Her Excellency!

Her Excellency

Oh my goodness, did we have a good day today! My goals today were for her to have good manners, lunge with the saddle on at a walk and trot and attempt to get her to walk around in the ring without breaking into a trot. I really wanted to see if the problem was the saddle or me or her or what.  It turns out, the problem looks like it was just that she was taught the wrong things, some by previous owners and some by me and my last trainer.

It was feeding time when I arrived, so I got to bring her in to eat, which I love since it gets me the credit of feeding her.  She was pretty anxious to get to her food, but wasn't too pushy being led.  I stopped her a couple of times to make sure she would stop nicely and listen. She usually does this for me, but since she is handled for feeding by many people, I want to remind her of her manners for their sake as well.

While she was eating, I got out the saddle, pads, girth and bridle and put them on the rail of the round pen which is in front of her stall. I stopped by her stall with the tack and showed it to her, and she made a show of being nervous about it. Which I strongly suspect is a bunch of bullshit since it didn't make her move an inch away from her feed tub even though it was empty. So I put the saddle pad over her stall door to let her approach it on her own. She went and stood in the corner of her stall, but let out a big sigh. I leaned over it to speak to her, and she came forward and stuck her nose toward me.  Like she was saying, "I would come closer but that pad scares me!" Hmm. I wasn't buying it.

I turned and walked away and stood to the side so I could see her in the stall, and see the door and watch. In two seconds, she was over there giving that saddle pad a good sniff, ears relaxed. Scared of it, my butt.

Then I put her in the cross ties, and she was perfect. She seemed nervous about them the first couple of times, but I'm thinking that was all for show too now. I took a long time in grooming her,  just because it's fun for me and relaxing for her. She doesn't act like she loves it, but the more time we spend in each other's presence, the better.

I saddled her untied in the round pen, and she was fine. She did about a half step to the side when I put on the saddle, but stopped when I said "whoa." Fine when I tightened the girth, just good as gold.

But, when I lunged her with the saddle on, she wanted to trot. She didn't, and she listened when I told her to walk, but she kept looking at me as if she were confused. This goes with the behavior of wanting to trot right off the bat once I'm in the saddle. So, I'm teaching her it is fine to walk in the ring and fine to walk with the saddle on. She was more resistant to stopping with the saddle on as well, and I had to get her to stop several times before I got the speed of response I wanted, which is completely different from her behavior without the saddle.

While I was lunging her, I noted that the saddle did seem to fit her back correctly and give her shoulders plenty of room to move. She did not seem uncomfortable with it either, so I felt a lot better about that. She did seem to have a little irregularity in her gait though, so I asked Erin (barn owner) to take a look. In one direction she seemed fine, but she bobbed her head a little in the other direction (counterclockwise) and she seemed to be limping slightly on her front left leg. It was very slight though, and it could be stiffness from not being worked. I decided not to trot her anymore but to get on and just see I would have more success walking her in the ring.

I had to psych myself up for it a little, since last week she was running me into the side of the ring a little at a fast walk and breaking gait every 10-12 steps. But I was hoping as I got on that 1) she would have absorbed something about being able to walk in the ring and under saddle and 2) I would be more prepared to handle it if she had not.

I should have trusted my smart girl.  She walked like a dream the whole 30 minutes I was on her.  She has never walked so nicely with me in the ring since the day I got her. She tensed up a couple of times, and I just relaxed my body and said, very clearly "walk," and then a very calm but happy "good girl" when she dropped her head back and walked. If she sped up, I said "easy," like I did when we were lunging, and then "good girl" again when she slowed back down. Perfect. Watching us you would not have known that her walking in the ring was a problem.  I would walk her around in the ring, turning and circling every now and then, then I would let her just stop and drop her head and breathe. She was so so good, and I was so happy with her.

And, as luck would have it, a young girl (18 or so) who has a gorgeous gelding out there, came to help me get on. (I always imagine I need Skye to be held when I get on, but I don't. She stands like a statue.) It turns out her horse is an off the track Thoroughbred, and she has dealt with some of the same issues I have with Skye. She offered to help with me however I needed it!

As we were talking, I mentioned my suspicions that Skye had been barrel raced at some point.  So many things seem to point to it: she knows ring etiquette but wants to speed around, she drops her shoulder when she turns, she's well trained in other aspects like ground manners, trailer loading, etc. , and she showed a distinct interest in the barrel in the ring the first time I rode her in a ring. She is also equally comfortable in Western and English tack, but has quick gaits like a hunter/jumper, not the jog and lope of a Western pleasure horse. So while I was walking her, I tried neck reining, just to see what she did.  She responded perfectly. Beautifully. What else does this horse know?  Reining? Jumping? Theoretical physics? It's crazy.

I wanted to quit while I was ahead, so I got off and untacked her, then hand-grazed her on the clover for a few minutes and loved on her while she grazed. So so happy with that girl today.