Ephiny's Big Day

[dancinghorse]

Short form: Woooowwwwww.

tcastleb took pictures. Lots and lots of pictures. So this can be a Photoblog. :)

We were going to do this last week, but Camilla tromped Ephiny's left fore so hard she was lame for several days, so we had to postpone. Horses. I swear. (A lot.)

So this week all was well. tcastleb had a lesson first. Ephiny was totally with the program--right there and waiting for her turn. Interestingly, Camilla didn't push for a lesson at all. It was Ephiny's day.

S started by renewing her acquaintance in groundwork and bodywork, establishing herself as a safe place to go in case things got scary. Ephiny was a little dubious. Last time they worked together, she got worked through all kinds of trauma especially on the right side. But she settled down and S handed her over to me. "Do that you do to get in connected." So I did a little groundwork, leading, and so on. We were settling in--then Khepera Left. The. ARENA!!!!! Massive Ephiny-freakout. She was mad. Ephiny, when mad, grows to 19 hands and Explodes.

Oh boy.

So we got Khepera back into the grooming area, eating hay. We both calmed down. Mostly. S took a potty break. I noodled a bit. Ran the stirrups down and did some weight-in-stirrups play.

Ephiny abruptly started to sing a happy little song. No more mad.

She had thought that when K left, the lessons were over and she was going to get put in, too. That was why she was mad. She wanted her lesson! She wanted her Ride!

So we did a few bendy bits.



And then we went over to the mounting block and did our hangin' out thing.



S came back and got back into the mix--and we did the mounting thing.



Mission Accmplished.



Then I sat quietly, doing nothing but slightly turning my body on bends, while S did bodywork with Ephiny, showing her how to connect when there's a monkey on her back. Like so:



And so:



And hey! First gear!



VERY interesting experience. Ephiny was solid to mount, back like a tabletop, good broad barrel. Totally ready and balanced, though at first she kind of forgot she had a left rear quadrant:



She was actually more unbalanced left than right--amazing considering her major right-hind issues at the beginning of the training process. We have to work on that. One thing she did that really interested me was want me to sit very light, very up in the torso--floating upward but with my seat solidly plugged in. That felt amazing.

She has a wonderful walk even at this stage, and she's so happy and so into it. At the end, she and S shared a moment:



And so did I:



Then she got to run a little bit and show off, though she really just wanted cookies and hay, please.





I think that gives you the sense of what kind of rocket I was sitting on.

And that was Miss E's Big Day. It was the best first ride I've ever had with any of my young ones. She was ready, she was solid, she has no holes or anxieties. She had one big spook but did the Lipp thing, bless her: tucked me into her back and we flew along together. She settled right down, no lingering effects--also a Lipp trait. Look how relaxed she was in the debriefing:



It's a privilege to ride a horse of this quality--and to get to be the first person ever on her back? Woooooowwwwwww. Not to mention all that Lipizzaner hard-wiring. She knows what she's for. She's going to be such a great riding horse.

Hey, she already is.

Next step: groundwork, handling, and if she asks me to get on and someone is there to spot us, we'll go for it. Then we'll have S come back for another formal session and maybe some work on steering and brakes.

Meanwhile, Woooowwwwww.

Yeah.

Comments

[sea-pony.livejournal.com]

Yay. ^_^

She looks Wonderful!

There's nothing quite like that feeling, huh?

[xpioti.livejournal.com]

What a beautiful little mare she is! There is nothing quite like being the first aboard a young horse -- my first "first ride" was aboard a friend's young warmblood (dam was an appendix QH, daddy was a big warmblood, the mare was like a QH with beautiful long legs) was so amazing. What was even more fun was our first schooling show, showing off everything she'd learned about walk-trot, and me decided to literally throw away the reins and fully give her her head when doing a loose-rein walk across the diagonal. That lovely young mare earned a 9 from a rather strict dressage judge for her walk. *beam*

I love to lurk and read your Lippizaner stories. I've never had a chance to work with them, just read a lot about them as a child. Thank you for sharing!

[klrichardsson.livejournal.com]

I love that second to last photo of Ephiny prancing, like, lookee what I did today! Aren't you proud of me?

Sounds AWESOME.

[casacorona.livejournal.com]

Woo hoo!!!!

You know, I'm going to be referring to her by her real name. She's growing into it: Gloriosa.

[smoemeth.livejournal.com]

YAY!! :) :) :)

[adriannem.livejournal.com]

Congrats! That's so wonderful!

[lynnesite.livejournal.com]

Yay, Ephiny! I only wish I had been there to see it for myself, although T's photos are quite fine.

[green-knight.livejournal.com]

She's gorgeous, and you're every inch the proud mum - well done you two. I *loved* these pictures.

[hana-ginkawa.livejournal.com]

Awesome! Congratulations on a great ride!

[coraa.livejournal.com]

Yay for Ephiny! ♥

[melinda-goodin.livejournal.com]

Yay for Ephiny and your first ride :}

[aerinha]

Soooooo exciting! I really want to meet Ephiny someday soon. She sounds so neat.
I'm looking forward to The Further Adventures Of....

[raithen.livejournal.com]

lovely!

[tcastleb.livejournal.com]

Sooooo proud of Miss E. :>) And yay for pics!

[galeni.livejournal.com]

Wow. You both look wonderful.

[estara.livejournal.com]

Oh lovely! All my best wishes to you and the mare!
Thank you so much for sharing ^^
(http://www.mediafire.com/i/?fnnynkwgd0z)

[alfreda89.livejournal.com]

What a happy girl! And she was mad the lesson was over -- I vaguely remember liking school, until someone tried to spoil it for me. I can't believe how white she's grown -- the remaining gray is quite beautiful.

Happy day! Pikkies of the star student!

[miintikwa.livejournal.com]

Yay! That sounds awesome. :)

[janni.livejournal.com]

So very cool!

[ceffyl.livejournal.com]

Late posting, but wow what a fantastic ride! Congrats on such a great time. :)

[electricland.livejournal.com]

Oh wow -- I go away for a few days and look what I miss! Congratulations. She looks gorgeous!

[coalboy.livejournal.com]

Big Grin just reading this. Can't imagine how wonderful it was for -you-.