It's All In (or on) My Head

Last night our barn had a Helmet Party.  Sort of like a Tupperware party, but with helmets.  Folks brought their current helmets and had them evaluated and then were invited to check out the range of helmets the Pegasus rep had brought with her.  I forgot my camera, so I didn't get pictures of this awesome event.  Which is a shame because they had some helmets that the rep called 'one offs' that were really cool.  One of them came in a beige faux leather and was gorgeous!  Sadly, my tiny little pea head didn't fit into any of the cool helmets.

I tried on every helmet they had, from the bottom of the line to the top.  The top end of the Pegasus Helmets are their George Morris helmets.  They have leather interior and leather straps and are lovely and fancy schmancy.  And they didn't fit my head (phew, dodged a bullet right there!).  My head turned out to need a 7 Slim Oval.  My only concern with my new helmet is that when I tried it on last night, it had some slippage in the back.

I have been on a whole foods only diet for the last three weeks and have had no dairy, alcohol, soy or bread.  I've been taking a ton of supplements to try and help me with my allergies, including lots and lots of fish oil capsules.  The downside to this is obvious.  I miss having bread, cheese and wine.  Who wouldn't?  The upside?  Shiny, shiny, shiny hair.  This is why people recommend Omega 3 fatty acids for horses and dogs with dull coats.  I really need to get Tessa on this program, cause my hair is shiny and slick every day.  So shiny and slick that my helmet kept slipping in back!

I purchased the helmet anyway, because even if it's not exactly perfect, it won't fall off my head and choke me to death like my old helmet would if I ever actually came off.

Fancy new helmet!!  With an un-fancy price tag of only $110!!

I went to the barn today, sans shower as usual, and put on my new helmet.  Much better.  A little extra hair grease was just the ticket.

I had a great ride on the pony today.  Since she had been such a pill the last time I rode her, I wanted to make sure she understood two things.  One - When I ask for forward I want forward.  Right.  Now.  If you sass me, I will sass your adorable pony butt right back.  Two - When we walk on a loose rein, it's just a walk break.  Nothing more.  Nothing less.  When I put leg back on, I need you to refer to Rule Number One.  Forward.  Now.

So mostly I rode on a loose-ish rein, and sometimes I even rode with the reins in one hand.  This was about forward, no matter what I was doing up there.  I asked, she sassed.  I demanded, she sassed.  I said "Oh, honey, that's three times and now you get a time out.".  Oh wait, we're not talking about my six year old daughter are we?  Right, six year old pony.  Mostly the same deal.  I gave her the business end of the spur and we got on with it.

Then we did lots of transitions.  Walk, trot, canter, trot, canter, trot, canter, walk.  Loose rein walk.  Then back to work.  Canter, trot, walk.  Canter, canter, canter.  Walk on loose rein.

By the end of our ride I was able to lightly squeeze with my calves and we were off.  I was light and she was forward and we made it around most of the arena without spooking.

Then I went and washed her tail.  And after washing her tail for the third time since last week, I went the other side where our farrier was shoeing some horses and said thanks to him for showing me a different way of doing things.  All of these things add up to me getting more and more comfortable with my horse and closer to my goal of being able to do anything I want to with my horse without being afraid.