All In Good Time

Last week JJ basically had three days off - I only lunged him on Wednesday and failed to work him at all Thursday and Friday. On Saturday JJ was fine on the lunge but very quick under saddle. Not bad, but not as nicely consistent and balanced as he had been, which is quite frankly a little disappointing. He was the same on Sunday - quick, hollow, and unbalanced - basically exactly what you might expect from an OTTB. But what happened to my shockingly nice balanced boy?? All in good time, I suppose.

On Monday JJ was a little better and I was enjoying myself a bit more, until suddenly Sue called me down to the "top half" of the arena. There was only one reason she might do this.... "OK, sit and think canter!" she announced. Crap. I wanted to yell and scream and protest that I wasn't ready!! I'm not ready!! But I made a pact with myself a few months back that I would always trust Sue, no matter what. So I sat, and I thought. JJ didn't react, so I kissed and squeezed (OK that sounds weird to anyone who doesn't ride, but it's true). He popped into a sloppy, akward, unbalanced canter on... The wrong lead. UGH! I was going left for his benefit and he jumped into the right lead! Testament to me, I guess ;)

What I think happened

What actually (probably) happened

Whatever, it was fine. I'm pretty sure I didn't freak out that badly ;)

JJ's mounting block issues are... evolving... He for some reason feels the need to circle the block about 8 times before he is content to stand still. When he finally decides to stop moving he kicks like hell with his back legs, but the aggression seems to have disappeared - his ears are floppy and sideways and he's not aiming for me (trust me, if he was I'm sure he'd get me!). When I begin to mount he stands like a perfect gentleman until I am fully mounted and I ask him to move forward. Um... Weird? I'm really not sure what to make of this behavior so I've decided to stop worrying about it and hope he just gets over it. There's only so much I can worry about.

Today, Sue decided to climb aboard after my ride. It was a lot of fun to see JJ under saddle but I realized how disgustingly high his head set is - EW! He looks like a camel. Or a thestral. Or both. I have to keep reminding myself that we'll get there... All in good time.