Catch Up

Well, I knew I had been busy, but I hadn't realized it had been so long since I posted. I think this kind of delay explains why I have so many half-empty journals. In my defense, the weather was crappy (which is actually odd for March in the Carolinas) and I was swamped. Part of the swamping is just getting life things done, but a big part of it is helping my son George with homework. He has so much, and though he doesn't need my help to do the work, he does need me there to keep his nose to the grindstone, and it wears me out.

Apropos of nothing, this is Sugar, one of the barn cats.
Unlike me, she doesn't appear to be tired.

I did get to ride again, but sadly it did not go as well I had hoped. Skye did the same thing she usually does with her trotting; she throws her head up and hollows out her back and even puts her ears back, which is very un-Skye-like. And once she trots, she doesn't want to come back to a walk. This is especially odd since it seems to pain her to trot. I did trot her a good bit to get her some exercise, but the next day I put my other saddle on her,  despite the fact that I bought  my new saddle especially to fit her.

The other saddle is a used Siegfried Stubben that I got off of eBay. I had ridden in the same type of saddle as a teenager and had this idea that it was just the best. Of course, then I was 125 pounds and rode for hours a day. Probably anything would fit my little butt. I hadn't put this one on Skye yet, and I have to say, the minute I was in it, it felt like home. I loved it. I also have to say though, that it sits pretty low on my girl's withers, and she behaved exactly the same way. I have looked at all sorts of things about saddle fitting, and had several people look at the way my Wintec fits her, and we have pretty much eliminated the saddle fit as the problem, but I'm sure it will continue to bug me.

Anyway, I was rather discouraged by this, as I felt like I was back at square one, then it rained off and on preventing me from riding. My Wednesday visits were great though. I was so tired both Wednesdays from work, from George's homework and from that durn class I'm teaching that I didn't even thinking about riding since it requires such patience. But my Wednesdays were wonderful.

Her Highness, waiting to be groomed

I groomed Skye and loved on her, then worked her a little on the lunge line just to get her moving and listening to me. I saw a little head bob in one direction, which sent my heart to my knees. Carey was grooming Nigel nearby, and I asked her to take a look. She saw it too, but suggested we let her run at liberty in the big arena so she could stretch out. I let her off the lead line and waved my arms at her. She stared at me. I tried to chase her, and she just kind of followed me around. Then I shook the lead line at her and she trotted in a circle around me as if on an invisible line.

When Carey finished laughing at us, she chased my girl, who trotted off and after about 10 strides looked perfect. Carey chased her again, and Skye cantered around, showing us a little buck for good measure. She ran around a little for fun, then spied some nice grass in a corner and stopped abruptly, put her head down and started munching. Carey and Craig agreed that she was adorable, and I don't even think they were humoring me.

Last Wednesday was also great. I was even more tired this time, but I really wanted to see my girl and get that release of tension that nothing but horses gives me. They were feeding when I got there, so I did my dinky duty first. (Those boys trotted up to me on their little stripey legs and pushed each other aside for carrots. Progress!) Then I just took my brushes out to the pasture and brushed Skye and Reebok in their feeding spaces as the sun started to go down. They were both filthy from rolling in mud.

Sweet Meat. You can see how dirt his legs are.
He is actually happier to be with me
than he looks. Or at least that's my story.

Skye stood like a statue while I groomed her and seemed to like it a lot better than in a grooming bay. She has that pull-back thing lurking in the back of her brain, and I can tell she is always more comfortable when she is not tied. When I had finished, I just let her go to graze on the nice grass in the separate feeding area and headed over to Reebok.

I usually don't get to brush him much because he is so antsy in the cross ties, and frankly I want to work on other things with him when I have the time. But this night was really good because he was completely relaxed being so near his herd and not tied up in any way. I brushed him pretty well, to the point where you can tell the borders of his white and his flea-bitten grey. He is actually a paint of with light flea-bitten grey and white, but you have to look closely to see it, and when he is dirty, as he has been, you can't tell it at all. I picked up his two front feet, but he balked a little at his back feet. I didn't insist on lifting his back hooves, since I wanted to keep things very relaxed (and I was out there alone, as the other folks were in the barn). I did rub his back legs and handled his fetlocks, and he let out a big sigh. Which is some progress. Then I leaned on his back from both sides, putting some weight on him. At first he just looked at me, then he relaxed and before I was done, he leaned into me a little. He loves his forehead to be rubbed, so I rubbed on him a little. At one point, I was rubbing his head and when I turned around, Skye was right there, looking for her forehead rub. Needless to say, I was feeling great by the time I put them back in the pasture together and put my brushes away.