The List Part Two.

So now it is time to look at other things that I haven't done but would love to do from the list :), as you saw in part one there is quite a bit that I have done but there's so much more to do and loads more horsey memories to be made. Pink things to do while riding. 

3. See how small of a circle you can trot without walking. 

4. Ride a dressage test, but replace all trot sections with canter, all canter sections with walk, and all walk sections with canter. This is something I think would be interesting to do, Gatsby and I do a lot of canter work, and I would love to be better at dressages tests so maybe switching it up a little bit would mean I'd ride a test easier. 

5. Attend a fundraiser or poker ride in your area. I wanted to do this with Gatsby last year, it was an endurance ride but I was unable to, hoping to when I have my own horse though!

7. Give a child who might otherwise not have access to horses a pony ride. More likely to do this when I have got my own horse. 

13. Give your horse a back massage. I think that Gatsby would enjoy this, but first I need to grow a little bit. 

17. Go on a beach ride. This is something that I have always imagined doing and hopefully one day will do.  

27. Find your horses favourite spot to be scratched. I'm pretty sure I know where this is on Gatsby but I need to double check, it normally sends him to sleep. 

28. Bake a batch of horse cookies for your horse and see if they like them. 

29. Use clicker training to teach your horse a new trick. Think this would be something that I did when I get my own horse. 

31. Pony another horse while you ride your horse. Another random thing that I have always wanted to do. 

33. Practice halt to canter transitions. Try to do these without trotting before canter, and without leaning forward or using spurs or a whip to get your horse to go. Something I have never even attempted to do. I've done lots of walk to canter transitions so I would love to try this. 

38. Video your next ride, and then video a ride a month later to compare. This is actually something that I am working on at the minute, but it depends if there will be enough light on monday to do my second video. 

42. Catch your horse without a halter. Something that will have to wait until I get my own horse I think. 

48. Ride in a parade. I do not know why I think that this would be fun to do but it is something that I would really like to do. 

50. Jump five bounce fences in a row - they don't have to be very tall. I think this is something that could really build up my confidence when riding and something that I would do with Gatsby or my own horse. 

51. Make a nameplate for your horse's stall or paddock. I would love to do something like this for my own horse, I am a very creative person and think that something like this would be fun. 

52. Dress your horse up on the next holiday you celebrate. Hehe, well we are doing a calendar for Pony Club, so maybe now would be a good time to do it. 

59. Do a complete 360 degree turn on the haunch in which your horse's back hoof remains planted on the ground. This is something that I would like to do with Gatsby, I have done lots of work turning on the forehand but never done this before. 

63. Let someone else ride your horse - Something I will be doing when I get my own horse, one of the first people that I will have ride my own horse is Fiona! 

66. Trot ten steps, walk ten steps, trot ten steps, walk ten steps. Making sure to be exact. This is something that I am going to be trying on Saturday for my weekly lesson as it is going to really help with Gatsby's impulsion and it just sounds fun. 

77. Lunge your horse over a cross country jump. This just founds really fun to do. 

80. List five things that your horse did well at the end of your ride for a whole month. Don't list any of the weaknesses. This is something that I will be starting this Saturday. 

94. See if you can pick something up off the ground from your horses back. Hmmm.. This might be hard to do because Gatsby is 16+hh. Maybe if i could use a stick or something like that to help me out.

96. Ride as many Halt to trot transition as you can down the centre line. Something else that I plan to try out this saturday. 

108. Plan a pas de deux with a riding friend. 

111. Canter as slowly as you possible can without trotting or walking. See if you can canter so slowly that a person can walk or jog next to you on the ground. This might take a while because Gatsby and I have lots of energy and tend to be quite forward in the canter. 

121. Try to touch your toes while sitting in the saddle. Another thing that I would like to try on saturday I am pretty sure that I can do it, but I need to double check. 

122. Take a riding lesson bareback. Something that I have always wanted to be able to do. 

130. Open a gate on horse back. 

136. Go on a picnic with your horse. Saddle bags or a backpack can carry the food. This is something that I would like to do when I get my own horse on a nice summer day, not far from where I live there is a lovely park with woods and lakes, pretty view, nice food, good company and a wicked ride! 

151. Get involved with a breed organisation or local riding group, and do at least one ride as part of that organisation each year. I've always believed in helping out where I can do, I would love to get involved with a charity for horses and do fun rides for this, but this is something that I would do with my own horse. 

157. Consciously smile for five full minutes on your next ride. It's always good to be positive. 

167. Try polo or polocrosse. If you can't find a group to try it with or the right equipment, try broom polo! I'm always up for trying something new and different I have also always wanted to try and do Horseball. I've also been interested in trick/stunt riding. 

170. Stand on your horse. 

179. Fill a plastic cup with water and see if you can ride carrying the cup without spilling any water at the walk, trot, canter and back up. This is the type of thing that we would do at pony club with the younger kids and it would be so much fun. 

180. Teach your horse to bow. Some people don't like the idea of this but I think that it would be interesting.

183. Let your horse lead. 

188. Ask someone who watches you ride for advice to help you and your horse. You don't have to take it. My mum always watches me ride and normally gives me advice after a ride. But I do not tend to ask her for advice after a lesson maybe this is something i should do in the future. 

190. Enter a money class at a show. 

195. Ride your horse at a local cross-country course, even if you don't take any of the jumps. We do actually have a cross country course set up at the stables. There is also a cross country course at Broomfield College and for several reasons I'd love to take my own horse there. 

199. Take your horse's pulse before a ride, and after, and catalogue it for a month. Something that I have never done before, and that I think would be cool to do, it would give me a better insight in to how the horses body works. 

200. Lunge or videotape your horse to see if their hooves land heels first, flat footed, or toe first. Heels first landing indicates healthy travel. I think I would do this as a video, I would ask my mum to video me while I am riding Gatsby. 

202. Leg yield between two points and count how many steps it takes you.  Then repeat the exercise but try to do one less step, then one more less. Seeing how few you can do it in between the two points.   I do lots of leg yielding with Gatsby as part of our warm up, but I have never tried experimenting with the striding. Maybe this is something that I should do to experiment.

210. Free jump your horse through a jump chute. Make sure the strides are set correctly for them. I would love to try doing this myself, I have seen my riding teacher do it with Pumpkin but never tried it myself. 

212. Practice relaxation exercises such as controlled breathing during rides so you can use the skills during more stressful rides when you want to. I think that in the long run this could help with my jumping as that is when I get the most tense. 

213. Try Pole bending with your horse.  I have done this before, but last time that I did it, there was cones on the ground so I'd like to try it with poles instead! 

There are lots of other things still on the list that I will be posting about in the future, whether these be things that I will never do or things that I might think about doing in the future but know that I need a lot more work before I decide to do them but stay tuned and I will let  you know what those things are. 

Until Then 

A Girl With A Dream - AmberRose.