Rode hard today

The day started out pretty mellow. I brought lady out and she was limping slightly at the walk. Ok, cleaned her hooves and put iodine/formaldehyde on them. I was curious if she was any better and she was looking sound at the walk/trot so I figured I’d hop on her. Saddle and bridling went fine. She did one head toss and earned a smack. Under saddle she was OK but she felt a little off. I thought about going outside to do some straightaway work so we headed outside. Lady was pretty sure this meant she needed to trot. She was rather off at the trot and not doing a whole lot better at the walk. I wanted to hop off her but I couldn’t do it while she was fussing like that. Eventually she walked long enough for me to 1) realize she had walked enough and 2) actually get off her having made that realization.

Alyssa and I got Keno and Reno ready to go out on a hack. It went well most of the way. We crossed the water and the bridge. Keno walked well as long as he was in front. Reno kinda walked too. When things started breaking down we went our separate ways. I wound up doing a lot of trotting and cantering around. I was pretty pleased with myself. I even worked up the nerve to canter towards the barn when Keno had bucked in the downward transition (thus forcing me to keep going.) So, a lot of running around, Keno was thrilled. This was not really the plan. So I decided that I needed to work him at something that was harder for him than it was for me, I went back to my old standby: canter serpentines. We did other things too. We cantered in small circles when we were going to fast and in larger ones when I was happy with our speed. Also we switched directions every time keno dropped his shoulder into the circle. I did not drop my shoulder, I checked, so I feel no guilt. He is going to be sore tomorrow, I suspect.

I might give in to the temptation to do the same thing with Reno. He does beautiful flying lead changes. The problem is that he makes me very angry when he doesn’t listen. I’m definitely not riding him in that stupid leverage bit. I want reins, actual reins, that can be pulled on to communicate something other than just STOP.

Mostly I want to work on Star. I rode her for over an hour and half today. A lot of that was standing around trying to cross the bridge the other direction and the creek the other direction. I was reasonably happy with her, not as happy as yesterday but what we did today was harder. To get to the bridge she had to walk over ground that made a squish squish noise every time she lifted a hoof. She doesn’t like that. The actual bridge wasn’t bad at all.

The creek on the other side is a very steep grade. We worked on getting down there for a long time. Eventually I got her pointed straight at it and then she walked over it pretty well. She stopped in the middle to sniff the water, which I think is a strange habit of hers. Then she ran up the other side which I wasn’t really expecting since she had walked last time going the other direction.

We discovered that we DO NOT like the sprinklers that the neighbors have to water their shrubs. We discovered, furthermore, that if you turn and run away, your head will get stuck to one side and you can keep running but you only get your head back if you stop it and hold still. This was very enlightening for Star. The first time we encountered the sprinklers she turned and turned and turned. The second time she turned once and then remembered, “oh, right, I can just stop.” I was pleased.

We discovered that when we go places outside, we like to GO. She had this huge trot that I was too absolutely incompetent to sit or post. Very upsetting for me. Mildly upsetting for Star but she ignored it mostly. We trotted towards home, which star decided meant cantering. She wasn’t really pleased about cantering, or something, because she bucked a lot. It didn’t really feel like bucking, it felt like jumping. Its like there were three bounces set up and we were jumping them. Anyway, I did go ahead and ask for a canter towards the end. It was dumb considering that I didn’t really have the whole trotting thing under control. The first few strides was more bucking, then we really went went went with these huge smooth strides. She can really cover some ground. I’m going to have to take her out there tomorrow and not bother with the bridge and creek and stuff and just work on our trot and canter.

Alyssa rode Luca, who was being sortof sluggish. Robert asked me if I could have star doing a dressage test by September. I think I could. I told him as much and he said that Gloria would be thrilled. I think it would be really good because she would have some experience that might make here more saleable, plus it gives me something to shoot for. Getting her to stretch down I think is going to be a job for the clicker training. She has learned to lower her head off of pressure to her poll. She doesn’t throw it up in the air nearly as much anymore. She’s slowly oh so slowly loosing that ewe neck look.

I watched Bella’s owner try to teach Bella to lead better. She was remarkably inept. Bella wasn’t really being all that bad but her owner wanted her to lead next to her. That’s a worthy goal. You are never ever going to convince a horse to walk next to you by pulling or backing them up. You cannot drag a Belgian cross up to your shoulder. She was holding a whip too. She was holding it upright. I thought about saying something but Robert is working with her so I’ll let him try to teach her. I think I’m going to get Bella out tomorrow and make sure she’s not developing any bad habits. She’s big enough to get dangerous faster than your average not gigantic horse.

If I’m going to get Bella out and work with her on her leading I need to get Papillon out and do the same. I let that horse get away with murder for no good reason. She mostly just likes to charge ahead of me, but she’s not as respectful of my space as she should be. Lady has been better since our little heart to heart out in the field but turning left she doesn’t want to step out of my way. I don’t really want to do much about that until I’m sure she’s sound. She doesn’t need to be choosing between pain/pride and getting in my way. Pride is already enough of a handful without pain in the mix.