We didn't get up to too much last week because we had some oppressive heat and humidity. Thankfully the worst of it was Monday and Tuesday. They usually get Monday off anyway, but this week I also gave them Tuesday off. Wednesday was still pretty rough, but I got on and tack walked everyone. We also did a lap of trot each way. Just to make sure the parts were all in working order.
But Thursday? Thursday it was time to get back to work! Of course, because of my terrible timing, the neighbor on the other side of the bad dude next door was having tree work done. They were kind of enough to give me a heads up, but like an hour before they started. So not long enough to avoid it. It took them four days to get it all done over there, so life was a little challenging at the farm. Shiny could care less, Eros had feelings but dealt with them (because he's perfect), and Al... well we already know about Al's inability to handle tree work.
Shiny and Eros got their work done well enough despite the noises. But Al was less successful. I wound up just lunging him Thursday and doing lots and lots of transitions. He's an interesting horse because he can be fully unhinged, and yet the small part of his brain that is listening to me is on it. Like he was all over the place with his attention, definitely not focused on me, but he was right there for every transition I asked for. Yet in between there was plenty of spooking. Such an odd horse.
I wound up not jumping anyone last week. We just plugged along with flatwork. It's what they all need more of anyway right? Unfortunately when I pulled Al out on Friday to ride he had some swelling in his left front that worried me a little. It was minor, but over the tendon, and I just felt like I should be careful with it. So we tack walked through the weekend and iced it. By Monday it looked completely fine, and after working on Tuesday it still was totally fine. So he must have just hit himself or something. Probably while he was coming undone over the trees. Glad he's fine, that's a big relief! But honestly, this horse needs to get to work. Enough tack walking! But also, enough with the entire neighborhood doing tree work amiright?!
The tree guys finished up on Monday, so Tuesday we really did get back work this week. EVERYONE did. Eros did a workout with his Equibands. He was not thrilled, but he worked hard, and did great. Shiny actually went forward and lifted her little belly. It was great. I was so happy with both of them!
And then there's this one:

He's real cute though, yes? That's his saving grace. Man, he was terrible yesterday. Fully unhinged. But I just kept trying. As patiently as I could. It was a terrible ride. I couldn't successfully use the whole ring. I'm not sure I successfully used much of any of the ring. But we kept at it. Lots of transitions and circles. Did we avoid the terrifying side? Sure did! Because honestly he was spooking everywhere at everything, and I needed to try and do what I could in the least scary areas. Sometimes you choose your battles. I didn't really expect him to come out and be good after several days of scary tree noises and even more days of just tack walking. So I was emotionally prepared for the bad ride. Somewhat. I still wanted to cry in frustration the entire ride, but any good horse woman knows, you can cry and canter at the same time! I mean, I didn't cry... But man it was close. I barely cantered either, but we DID. At least a little bit. I was again perplexed by his ability to perform lovely transitions while simultaneously only giving me 15% of his attention.
I didn't have a ton of time today but I was determined to get a jump school in with whoever chose to cooperate for that. Thankfully, they sort of all did. I started with Shiny because she can do the most at the moment and she's a real confidence builder for me. (The real MVP!) Of course she started out being lazy as she does. I swear she loves to make me pick a fight with her. I finally did as she goaded me into and gave her a good whack with mr tappy. She had thoughts, but then finally decided to engage herself and gallop forward.
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The feelings. |
She's so easy to ride when she's going forward. Like you can't really find a bad distance if you have a good canter. But convincing her to canter like that takes some cajoling! She was great though. I really appreciate her.



I did Al second. I might have preferred to do Eros in that spot, but I knew I'd be rushing at the end of the day, and I could do some of the end of day stuff while Eros was icing, so it made more sense to do him last. I took apart the ducky jump and made a line of trot poles for Al in its place. I had them raised because he really does need to do more of that for his hitchy patella. I figured we could meet them during our pre ride hand walk. He acted like he'd never seen such a thing in his life. (He has. Many, many times.) I think the issue was with where they were and not what they were. Anyway, he did follow me through them, but hulk smashed his way through each time requiring multiple resets. And a few stepped on ducks. Thankfully the ducks bounced right back. Anyway, eventually I decided to just keep the poles on the ground for today. I'm all for minimizing danger.
Once on, he did his dragon panic breathing the first times through but eventually walked through them nicely. Trying to get him to trot through them was... a slow and steady process. He also had to poop which wasn't helping matters. Finally he actually did poop and then things got easier. Somewhat. We're still having massive drama about the one side of ring. But he wasn't as unhinged about the rest of it today, so I'll call that a win. I even gathered up my lady balls and aimed him at some tiny jumps. I'm not going to lie, I picked the ones not aimed directly at the death side. Minimizing risk! That's my jam. Anyway, he wasn't great, but he tried. And that's really all I want from him. He did nearly get me off at one point.
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That was a close one! |
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I must have grabbed his face because he did this little rear. NAUGHTY! |
But then we carried on and finished our ride.
I honestly don't think I'm getting anywhere with this horse. But I also think if I can just be a little braver we can still do the things I want to do, even if he is unhinged. I wish they had a brave shot. I could really use one of those. We're having another lesson on Saturday so maybe with someone on the ground things will come together a little more. I'm just going to take Dory's advice and just keep swimming!
Saving Eros for last was actually the best plan because there's no surprises. He might torpedo after the jumps, but he's not going to try and drop me. He won't stop at the jumps. He just does the thing. Sometimes too fast, or he pulls hard, or whatever. But he's pretty perfect otherwise. Safe. Reliable. FUN! And he did most all of that today. Haha! I love him so much.
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The little ears... |
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pinging over this lil' oxer |
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practically perfect in every way |
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With a wee little torpedo at the end for good measure Haha! Silly boy. |
We have lots coming up the rest of the week and weekend. Tomorrow the body worker is finally coming! We haven't seen her since November, so we're LONG overdo for that. Friday Shiny's kiddo is coming to ride. We're VERY excited for that. And at some point the farrier is hopefully coming because we're at six weeks which is about a week too long for these hoof growers. And Saturday is Al's lesson. Lots to look forward to!
Do you all have any big fun plans for the weekend?