Gemma Horse is Growing Up

I have been riding my young horse through the last two years and making slow progress in her education. Having small kids sure puts a damper on one's riding time. That and work and laundry and meals and everything else moms have to do. You get the picture.

Gemma is five this year and is almost ready to begin showing in Dressage. This fall or early next year I have to get her out in front of a judge. She is ready for Training Level and nearly ready for 1st Level competition so I am biding my time.

Consistency in training strategies make a big difference, and even though my rides have been sporadic and she has had large breaks of time off with the occasional month or two vacation, she has continued to improve. We get a lesson about every six weeks with our trainer and in between we work on all our building blocks formerly laid down on the training path.

This horse has been by far the easiest and most physically able equine mount I have had the privilege to ride. I don't really post much about the horses here, since I think horse jargon and technical discussions are well covered on other blogs. But I wanted to share this little snippet of Gemma at the trot, stretching to walk, and at the canter.