Change is in the air

We were having such a beautiful fall.   Theo barely needed his sheet most days even with his clip.  Lots of sunny days in the 50's and 60's.  Last night it was actually too warm.  70* and 87% humidity during our 6pm ride.  Theo couldn't do much with that temp swing.  About twenty minutes of work and another 20 of just walking while he got his respiration down and the sweat dried.  But he felt better after the exercise and we worked on our turn on the haunches and laterals at the walk.  Got to exercise that brain.

Lots of walking which was enough to make him sweaty

The winds started howling while I rode.  Thank goodness for ear plugs, the gusts were enough to have me looking at the roof in concern.  I can't imagine what the trick or treaters were dealing with.  This morning I got up to 48* with a wind chill of 39*.  Temps are dropping all day.  We're getting our first freeze tonight.  Next week we'll have highs in the 30's.  It appears that real fall has suddenly arrived and our blissful window of perfect NH weather has come to a close.  Two months this year, not bad.

Very spooky weather, Theo was concerned

Trainer Z had to cancel our last lesson due to downed trees so we're rescheduling to Nov 11.  I've also got a jumping clinic on Nov 8 with Grant Wilson.  That should be fun.  Equine Affaire is on Nov 9 so it's shaping up to be a very horsey weekend.

My job is setting up to explode in November so I don't think I'll be getting much real work done with Theo outside of those lessons, but that's okay.  It's still fall and it's not like we're losing ground.  I had my first real ride with the double and he was completely happy with it.  My friend watched to check for any problems and saw no mouth opening (other than when he's licking his lips because he really can't help himself).  He did try to duck behind once but a good boot got him back up where he belongs.  He ducks behind snaffles, too, it's a symptom of our forward issues.  Pony likes to check all the evasion possibilities.  Swapping to sugar cubes prevented him from being distracted by trying to work a treat back to his molars with two bits in play.

Completely incapable of keeping his tongue in his mouth for any length of time

I ordered Theo his own double since this appears to be a tool that will be sticking around.  Should have it next week.  After doing a lot of research, I ended up ordering another PS of Sweden so I could mix and match piece sizes, get the crownpiece that I know works with his odd head, and get the Paragon noseband to stay back from both bits.  The headstall he's borrowing is crushing up against his ears and he's already looking grumpy about it.  I have to accept the fact that he can't wear a regular bridle, his ears simply don't fit even when I swap to a big browband to give him more room.

Our rides have been pretty much just forward, jump, half pass, and changes.  He does shuffle behind sometimes but if I'm good about making sure I've got enough forward, he has figured out that he's supposed to jump up and change.  Now we need it a bit more on the aids.  It takes 3-4 strides to actually trigger the change right now.  The bucking has abated for the time being and he still doesn't offer a bolt so I'm a lot less timid about schooling the change.  Trainer D is working them as well on her rides and she has been a huge help in getting him to understand what we want.  Thank the heavens for pros.

I'm going to squeak in as many rides as I can before the deep freeze is upon us.  40's is still pretty darn comfortable and the perfect temp for doing cardio work outs with the fluffy beast.  Damn that job and having to earn an income thing, I'd rather be riding.