It occurred to me yesterday that every since we embarked on life as a riding horse with Megan my every interaction with her has been to work her. So yesterday we took a break and just enjoyed being pals.
After knocking the major dirt off of her and a little cookie shakedown action (she's a treat ho) we just wandered around the farm letting her graze. This always amuses (and relaxes) me. I always try to direct her to patches of grass that I think look particularly delectable. You can almost see her thinking: "Girl, I don't go the grocery store with you to pick out a good cut, let me pick my own damn grass." So I did... mostly.
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Monday, May 29, 2006
Megan 2; Matthew .25
Another uneventful day at the barn. Another milestone crossed. Today was my first ride without any time on the lunge line first. I did walk her around the farm before hopping on and she was very good, so I just hopped up. We spent a little time in the arena doing walk serpentines and turning and then a bit of trot work with a couple of 20 meter circles. She did great, very attentive and responsive. She's still curling into her chest at times -- not really behind the bit as I'm not taking any contact, but dropping her head into her chest and grinding on the bit. Clearly this is tension, and I'm just staying quiet and asking her forward while bumping her head up. She's so light and soft that I really need to focus on keeping her coming from behind and getting her neck longer.
We also walked out into the paddock and around the arena. She was great and we ended with that. I'm really pleased to be able to drop the lunging and get her off the circle.
As I was tacking up it was feeding time so I put her back in her stall with her saddle and boots on to eat. Since I'm only riding her for about 15 minutes and mostly at a walk I see no reason to delay her dinner and pick a fight over that. Unfortunately this put me behind an already tight schedule and made me miss Matthew McConaughey stalking part 2. Another case of poor priorities, I sense a pattern.
So how did Matthew get the .25 you ask? Well I did catch a glimpse of him sitting on the picnic table outside his camper when I just "happened" to be in the vicinity this morning. That is one pretty man. I'm going to get kicked out of the girls' club if I keep missing opportunities to try and meet him.
Yes Honey, this means you have a total free pass to stalk Catherine Zeta Jones should she ever be staying in town. :-)
We also walked out into the paddock and around the arena. She was great and we ended with that. I'm really pleased to be able to drop the lunging and get her off the circle.
As I was tacking up it was feeding time so I put her back in her stall with her saddle and boots on to eat. Since I'm only riding her for about 15 minutes and mostly at a walk I see no reason to delay her dinner and pick a fight over that. Unfortunately this put me behind an already tight schedule and made me miss Matthew McConaughey stalking part 2. Another case of poor priorities, I sense a pattern.
So how did Matthew get the .25 you ask? Well I did catch a glimpse of him sitting on the picnic table outside his camper when I just "happened" to be in the vicinity this morning. That is one pretty man. I'm going to get kicked out of the girls' club if I keep missing opportunities to try and meet him.
Yes Honey, this means you have a total free pass to stalk Catherine Zeta Jones should she ever be staying in town. :-)
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Ho Hum and That's Mighty Fine
Saturday's ride was a total non-event and that's a very good thing! I didn't get out to the barn until high noon -- I got distracted cleaning out my bathroom cabinet. Sometimes my priorities are clearly whacked. It turned out to be a good thing; 90 degree heat is your friend when you have a baby horse. It's too hot for silliness.
The butterfly meter was about a 1 when I hopped on. It was too hot to work up the energy to be nervous. She was really good despite the potential for distractions. Just as I got on the other horses started being brought in from their paddocks. This is a lot for my little hall monitor filly to keep track off. Nosey Girl needs to know what is going on with all of her pals and sometimes she has melted down on the lunge when the horses start coming in. I just ignored the activity and rode my plan which was turning and transitions. We mostly walked and a bit of trotting in each direction. She did great and gave me her attention for most of the ride. She whinnied a bit, but mostly kept an ear on me and listened. Good girl. The turning is coming along and the transitions are lovely. She has a naturally square, correct halt. It's up to me not to screw it up.
She felt a little funky going to the right. Something to keep an eye on.
The butterfly meter was about a 1 when I hopped on. It was too hot to work up the energy to be nervous. She was really good despite the potential for distractions. Just as I got on the other horses started being brought in from their paddocks. This is a lot for my little hall monitor filly to keep track off. Nosey Girl needs to know what is going on with all of her pals and sometimes she has melted down on the lunge when the horses start coming in. I just ignored the activity and rode my plan which was turning and transitions. We mostly walked and a bit of trotting in each direction. She did great and gave me her attention for most of the ride. She whinnied a bit, but mostly kept an ear on me and listened. Good girl. The turning is coming along and the transitions are lovely. She has a naturally square, correct halt. It's up to me not to screw it up.
She felt a little funky going to the right. Something to keep an eye on.
Friday, May 26, 2006
Photo Evidence :-)
Finally downloaded the photos from the first couple of nights. The first one even shows a few stalks of the infamous butterfly bush... and hard core good pony vibes being sent!
The next one is as we are wrapping up and all is good!
Err well, that was supposed to be the order, but it's self evident that I'm a blogger dork. :-)
Houston, we have NO steering
There is something just wrong about passing up a chance to go stalking Matthew McConaughey with your girlfriends because you want to go spend time with your horse! Yeah, I've got it bad!
I think it's dawning on Megan that her new "career" is not a temporary state! She kind of had that look of we're doing this again when I tacked her up last night. She still dove into the bridle -- one of her more endearing traits, she just can't wait to get the bridle on.
Lunging was like trying to talk with your grumpy teenager. She shied at air and launched into the canter like she was possessed. I usually try to keep the lunge session to 5 minutes or so to avoid stressing her legs on the circle, but don't try to out Irish an Irish girl. You show me stubborn and you will get stubborn back in spades. So we headed to the "scarey, horse-eating basketball" end of the arena and got a little reminder on manners and that silliness has its place and it's not when Mom is working with you. I really think she's just bored with this part of our routine and causing trouble to entertain herself, but I'm not quite ready to give up a little "mood check" before hopping on.
Our mounting block in the covered arena is in the corner next to the fence. Just over the fence is a butterfly bush -- according to Megan butterfly bush leaves are the equine equivalent of chocolate and a girl just has to have some. Rather than fight this battle I normally drag the block out but then I have to remember to put it back -- not my strong suit. Rather than fight the butterfly bush addict we headed out to the outdoor arena and I climbed up onto the retaining wall to get on.
Detour: Not only can I not get a leg up (yes, honey I know we have a bet on this, we'll see) but I most certainly cannot climb on this behemoth from the ground. I haven't mounted from the ground in at least 10 years and probably longer. I do have a keen eye for any possible mounting surface and in fact look for them on trail rides just in case I might have a need. My old mare would have sidled up next to just about anything if it would help me get on. Megan is not quite there yet and still looks at me a bit askance when I ask her to step over to whatever I've found to climb on. I see some cookie conditioning in her near future.
We did some circles and serpentines in the outdoor arena to work on the concept of steering. She humored me and I decided to head out to one of the paddocks where someone else was riding. The walk to the paddock was past a stack of jumps -- oooo scary, the garden -- what's that!?!, and in sight of the basketball goal -- look I can be a giraffe! Silly girl, but good. Walking alongside Comet was a little challenging. No this is not a horsey social outing; you are here to work. This is where our steering disappeared. Heck the whole head disappeared as she curled up like a rolly polly. Lovely. Nothing like sitting on a silly baby with no head. It's kind of like holding a steering wheel that just came disconnected from the car -- useless. Back to the circles and pushing her forward into the bit with my leg. She actually did REALLY well. She paid attention and tried very hard to figure out what Mom was asking. Communication would come and go, but that's entirely expected.
After 10 minutes or so of walking around the field we headed back to the arena to let Comet get back to work from babysitting us. I decided to save the trot for the arena where the barriers could provide an assist with steering. We still nearly fell out of the ring several times! She's much better to the right so that will likely be her better side going forward. Horses, like people, are usually left or right handed and have one side that is more supple than the other. You just have to focus on working both sides and increasing suppleness in the stiff side. We did one 20 meter circle (after a fashion) to each side in trot. The cool thing is she already shows willingness to come round and into the bridle for several steps at a time. As soon as she gets her balance with a rider, I think things will progress very quickly! Woohoo!
All in all it was a GREAT evening. I do think I'll have to add a butterfly meter to the blog so I can see how long it will be when my butterflies go away from mounting up and I begin to trust her more. Last night was probably a 7 out of 10 on the butterfly scale.
I think it's dawning on Megan that her new "career" is not a temporary state! She kind of had that look of we're doing this again when I tacked her up last night. She still dove into the bridle -- one of her more endearing traits, she just can't wait to get the bridle on.
Lunging was like trying to talk with your grumpy teenager. She shied at air and launched into the canter like she was possessed. I usually try to keep the lunge session to 5 minutes or so to avoid stressing her legs on the circle, but don't try to out Irish an Irish girl. You show me stubborn and you will get stubborn back in spades. So we headed to the "scarey, horse-eating basketball" end of the arena and got a little reminder on manners and that silliness has its place and it's not when Mom is working with you. I really think she's just bored with this part of our routine and causing trouble to entertain herself, but I'm not quite ready to give up a little "mood check" before hopping on.
Our mounting block in the covered arena is in the corner next to the fence. Just over the fence is a butterfly bush -- according to Megan butterfly bush leaves are the equine equivalent of chocolate and a girl just has to have some. Rather than fight this battle I normally drag the block out but then I have to remember to put it back -- not my strong suit. Rather than fight the butterfly bush addict we headed out to the outdoor arena and I climbed up onto the retaining wall to get on.
Detour: Not only can I not get a leg up (yes, honey I know we have a bet on this, we'll see) but I most certainly cannot climb on this behemoth from the ground. I haven't mounted from the ground in at least 10 years and probably longer. I do have a keen eye for any possible mounting surface and in fact look for them on trail rides just in case I might have a need. My old mare would have sidled up next to just about anything if it would help me get on. Megan is not quite there yet and still looks at me a bit askance when I ask her to step over to whatever I've found to climb on. I see some cookie conditioning in her near future.
We did some circles and serpentines in the outdoor arena to work on the concept of steering. She humored me and I decided to head out to one of the paddocks where someone else was riding. The walk to the paddock was past a stack of jumps -- oooo scary, the garden -- what's that!?!, and in sight of the basketball goal -- look I can be a giraffe! Silly girl, but good. Walking alongside Comet was a little challenging. No this is not a horsey social outing; you are here to work. This is where our steering disappeared. Heck the whole head disappeared as she curled up like a rolly polly. Lovely. Nothing like sitting on a silly baby with no head. It's kind of like holding a steering wheel that just came disconnected from the car -- useless. Back to the circles and pushing her forward into the bit with my leg. She actually did REALLY well. She paid attention and tried very hard to figure out what Mom was asking. Communication would come and go, but that's entirely expected.
After 10 minutes or so of walking around the field we headed back to the arena to let Comet get back to work from babysitting us. I decided to save the trot for the arena where the barriers could provide an assist with steering. We still nearly fell out of the ring several times! She's much better to the right so that will likely be her better side going forward. Horses, like people, are usually left or right handed and have one side that is more supple than the other. You just have to focus on working both sides and increasing suppleness in the stiff side. We did one 20 meter circle (after a fashion) to each side in trot. The cool thing is she already shows willingness to come round and into the bridle for several steps at a time. As soon as she gets her balance with a rider, I think things will progress very quickly! Woohoo!
All in all it was a GREAT evening. I do think I'll have to add a butterfly meter to the blog so I can see how long it will be when my butterflies go away from mounting up and I begin to trust her more. Last night was probably a 7 out of 10 on the butterfly scale.
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Pony Dreams
Last night was a non-barn night so no new news on Megan, but I'm really looking forward to tonight and riding her again. I'm on the verge of becoming obsessed! :-) It's actually a great feeling and one I haven't had about my horses in recent years. My last horse was a very nice fellow, but we just never really clicked.
Vinnie was 1/2 Trakehner 1/2 Percheron/TB and all enormous. He was also mouthy and impertinent as all heck -- not my favorite traits. He was a lovely mover and was really coming into his own as a dressage horse when I decided he just wasn't for me. He found a lovely home with a teenager who thinks he hung the moon. I had a couple of OTTBs in the interim but never really bonded with either of them. I think when it comes to horses I really just like girls. My old mare was my buddy and so personable and attentive. Megan is developing along the same lines. She has more self confidence than Lucy but we've definitely bonded.
My friend Katherine and I spotted Megan in the paddock with her mom shortly after she was born and I was entranced. She was little liver chestnut spitfire and built like a brickhouse. I still had Vinnie so I lusted after her a bit and then moved on. Fast forward 18 months and I am horseless and looking. The lady who bred and raised Megan is a horse dealer and she had a 3 year old gelding that was under saddle and going that I went to try. He was a nice sort, quiet and agreeable, but not terribly athletic when we free jumped him. He was actually probably a great choice for me -- adult ammy, with not a lot of time to ride. I was all set to make the deal when Katherine and I set off down the hill to take one last look at Megan. We walked into the field and I started babbling about all the reasons she wasn't right and I should buy the gelding. K called me on it and basically said if I didn't buy her I'd always regret it. She was right and the gelding was forgotten.
That's not to say that I haven't regretted the decision a time or two. A year and a half is a long time to wait when you don't have anything else to ride. She has certainly been groomed to within an inch of her life with lots of beauty parlor days. Mostly it's been fun to watch her grow... and to dream. There's kind of a sweet spot right before you start them under saddle when you (or at least I was) are consumed by the art of the possible and what might be. You dream of how they are going to ride and what fun they are going to be. You haven't yet sat on them and felt them stagger like a drunk or tried to steer them about when they are totally clueless to the reins and the leg. But those dreams are what carry you through the next few months (or years!) of green as grass-ness. You just know someday she'll lift into the trot round and powerful just like she did on her own prior to being ridden, but you'll be lifted along with her and feel that power and you'll know your '76 Chevy Nova with no power steering (ask me how I know how THAT feels) has turned into a serious sports car.
Vinnie was 1/2 Trakehner 1/2 Percheron/TB and all enormous. He was also mouthy and impertinent as all heck -- not my favorite traits. He was a lovely mover and was really coming into his own as a dressage horse when I decided he just wasn't for me. He found a lovely home with a teenager who thinks he hung the moon. I had a couple of OTTBs in the interim but never really bonded with either of them. I think when it comes to horses I really just like girls. My old mare was my buddy and so personable and attentive. Megan is developing along the same lines. She has more self confidence than Lucy but we've definitely bonded.
My friend Katherine and I spotted Megan in the paddock with her mom shortly after she was born and I was entranced. She was little liver chestnut spitfire and built like a brickhouse. I still had Vinnie so I lusted after her a bit and then moved on. Fast forward 18 months and I am horseless and looking. The lady who bred and raised Megan is a horse dealer and she had a 3 year old gelding that was under saddle and going that I went to try. He was a nice sort, quiet and agreeable, but not terribly athletic when we free jumped him. He was actually probably a great choice for me -- adult ammy, with not a lot of time to ride. I was all set to make the deal when Katherine and I set off down the hill to take one last look at Megan. We walked into the field and I started babbling about all the reasons she wasn't right and I should buy the gelding. K called me on it and basically said if I didn't buy her I'd always regret it. She was right and the gelding was forgotten.
That's not to say that I haven't regretted the decision a time or two. A year and a half is a long time to wait when you don't have anything else to ride. She has certainly been groomed to within an inch of her life with lots of beauty parlor days. Mostly it's been fun to watch her grow... and to dream. There's kind of a sweet spot right before you start them under saddle when you (or at least I was) are consumed by the art of the possible and what might be. You dream of how they are going to ride and what fun they are going to be. You haven't yet sat on them and felt them stagger like a drunk or tried to steer them about when they are totally clueless to the reins and the leg. But those dreams are what carry you through the next few months (or years!) of green as grass-ness. You just know someday she'll lift into the trot round and powerful just like she did on her own prior to being ridden, but you'll be lifted along with her and feel that power and you'll know your '76 Chevy Nova with no power steering (ask me how I know how THAT feels) has turned into a serious sports car.
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Road Trip
Last night was the first road trip since last fall for Megan. We had done some practice loading, but the couple of excursions we'd tried to do for fun over the winter had all fallen through. Despite only having a trailered a handful of times, she loaded right up happily and off we went. Thank goodness! Having spent hours fighting with recalcitrant loaders before, it's nice to have one so cooperative. She did sweat pretty heavily on the short trip over, so she was clearly fretting a little.
Once we arrived she unloaded a little high, but very reasonable since she hasn't been off the farm since September. I stuck her in a stall to calm down a bit. Her first order of business was to roll and then stick her head out the window and pull up some of the landscaping. Doh, food first of course!
I tacked her up to lunge a bit. She could hardly go forward for being such a lookie-loo. There was some construction noise behind bushes on one side of the ring that just had her a little fried as did the jumps. After 10 minutes on an egg -- no way she was going to the end of the line near the bushes -- she was still up but clearly not going to settle any further on the lunge. Ricky was ready to go since time was ticking away toward American Idol. Lol. He walked her around the arena a few times. One big startle near the fenceline with the construction nearly undid the other horse in the ring, but everybody mostly kept their cool.
Ricky asked me for a leg up. Now I don't really DO legs up. I can't seem to grasp the fairly simple concept. If I get one, I end up flailing about and half on and if I give one it's usually the same result for the poor soul that asked me. Sure enough Ricky ended up just laying across her which was actually his plan, but nonetheless I got Katherine to step in for the real deal while I held her horse. Once he was up, she looked tense but not unreasonably so. I'm sure she felt potentially explosive, but she never did.
She was once again not terribly forward and looked really out of balance. Seeing her under saddle really makes her look like the baby she is. It was fairly eye opening to see her next to the other horse. He was no small animal -- 4 year old Hanoverian just over from Germany. He is probably every bit of 16.1 or 2, but Megan is clearly just larger over all. It finally dawned on me what a big horse she is going to be. To which Ricky replied that he had said that the first day he met her. Yeah, but I was in happy denial where I would have liked to remain... darnit.
This was not the ride to admire her grace and beauty. She was falling all over the place between not knowing how to steer and being such a lookie loo. It didn't look like a fun ride or pretty! In fact at one point as Ricky was urging her into the canter, my comment was "Rack On". Not what you hope for in your dressage/event prospect! She wanted to stop every time she came by where the other horse and I were standing so it took a lot of urging to keep her moving. She did stand quietly while Katherine cantered the other horse over some jumps. Other than chewing the bit excessively she was happy to be a sofa for Ricky while he directed Katherine. That was an improvement from the fall, when she reared up one day while the trainer was sitting on her talking to some other riders he met on the trail. She can be rather impatient, so she'll have to learn to chill at times.
She walked, trotted and cantered both directions several times and while she never became nonchalant she did very well for first time off the farm. After the ride she stood tied to the trailer while I put on her shipping boots and then loaded right up again like a charm. She looked quite proud of herself when we got back home and I'm sure she slept well after all the new adventures. She got a nice bath and some carrot stretches and lots of pats. Another good day for the baby girl. Tonight she'll have off and then a nice ride at home tomorrow night. Let's hope this continues to go as well!
One other note, she looked completely sound last night. The new shoes seem to have eliminated the NQR moments which is very good to see.
Once we arrived she unloaded a little high, but very reasonable since she hasn't been off the farm since September. I stuck her in a stall to calm down a bit. Her first order of business was to roll and then stick her head out the window and pull up some of the landscaping. Doh, food first of course!
I tacked her up to lunge a bit. She could hardly go forward for being such a lookie-loo. There was some construction noise behind bushes on one side of the ring that just had her a little fried as did the jumps. After 10 minutes on an egg -- no way she was going to the end of the line near the bushes -- she was still up but clearly not going to settle any further on the lunge. Ricky was ready to go since time was ticking away toward American Idol. Lol. He walked her around the arena a few times. One big startle near the fenceline with the construction nearly undid the other horse in the ring, but everybody mostly kept their cool.
Ricky asked me for a leg up. Now I don't really DO legs up. I can't seem to grasp the fairly simple concept. If I get one, I end up flailing about and half on and if I give one it's usually the same result for the poor soul that asked me. Sure enough Ricky ended up just laying across her which was actually his plan, but nonetheless I got Katherine to step in for the real deal while I held her horse. Once he was up, she looked tense but not unreasonably so. I'm sure she felt potentially explosive, but she never did.
She was once again not terribly forward and looked really out of balance. Seeing her under saddle really makes her look like the baby she is. It was fairly eye opening to see her next to the other horse. He was no small animal -- 4 year old Hanoverian just over from Germany. He is probably every bit of 16.1 or 2, but Megan is clearly just larger over all. It finally dawned on me what a big horse she is going to be. To which Ricky replied that he had said that the first day he met her. Yeah, but I was in happy denial where I would have liked to remain... darnit.
This was not the ride to admire her grace and beauty. She was falling all over the place between not knowing how to steer and being such a lookie loo. It didn't look like a fun ride or pretty! In fact at one point as Ricky was urging her into the canter, my comment was "Rack On". Not what you hope for in your dressage/event prospect! She wanted to stop every time she came by where the other horse and I were standing so it took a lot of urging to keep her moving. She did stand quietly while Katherine cantered the other horse over some jumps. Other than chewing the bit excessively she was happy to be a sofa for Ricky while he directed Katherine. That was an improvement from the fall, when she reared up one day while the trainer was sitting on her talking to some other riders he met on the trail. She can be rather impatient, so she'll have to learn to chill at times.
She walked, trotted and cantered both directions several times and while she never became nonchalant she did very well for first time off the farm. After the ride she stood tied to the trailer while I put on her shipping boots and then loaded right up again like a charm. She looked quite proud of herself when we got back home and I'm sure she slept well after all the new adventures. She got a nice bath and some carrot stretches and lots of pats. Another good day for the baby girl. Tonight she'll have off and then a nice ride at home tomorrow night. Let's hope this continues to go as well!
One other note, she looked completely sound last night. The new shoes seem to have eliminated the NQR moments which is very good to see.
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Time to Ride
Last week marked a milestone in my filly's life as she started under saddle as a three year old. She had been lightly ridden last fall for 30 days with the winter off to grow and play, but now her life as a riding horse starts in earnest. I plan to use this blog to chronicle our rides and keep track of her development.
The first ride was uneventful. I hired a trainer to go up the first few times cuz I was slightly chicken. :-) I lunged her first and she was attentive and well behaved. The trainer suggested a little Ace to take the edge off for the first ride, so we gave her .25 cc in the vein. She's a cheap drunk and was quickly a little woozy. Needless to say, that made her a kick ride for sure and quite comical to watch. Twenty minutes of walk and trot and she was done. Very nice.
The next night, I tacked up and lunged her in anticipation of the trainer arriving. Turns out he had been to the dentist and was sleeping off his meds. He woke up in time to rush over and hop on. No drugs for the horse, but a slightly drugged trainer! She was wonderful again. Lots of walk and trot and then a little bit of canter. The first few strides were a little hoppity hop, but she never gave a real buck and smoothed out into a canter. She really didn't want to pick up the left lead and after several mis-starts finally did and cantered nicely. I was next up for a walk and a trot and she felt great. Lots of horse in front of the saddle and nicely forward and comfortable; no steering but that will come.
Day three in training land was farrier day and time for baby's first shoes. She's been just a little off in the left front and her "connections" agreed that shoes might give her a better base of support and would protect her for the trail riding that's in her near future. She was a champ for the shoeing. She didn't like the smoke from having the shoes burned onto her feet. No pain, but the smoke from the searing of the hoof smells strongly and she thought is was quite objectionable. A treat distracted her and no real drama. She stood very quietly for the nailing and walked off sounding like a big horse. Size 3s for my (not so) petite girl.
The farrier asked to see her go so he could get a good look at that left front. So off I went to tack her up for first ride sans trainer. A little lunging and then I hop in the outdoor arena and we walk and trot about quietly. At this point I'm loving my horse! The farrier thinks her issue is a lateral suspensory strain at the navicular bone in the left front. The treatment for that is slow work, so our plan for light riding will progress and hopefully the issue will resolve in the next few months.
Megan then had three days off while I went camping. Apparently she used that time to reflect on life as a riding horse since the first ride back was our first bolt! It was an honest spook. Someone was playing basketball at one end of the arena and the goal was off to the side so not really visible but the noise of the horse-eating basketball and its occasional appearance startled her as we came around that end. She threw her head up and took off. I was able to pull her down fairly quickly but then she decided to throw in a few bucks. Very rideable and stern "MEGAN" got all four feet back on the ground. I put her back to work on the non-basketball end of the arena until she was attentive and responsive. Then I hopped off and walked her down to the other end and marched her around until the dribbling and shooting of hoops lost her interest. Another lesson learned -- there are no horse-eating basketballs. I really wish her spook wasn't bolt+buck, but perhaps she'll grow out of it.
That brings us up to last night. I tacked her up, but didn't dress to ride which was just as well. She was a little up and go-ey the whole time I lunged her and just looked a little tight around her eye. Could have been the pre-work mane pulling session that had her a little pissy. I did some modifications on the lunge and really got her working over her topline and from her back end so a very productive work all in all. Tonight is the first off-property ride. I'm trailering her over to the trainer's barn so we'll see how that goes. Hopefully all participants will be lucid and fully aware!
What a fun adventure!
The first ride was uneventful. I hired a trainer to go up the first few times cuz I was slightly chicken. :-) I lunged her first and she was attentive and well behaved. The trainer suggested a little Ace to take the edge off for the first ride, so we gave her .25 cc in the vein. She's a cheap drunk and was quickly a little woozy. Needless to say, that made her a kick ride for sure and quite comical to watch. Twenty minutes of walk and trot and she was done. Very nice.
The next night, I tacked up and lunged her in anticipation of the trainer arriving. Turns out he had been to the dentist and was sleeping off his meds. He woke up in time to rush over and hop on. No drugs for the horse, but a slightly drugged trainer! She was wonderful again. Lots of walk and trot and then a little bit of canter. The first few strides were a little hoppity hop, but she never gave a real buck and smoothed out into a canter. She really didn't want to pick up the left lead and after several mis-starts finally did and cantered nicely. I was next up for a walk and a trot and she felt great. Lots of horse in front of the saddle and nicely forward and comfortable; no steering but that will come.
Day three in training land was farrier day and time for baby's first shoes. She's been just a little off in the left front and her "connections" agreed that shoes might give her a better base of support and would protect her for the trail riding that's in her near future. She was a champ for the shoeing. She didn't like the smoke from having the shoes burned onto her feet. No pain, but the smoke from the searing of the hoof smells strongly and she thought is was quite objectionable. A treat distracted her and no real drama. She stood very quietly for the nailing and walked off sounding like a big horse. Size 3s for my (not so) petite girl.
The farrier asked to see her go so he could get a good look at that left front. So off I went to tack her up for first ride sans trainer. A little lunging and then I hop in the outdoor arena and we walk and trot about quietly. At this point I'm loving my horse! The farrier thinks her issue is a lateral suspensory strain at the navicular bone in the left front. The treatment for that is slow work, so our plan for light riding will progress and hopefully the issue will resolve in the next few months.
Megan then had three days off while I went camping. Apparently she used that time to reflect on life as a riding horse since the first ride back was our first bolt! It was an honest spook. Someone was playing basketball at one end of the arena and the goal was off to the side so not really visible but the noise of the horse-eating basketball and its occasional appearance startled her as we came around that end. She threw her head up and took off. I was able to pull her down fairly quickly but then she decided to throw in a few bucks. Very rideable and stern "MEGAN" got all four feet back on the ground. I put her back to work on the non-basketball end of the arena until she was attentive and responsive. Then I hopped off and walked her down to the other end and marched her around until the dribbling and shooting of hoops lost her interest. Another lesson learned -- there are no horse-eating basketballs. I really wish her spook wasn't bolt+buck, but perhaps she'll grow out of it.
That brings us up to last night. I tacked her up, but didn't dress to ride which was just as well. She was a little up and go-ey the whole time I lunged her and just looked a little tight around her eye. Could have been the pre-work mane pulling session that had her a little pissy. I did some modifications on the lunge and really got her working over her topline and from her back end so a very productive work all in all. Tonight is the first off-property ride. I'm trailering her over to the trainer's barn so we'll see how that goes. Hopefully all participants will be lucid and fully aware!
What a fun adventure!
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