Snow

I will admit to having some concern when I woke up on Saturday to see that much snow! It seemed like particularly bad timing for the tack sale...but as it turns out it wasn't so bad after all. Having people cancel from the first lesson of the morning allowed me more time to set up all the tack Hillside & customers had for sale as there was LOTS of stuff. It did keep the other consigners from coming, which likely disappointed some shoppers, and there were a fair number of shoppers! No saddles sold, but $500 worth of other stuff did, so I know my tack room will be cleaner for it!

I will take time this week to take pictures of much of the remaining items to sell either on Kijiji or perhaps even ebay.

This week is supposed to be nasty cold, so the lesson plan will be such that the horse's won't work too hard and get overly sweaty. It may involve no stirrup work... it may also involve working on shoulder fore at the walk. Shoulder fore is a moderate shoulder in: the horse is bent in off the track, its haunches stay on the track, but its shoulder is brought in slightly...more or less like the first step off the track to start a circle, but instead of circling, you keep the horse moving down the track.

The rider must keep their outside leg back, but passive, the inside leg active at the girth both for bend, and for forward momentum. The rider must keep their belly button looking down the track, but their shoulders looking in (just like the horse!). The inside hand should come off the neck to ask for the bend with an active hand, while the outside hand blocks the horse from turning.

For jumping, we may do a grid and further work on position and good hand position.

Karen