Good ole Chicago weather never disappoints

Good ole Chicago weather never disappoints- will this heat and humidity ever end!?! I am writing this post to remind me how hot it can get in Chicago... because I am sure this winter I will post about how incredibly cold it gets.

Lately Gram has had a lack of butt foam. Tuesday I rode, but she was not great. Wednesday the heat and humidity returned so I decided it might be better to lunge first and then just ride for 10 minutes. She was fine, sweaty and we got butt foam, so I was happy. Last night it was again 90 at 7:00 when I arrived at the barn. After brushing for 5 minutes and then being soaked in my own sweat, I decided we would have an effortless ride of just me working my position while Gram stretched and bent. I have been doing my warm up in sitting trot lately because I tend to tip too much in rising trot... First let me say, I love to sit the trot and HATE rising. Not sure why, but I tilt forward in rising trot like I am terrified- it is odd. I like to loosen up my pelvis and hips as well as Gram's and the sitting trot in the stretch seems to work better for us. Last night my goal was to get her over her back without the running off the front legs. We have been working a lot within the gaits of forward and back.

I know Gram is working when she starts to grunt. She is so funny, it makes me laugh. Literally every step was like an oink of a pig. Last night was the happy grunt that her mom also used to do. Gram also responds well when I talk to her. She really like the "brrrrrr" noise to understand my half halt in front, but then when I add my leg she gets a little confused still. I do think it is time for a Ryan lesson, but this house closing has us counting every single penny. Maybe we will close on this house soon! Fingers crossed!

Delayed posts

Well, I have just been plain bad about the blog lately... Donnie and I are in the process of buying a house, so a lot of my spare time has been spent working on details, inspections, price quotes and etc. I am excited as it is my dream house. I keep telling Donnie that the wait will be worth it, as this is a forever home for us! I will post pictures as soon as it is officially ours!

We have had a heat wave in Chicago over the last week, so I didn't ride at all. In fact we went to the barn every evening just to cold hose the sweaty mare. She handles the heat about as well as I do, so she was happy to have the relief from work and the cold shower before bedtime. I rode her yesterday for the first time in a week. She was pretty good. We seem to have lost our "butt foam", but I am sure I will get it back soon. Half passes are coming a long well. I am still trying to figure out the secret to flying changes, as I have only gotten one clean change out of her recently. I will need Ryan to help us with that! Her canter is getting stronger, and I feel like she is shorter underneath me. I have been getting a couple of good half steps on my own, but she is still very confused about the whole situation. Our sessions normally include, a few reinbacks, grunts and then a small up in the air before she relaxes and tries to "trot in place". I still need to work on her trusting me in that exercise.

I hope to write more again this week, as we do expect some normal summer weather and not 108 with heat index :)