This is my 100th post!

Drifter has been doing well, although we are still working on 100% resolution of the scratches. She has remained sound despite the swelling. I have been focusing on cantering and her canter depart (or lack thereof). We cantered for the first time with another horse in the ring the other day.

As she moves a bit further along under saddle she is trying some evasions. Her favorite one after cantering is to go behind the vertical. This is a very bad fault and I have been working on bending her and using leg to send her forward at the walk after cantering. This helps her stay in front of the vertical, but hasn't solved the issue. She gets very tense about the canter depart, so I think there is some connection between her tenseness and her going BTV. Every now and then she will come above the bit, but it's minimal and easily fixed with bending. She continues to fall in to the right, but only on one side of the arena, so I don't think it's structural, more a habit or a combination of my left sided tightness and her drifting to the middle. Overall, things are going well and I can easily pass 45 minutes riding and working on straightness, forwardness and getting that canter depart.

Hopefully, we'll take part in the upcoming jump schools! Also, AQHA has made dressage an official sport for points.

Hooray

We're trotting. Drifter was a bit fresh on Tuesday when working in the round pen, she was hopping/bucking into the canter. I did NOT take this as a sign of her playing or being happy. It seemed like something was bothering her. I really don't know what it could have been, but she was fine under saddle. After the fact she looked sun burnt between her hind legs, so maybe that was uncomfortable. I just hope it's not a trend or something physically serious.

After trotting and untacking Drifter just hung out with me near the barn. Zee was investigating me and the cat. Zee decided to lay down and take a nap. She was too funny laying there snoring. I sat down in the hay with her while Drifter watched over us. Zee is three months already. I got the results back from Zee's DNA tests, she is a Perlino and will have buckskin babies. She is EE/AA/CrCr. This means she will not have a palomino no matter who the stud is, she will always give an Agouti gene (which is dominant) and one cream gene. So, I think she would always have buckskin or perlino offspring.

I hope to start riding Drifter in the ring (outside the round pen) soon.