We are 75% of the way done with training for Miss Ruffi! Week 3 was just another big jump forward!
Mare was off on Monday and Tuesday and was back to work on Wednesday. Because her workload has ramped up so quickly, she has become a little bit body sore, so Shelby took Wednesday just to have her work long and low on the lunge line and really stretch and relax her muscles.
Thursday and Friday were ride days and Shelby felt confident enough to put one of her students on Ruffi for a walk/trot/canter ride, which went well. Saturday morning was my lesson.
We were running a little bit behind on Saturday morning owing to the fact that I forgot my helmet at my barn and so we had to drive to Stanwood before my lesson to go pick it up. Then we were almost there and the main arterial highway was closed. We had to detour around and that added more time to us running behind. I was doing my best to maintain my emotions as Ruffi is incredibly sensitive and can pick up on negative emotions very quickly and take advantage of them.
Shelby had just finished lunging mare when we arrived and then got on and warmed her up for about 15 minutes, just to ensure she was in a cooperative headspace so that I would not lose confidence if she tried anything. I will admit I was feeling a little anxious when standing on the mounting block and once I was up, I did have to have Shelby lead me around the round pen for a couple of circles. However, I did gain my confidence and rode my mare solo, for the first time in close to 3 years. Shelby knew she was pressing her luck a little, but did convince me to pick Ruffi up into a little bit of a trot, and after some nerves, I was successful! My ride on Ruffi was only about 10 minutes, but after those 10 minutes, I was on top of the world. I haven’t independently ridden Ruffi since prior or her sale and I was incredibly proud of myself.
Overall feedback for week 3 was that there were no steps backward and a lot of forward progress for Ruffi. Shelby has just a few more rides on her at her farm before she comes home on Saturday. She says Ruffi is consistently going around at all 3 gaits and starting now to come into the contact. These are all great foundations for me to start riding her at home and bringing her along for her show career, which maybe we will start come the end of the year, depending on Ruffi.
Our current plan is to bring Ruffi home on Saturday and have Shelby ride her when she gets dropped off, and then come out weekly and put a training ride on, meanwhile, my goal is to get on her twice weekly as well and work her in hand one to two times a week, alternating days with Bacardi.
Thanks, everyone for the love, support, and excitement on behalf of Miss Ruffian! We couldn’t do it without your support.
Happy Riding
A