The Kenney Matriarchs

Friday May 16, 2008 history was made. We finally talked mommy into riding Winnie. Both of the female bosses of the family were going to have to figure out how to work together, this should be good. I don't mess with either one of them. Winnie instantly knew she had a rookie on her and moved very slow a patiently with instructor Jolene at their side. Don't worry about those reins mom, I know walk, stop left and right when Jolene says so, you just sit there and take care of your sore feet. Mom's feedback after a few turns, "I like her, she's more comfortable and trusting than the one we leased, I didn't like him". Kim the own of Oasis thinks it's pretty cool the whole family comes to love and enjoy one horse. However, that might be stable owner code for "you folks are nuts"!!!

Let's Go Abby!!!

After a few times around the arena, Winnie and Abby soon found out they each had a little something for each other. Abby had the ability, Winnie helped give her the confidence, and rewarded her with a nice smooth controlled canter. After an hour of Dad doing the geezer walk trot ride, being able to open it up and go a bit was a B-day present for Winnie. As you can see they snuck in a few walk/trot leg yields to have some fun. Stopping on ground poles proved to be a challenge because apparently Winnie has done this drill before and she knew better than anyone what was going on, so we had to change it up a bit so she didn't anticipate so much.

Good job Abby, thanks for helping out with her Birthday.

Someone New?!

After a bath and rest break, Winnie met a new rider, Abby. Abby is one of Jolene's students that lost her ride and wanted a larger horse, so we thought Winnie may fit the bill. Abby didn't seem to sure at first, but as usual Winnie detected Abby's feelings, As Winnie often seems to do, she calmed herself down and adjusted to the abilities of her rider. She once again worked hard to win Abby's heart, trust and build confidence. Then Winnie got her Birthday reward!!!! Abby decided this horse may be OK, and Winnie found out "this kid can ride"!!! As they cantered for a long time. Winnie had perhaps the smoothest and most controlled canter for Abby that any of us had seen her do. Go ahead and get the canter stuff out of your system girl, old dad is getting on for the geezer ride next.

Everyone Gets to Ride

Jolene was the first to ride Winnie. The did some walk trot and when Jolene asked for the canter, Winnie reminded her it does take much leg or asking to get her to get faster, and she jumped/bucked into it with much exuberance. For some horses resting is a reward, for Winnie letting her pick up the pace is a reward. If she could talk she would probably say, "standing still is for the ancient and for the pasture pets". Next Kim tried her out, and Winnie was a perfect lady for Kim. It may have been Kim's first ride of the season, so we're not sure who was more sore afterward. Kim did a lot of trot with her and leg yield (going sideway and cross legs).

Let's Play!!!!

We were standing in the middle of the arena and Winnie thought it great fun to run diagonals across the arena as fast as she could, going by us by just a few feet. A few times she kept it up right up to the fence and Justine thought she was going to jump it, but she'd barely get slowed enough to turn around and break away again. After a few minutes of this she on her own decided it was enough fun, and time for work, by walking up to us and waited for someone to get on.

A Little Spring for Spring

Apparently Winnie's peppy demeanor was her way of proving she was not ready to be called old. We let her burn off a little energy in the outdoor arena, and she was more than happy to take advantage of the opportunity. Started with some nice canter and then she decided she was back on the track and wanted to gallup like the wind. To the point as you can see one of her pads slipped out.

A Special Day

Friday May 2, 2008 was Winnie's 19th Birthday. Firday is our normal lesson day, so we got to spend some time with her. The weather was warm, so we finally were able to give her a bath, get the last of the heavy winter coat off. She was cuddly with Justine, but there was just something a little different about Winnie today.