Three Classic Bears - This Phone Is Too Cold! / Shootim

Kirsten got warm enough climbing the Bears that she didn't need her hat.

Long Classic Ski

Swedetown, Valley, Greenstone and the Bear loops.  30F.  Gripwax - warm over mid-temp.

Today was a long ski for fun.  The grip wax was about right.  By the turnaround, my skis had picked up a lot of leaf litter, leading to too much grip. Kirsten too, but not so bad.  A couple of stomps cleared the stuck-on snow.

Today was also another technological challenge.  I failed again.  I forgot to start the timer until the start of the Bears.  After the Bears, the phone got too cold and/or ran out of battery.  It up and quit until we were in the car on the way home.  That really improved my splits!

Kirsten has been the techno-queen, operating her apps flawlessly.  Let's use her data.  She was faster on the downhills, I was faster on the uphills.

13.72 kilometers

1:38:23

7:10/kilometer

Shootim

Shootim was kind of unruly on the lunge line.  The consensus from trainers was work him long and hard.  Hoping to ride, my heart wasn't really in it.  I did lunge him enough to get some attempts from him to do a good job.  He was still kind of hot and bothered, though.  Still, any improvement is an improvement.  We stopped there.  He went back into his stall.  

Kirsten's horse, Sarah, who was a bit unruly in her workout, went out for a second workout.  Not her best, she did better for Kirsten.  Susan suggested that I try the same.  Shootim's saddle was still on, so I tried the same.  I was a bit nervous.  Kirsten and Susan coached me.  Normally, I like to try something out, work on it, relax a bit, then go on to the next thing.  Not this time.  As soon as I was on, we started out and working:

• Circles
• Bending in and out of circles
• Turns on forehand
• Turns on haunches
• Trot circles

I mixed them up, going from one thing to another without any pause.  I never gave him a chance to mentally go away.  Shootim was always having to respond to a new cue.  If he started to go away, I got into him.  At first, he was barely listening to me.  A bit scary, that.  Ironically, the constant barrage of tasks consuming his attention seemed to calm him.  More and more I'm thinking this is the way Shootim likes to work.  No wasted time, get in, work hard, be done.  I'd better have a few things to work on ready in my head.

We did have excuses to rely on:

• Weather changing
• Ready to go, but waiting for our turn in the arena.
• Inconsistent footing; some spots are downright greasy.
• Sounds from outside of nearby coyotes.
• Susan's dogs were fighting.

I wonder if riding yesterday might have gone the same way, from distracted to focused.  Certainly I can improve on the workflow from preparation to riding.  The arena has never dried out from the fall. I've taken to spending a few minutes before each session raking the rough spots smooth.  It was an interesting session.  I think I learned the most.