Progress Progress

Girlfriend engaged in her favorite
type of bonding activity.

So now on Friday nights I am working with Sara, who teaches our regular lessons at the barn, and Skye is really making progress.  My big concern with her ring behavior, i.e. throwing her head up and ears back and hollowing out her back when we trot, then not wanting to walk after she has trotted at all, has been that she is in some kind of pain. We have checked her back and saddle fit, and her behavior without tack, with tack and under saddle. And while I am still going to get her looked at by a chiropractor for my own comfort (a barn friend recommended one who is very good and very honest about whether your horse needs treatment or not), it appears that Skye's behavior is behavior based and not based in pain. That being said, I plan to continue doing exercises that supple and strengthen her back.



Anyway, that girlfriend was in heat on Thursday and was in her usual discombobulated mood over it. Plus, someone was shooting a gun somewhere off in the distance which didn't help. But we tacked her up and took her into the arena, where she made me look bad at first by being pretty trotty at the end of the lunge line. She is fine with my longer lead line, but gets tense in the presence of the lunge line and the lunge whip, (though you can run it all over her body and she doesn't flinch).

Sara took over, and worked her at the walk and the trot and helped calm her down. I take it so personally when Skye is unhappy at all, but Sara is encouraging me to trust my horse enough to let her work it out for herself that she is being foolish. Some horses won't get it, some will take a long time to get it, and some, like mine, will get it pretty quickly that the tension is coming from them, not from us. So we got her in her thinking and attention-paying frame of mind, and she calmed down considerably. Then we put the side reins on.

We had put side reins on before, and Skye had been, surprisingly to me, pretty chill about it. Last night, however, was another story. She tried to throw her head a little and kept backing up, but Sara just nudged her forward with the lunge whip until she got that forward with her head in a reasonable position would release the very light pressure. (Sara adjusted them so she had plenty of room to move but still couldn't reach the sky with her nose.) After a little work at the walk, Sara moved her into her trot, and after a couple of circuits of her moving her nose around, Skye settled into what looked like a comfortable rhythmic trot. Just what we were looking for.

Then Sara asked if I wanted to get on her, or have her do it. I've been curious to see if it's me that is causing or contributing to this behavior, and I'm not  going to turn down the opportunity to have a horse professional I trust (I love how she treats Skye, and Skye trusts and likes her, which means so much to me) ride my horse for me! At first, Skye did a nice relaxed walk, then a nice forward walk, and I started feeling pretty crappy, like it was me all along. But no, true to form, about five minutes in, she started breaking gait into a short-strided trot, nose in the air, ears back, back hollow. Sara worked with her teaching her to get comfortable with some contact, and working on her getting the idea to move her body away from real leg pressure, and adjust to normal leg contact. It took a few minutes of stress on Skye's part, but after a while she settled into a more rhythmic trot, like she had on the lunge line, and was getting used to contact. Despite her discombobulated mood, she ended up really doing well. And, shocking news alert: she looked just beautiful. I know I spend more time mooning over her and less time riding her, but I can't help it. I just love that mare.

Today was absolutely beautiful, so I headed out assuming someone would want to take a trail ride. Amazingly, only a couple of people were there riding in the ring. Crazy. So I got that girl and gave her a long intensive grooming, trimming her mane and giving her a little massage based on some techniques I found in an old Equine Massage book I ordered from an online used book seller. She usually acts like she tolerates grooming, but she really relaxed today and seemed to enjoy it.  Then we worked a little in the round pen on stretches and spent some time talking and letting her graze on the clover in the shade. Nothing exciting, but we had a nice time together.

Sweet boy in his stall. Enhance your viewing pleasure by
noting the cross on his back and his tiny hooves.

And, I said a final good-bye to that sweet dinky. He has been caught and put in a stall and will be delivered to his new home, where his sons have been for weeks, probably tomorrow. He looked tiny and alone in the stall, but he recognized me. I wished him good luck with the rest of his donkey life.  I will miss him. He charmed me so with his big eyes and long ears and stripey legs and tiny hooves. If his new owner is half as enchanted with him as I am, he will be fine.

"And I --ee-I will always love you!"
I don't sound a thing like Whitney Houston,
but the sentiment is the same. I love him so.

Fresh Horses

I can't believe it has been a while since I was on here, but I have been out at the barn a lot, spending quality time with my girl and falling in love.

Yes, there is shocking news. I'm in love again; he's an older male, large and distinguished, with a mysterious and somewhat tragic background. This, even when I had vowed to myself not to get attached to another animal whose destiny was not in my control.  I vow to do better in the future.

In the meantime, here he is:

Meet Bo. Short for Beaujolais. Feel free to love him.
Resistance is futile.

Isn't he adorable? Erin has been getting new horses for the program, and she had specifically been looking for a draft horse, since they are calm and can carry larger riders that come out for trail rides. This beautiful boy belonged to a neighbor of one of the regular farriers who comes to the barn. The family that owned him had recently suffered several tragedies in a row, and had to sell their property and needed to place this sweetie pie in a hurry.  It was freakily fortuitous that Erin had a space and a need at the same time this family needed to deal with things other than a horse. He so exactly fits the bill of what Erin needed that she has said she feels guilty that she got him this way.

Erin said he is about 20, and when I mentioned to someone else that he looked liked a Clydesdale that person said she had been told that. Not that it matters. A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. (Yes, Shakespeare! Could you not tell this is an upscale blog?)

Anyway, he is just as sweet as he can be, and pretty much everybody at the barn has fallen for him. He is special friends with Munchkin, which is so adorable it's almost too much to take.  (Good thing those dinkies had built up my immunity so I am not overwhelmed.)

Look at his feathered feet! Enchanting!

We are just walking him at this point to build up his muscles while Erin works on putting a little weight on him. I got to ride him bareback on Thursday, and any scrap of resistance to his charms that I had left was shredded. He was just as good as gold.

Another new guy is Ratchett. He is a registered Paint, but he is completely black, and just as handsome as can be. He is even rather dashing as he has a mustache. I tried to get a picture of it, but he kept kissing on me so I couldn't get one yet. Apparently he is fun to ride, but still tests people and has a hard time picking up on one of his leads. I don't have to care, as I love him anyway.

Just for the record, I still miss Reebok something awful. Only Ginger understands.  She has taken over leadership of Skye's pasture, which is surprising. She has been pushing my girl around a little, but I don't think Skye will take it for long. The dynamics of that pasture changed when Leo was in there, and once he was moved to a different place, Ginger remained her somewhat bullying leadership. The other girls in the pasture, Symphony and Digits (this is one good-looking set of mares, lemme tell ya), don't put up with much from her, but it's not for Ginger's lack of trying. We'll see how long it lasts, but overall the pastures are all well-balanced now.

The Three Bay Mares, Skye, Symphony and Digits.
Skye with her fly mask is still beautiful.
My objectivity is stunning, isn't it?

As for my girl, we are working on getting her problems under saddle finally addressed. I had my first lesson with Sarah, the barn teacher, last Tuesday. Sarah's approach is to get her comfortable giving to pressure in tack (which immediately changes Skye's attitude a little) but not being ridden in the arena,  as much as possible, and riding very casually on trails so she gets a combination of learning to give to pressure, relax with tack, and relax with being ridden. Sarah worked with me and my girl privately two Fridays in a row, and we are seeing real progress. I also am doing some exercises to work her back and using the fancy-pants saddle pad I bought for her (with memory foam!). So while I am actually doing a lot with her, it is different every time and I think she likes that. The best part - Skye loves and trusts Sarah, so I can feel great handing Skye over to her. Unlike when I worked with a trainer before, I no longer have to wince when I watch someone else with my horse.

Yesterday, Dani (who owns the adorable TWH rescue Mosey) and I took our horses for a walk through the woods.  Mosey needs some more weight and conditioning before he can be ridden, and I wanted to work Skye's back on the hills. It was really fun, and a great way to connect with that girl.

In other news, Erin's twin young horses, Tahoe and Reno, are up in the mare pasture, and have taken up with a new boarder's horse, Tomi. Tomi is a really sweet older mare, and the three have instantly bonded. Ginger had been bullying Tomi something terrible when they were in the other pasture, so Erin moved Tomi into the big mare pasture, and it has worked out beautifully.

This is Tomi. Isn't she elegant?

Dinky in the distance.

And the lone dinky remains in the gelding pasture. I've touched him a couple of times, but he is still so suspicious that he wheels away the minute I get too friendly. I feel bad for him, as he must miss his dinky little sons. I'll catch him soon though, even though I will miss his little self.