Saturday was the last Pony Club at Silver Rose. Four other girls, including two from the barn and two young girls on ponies, as well as myself, were participating that day. We started with the group meeting, discussing what we have done this summer and introducing ourselves to new girls, then mounted. As a group, we began walking and then trotting around the arena. Since we were using the entire arena, it was much easier to navigate with other horses. We did some two-point in the trot before picking up the canter. Chester was a good mood. He enjoys riding in groups.
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| A very small x |
To be safe, we took turns cantering. One girl after another cantered around the arena in the two point to prepare for jumping. When it was my turn, I circled around Meghan, sat up, and tried holding my two point position. I was better then than I was Friday, which is good.
Next, we all changed directions and did the same things, trotting and then cantering. Once all the horses were sufficiently warmed up, we began riding over ground poles. I trotted, but the other girls cantered, counting strides between each pole. After everyone had had a few turns, we again switched directions, heading right, and began jumping.
As I have been doing before, I jumped small x's at the trot. I didn't get ahead of Chester's motion when he went over the rails and didn't end up pulling on his face either. Some of the girls jumped a bit bigger, but we all jumped around the same the height.
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| Heading over a trot pole |
Meghan set up a course where we would start at one fence, head almost to the end of the arena, then make a wide u-turn and jump two consecutive jumps, finally making a tight u-turn and to jump the original jump. Chester was happy, and everyone seemed to do well. Towards the end a girl named Anica jumped a fairly good-sized vertical(2' 6" maybe?). that was placed at the beginning of the course. A few strides before that was another jump.
Meghan lowered the last jump for me, but I was still able to jump a small vertical, which I enjoyed. It was a fun productive day. To finish all the girls hacked around the property, following a small track.
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| Assembling a bridle with my friends. |
Afterward, we had a horsemanship lesson where we assembled bridles and learned about types of bits, flashes, and parts of bridles. I was able to help my group because I had assembled my bridle when I first got it. I learned that the part that holds the end of a strap on the bridle, is called a runner. The curved part that goes over the tongue, found in some bridles, is called the port. The finish I learned how to figure eight a bridle to properly store. You have to wrap the throatlatch around the bridle. looping the reins through it, and attach it to the other end of the the throatlatch. You do not however hook the buckles as that wears the tack out by increasing the stress on the point. I learned a few things about bridles that day.
