BY-da

Bye Ida! Today was our last day with our sweet 8 year old leased mare, Ida. I had a great time with Ida and definitely learned a lot from her. What did I learn? For one thing, that a spooky horse requires constant stimulation from me to keep her focused and going forward. So, I learned to be a more aggressive rider in particular situations in which the horse needed a clear leader. I surely learned how to sit through and control a bolt after a spook. Overall, the horse was kind enough to half take care of me, so I gathered some confidence. But, she pushed me to use the confidence that I had acquired at other times...if that makes sense.

I had a great time grooming her and scratching her in the spots that she loved to have scratched. I also thoroughly enjoyed being with a mare, as this is the first one that I have had the pleasure of caring for. She was a riot when she was in her estrous! She would prance around showing everyone her hind end. She was such a hussy!

So, farewell to Ida! We will miss you. We wish you green pastures and all of the alfalfa you can chew.

Tally ho though! Next up, you'll get to meet Oliver, the new (but quite old) dressage mount. He's a retired eventer! Stay tuned. I can tell he's going to be quite the model - he is half arabian.

Jess and Ida's last ride together

 

I had hoped to get a little video of each of our gates. Alas, I failed to adequately prepare the camera as I had been kindly reminded of before leaving home. So here is a nice 1 lap at the trot for us on the last ride. At the end, we will go past a large window that is our spooky, bolting spot. It took me two months to get smoothly past that area.