Horses of the outside world. Congratulations to Double Crown winner Golden Tempo & his entire team.
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Goldy
Rosewood Stables
6 May 2026
What I’m working on this week.
Hands. Working on keeping a contact from the beginning. Previous Horse and I would warm-up on the buckle, at a walk, trot, & canter. I was much better at that than at maintaining a soft communication with the horse. My hands are basically floppy bits of flesh at the end of my arms. Plus, it seems counterintuitive to pick up the reins I am doing everything I can to shift Goldy into gear. However. As with the Saddlebreds, Goldy is happier when I ride him his way instead of my way.
Shoulders. I started working on keeping my shoulders level. I tend to hunch when I’m concentrating and to lean around turns. Shoulder placement is an extension of the work I have been doing on head position. [Gathering The Goldy Dust]
What I got this week.
Horse enthusiasm. I managed to convince Goldy that there was some hope for me. This brought out the forward-thinking side of his personality, including taking a flyer at a fence exiting a line, causing me to emit a small expletive. It was a quite big spot over a small jump. Himself was smug all the way back to the barn.
Rider consternation. We were in the front ring, you can see the road in the photo. A column of rumbling bikers drove by. I came to a halt in the center and watched Goldy carefully for signs of hysteria. He was fine. I obsessed over what the home team would do in the face of that amount of noise and clatter.
I did jump the small vertical pictured.
Onwards!
Katherine
Virtual Brush Box 
Yay🎉
Joan