Well spring is over and it's winter again so that's pretty disappointing. But it IS only early April so I really can't complain. I mean I WILL, but I shouldn't. Ha. Poor Al has been back indoors two days in a row this week, and while he's making a huge effort to behave himself, he's definitely hating every second. The other two really don't care much. Thank goodness for them.
Nothing too crazy and exciting has been going on over here with the weather being so up and down. Wind, cold, rain, more wind... We've had it all! Friday was pretty nice though, and Al did some more jumpies outside. He was so good! We even jumped a couple 2'6" fences, so clearly, things were getting very serious.
Then winter came back... But we'll be back at out there as soon as we can! Rain tomorrow, so I dunno... maybe by the weekend. We'll see what the footing does.
Eros got to have a half hour out in the grass field Saturday morning, but then he removed one of his shoes that were just done on Thursday so he has now lost his grass field privileges. He's lost a shoe nearly every time he's been down there. And honestly, the fields are still too wet to really have horses on them just yet. I'm lucky he just pulled a shoe and not a tendon. I definitely should have gone down there myself before giving permission for him to go out. My bad. Thankfully, no harm done and his shoe was back on Sunday morning. (My farrier is the best.) I let him jump some on Friday too and he was slightly less or a torpedo than he was the time before. I can't get mad at him though, he's just having the best time ever. Best boy.
Shiny got to go adventuring in the fields twice this week! Once was planned and another was somewhat less planned. She just really loves riding out. I hope everything dries up before we leave so we can get to the far field again. I have a feeling that won't happen because it's gearing up to be a rainy spring. But you never know! Weatherman are rarely accurate.
Like I said, not too much really happening over here with the horses. Plugging along, working on our fitness. That sort of thing. But a big development in our spring plans, is that the sale of my childhood barn seems to have fallen through. It's back on the market and fingers crossed this time it finds a horsey buyer. So as it stands now, they'll be running shows all summer, which means I don't have to stress about trying to get to that April show that's the same weekend as the clinic at my winter barn. Which is also the last weekend before we move home. It was going to prove to be a VERY busy weekend. So now it let's stressful. I got a call to braid some horses for that show too, so I'd much rather make some money than spend it.
In other nostalgia fun, I had dinner tonight with some old friends from high school. Two of them I see at least once or twice a year, but the other two I'm not sure I've seen in person since we graduated. Both were really close friends when we were tiny kiddos, so it was so wonderful to catch up. We were all pretty similar personality types growing up and it was fun to see that not much has changed with any of us. Save for being older and wiser of course. Hopefully we can do it again, but maybe sooner than 27 years for the next time. Ha!
So that was a lot of excitement for this old woman. I'll need to crawl back into my introvert bubble for a few days to recuperate. How's the weather where you are? Are you having real spring, or are you back to 49th winter too?
Let me elaborate. Today, similarly to last Tuesday, winter has returned. We got a lot of rain overnight last night, so the outdoor ring was too wet for riding. Also, it was low forties with wind gusts to 40 mph, so riding outside was just zero percent appealing. Okay, maybe like 2% appealing.
Here is where I faced a decision. Do I lunge inside so as to not break the rule I deemed so important last week? Or do I try again without it and see what happens? I decided to try again. But rather than expecting to have a "normal horse" type ride, I instead planned to just get on and see how things go. Start out at the walk like normal on a loose rein. Then pick up the reins and start asking for some shape and more forward. If all goes well, move on to the trot. Again on a loose rein, then adding a little more pressure via asking for shape and more forward. Wash, rinse, repeat, until satisfied. And it was a nice ride! Canter proved to be a little messy, but the trot work, especially at the end of the ride, was SO great. Forward, with impulsion, while still relaxed. It was lovely. And the biggest difference I think was my expectations. I went into this ride thinking we might just walk today. (The wind was really rattling the end doors and whistling around the entire indoor.) Really just going slowly and breaking things down into tiny steps forward seemed to help keep him relaxed and with an ear on me. I don't know if that will be the case every time we have to do something Al doesn't like. But I hope it continues to work for him.
This horse has been a real lesson in patience for me. Also a good reminder to be a thinking rider. I can't rely on my instincts with him. Instead I have to be thinking ahead and constantly having a conversation with him. Not like actual chatting aloud, but rather always using my aids to keep the communication sort of turned on. And by that I mean seat and leg. Not hand so much. I can feel him get tense as soon as I start using too much hand. Gives him the angst! He really holds me accountable and reminds me when I start making mistakes or falling back on old habits.
So my confession today is that I broke the rules, on purpose, two weeks in a row, and I learned something completely different each time. So here's to breaking rules and keeping the conversation flowing!
That's it for today! Any favorites? What's the longest you've ever had a pair of boots?
We'll go backwards with the horses this week just to mix things up a little. And if you hadn't noticed, that means we'll start with Shiny. Most of the time I start with Al partially because he's the most interesting but also because his name comes first in the alphabet. And now you know something more about me... I tend to do things alphabetically.
A month or so ago I planned to lunge him in the indoor one day rather than ride because I had non horsey plans in the morning and wanted to shorten up the horse day some. Normally, even when I lunge him, we take a hand walk lap each direction of the ring before we get to the work part of the day. But on this day I skipped that step because another horse was lunging at the other end, and I figured it would be fine. It was not fine. He tore out onto the circle going the wrong direction. (I had the lunge line attached to start left, and he went right.) This isn't normal Al behavior because he's very well trained about lunging in normal circumstances. He knows to walk out on the circle and keep walking until told otherwise. And he definitely understands which side the line is on. (Once I accidentally tried to send him the wrong way and he wouldn't go.) So I reeled him back in, did the hand walk, and then he was an angel. You'd think I'd have internalized this lesson, but today has proven to me that I have not.
Today's forgotten rule is a little different than that one. But it's something we've consistently done all winter. My horses generally have easy rides on Sundays (Sunday Funday!) and then Monday is their day off from riding. So for Al, we lunge on Tuesday before riding. I know there are varying opinions on lunging. Some being that horses should be working on the lunge line and it's not for playing on. But I don't subscribe to that belief. I have no problem with horses having a play on the lunge line so long as they are polite and don't try to pull away from me. Also, dangerous behavior is not allowed. A buck? Yep, have at it. A little gallop? Sure, within reason, on a BIG circle. But I expect a response when I say whoa. Anyway, back to today. I prefer not to lunge horses too frequently. I don't think being on a lunge circle is great for their legs if it's getting done a lot. So today, we were stuck indoors again because it rained all day yesterday and the outdoor was too squishy. I figure we should be able to get back out tomorrow and he would rather have a good play on the line out there than in the indoor. So I didn't lunge him today. It was a windy day outside which meant the indoor was rattling and making weird noises. And while the barn was quiet when I got on, during the ride a bunch of people showed up. He really hates indoor rings, and especially hates when there's sounds he can't see the source of. So you can imagine how the ride was going.
He wasn't terrible, but he did spook more than once which hasn't happened in a few weeks. The difference between now and a few weeks ago (pre-ulcer treatment changes) is that he went back to work nicely after spooking. He also was really forward and felt pretty fantastic in the moments when he wasn't being a distracted squirrel. So while it wasn't a great ride, I'm taking responsibility for it. I think he was just a little fresh and stuck in a place he doesn't like. And I broke the rules by not lunging him first.
The real question is, will I learn the lesson this time? To not break the rules? I really hope so. I mean, if I know the steps to setting Al and me up for success, why would I keep skipping them? And yes, I know some people may say, but Stacie, you can't hand walk the show ring before you ride. I know this. I don't think it will be necessary. We always walk in hand at the horse show before getting to where the lunging area is. I think the need there is to get his mind on me and getting his body to relax before asking him to work. I could be wrong here, and time will tell on that. But that's what I'm thinking.
Do any of you have some hard and fast rules for setting up for success? Do you ever try to skip them and remember why they are rules and not suggestions?
That's it for this week! Anything you guys want to see for next week?
