding her longer and we have a better understanding of how things should go under saddle according to me (not her), so hopefully we can move past some things.



until next time,
Blaine, Theo, Jane, Abby and Duke