Saturday
I don't think I've gotten as upset as I did today in a long time. I don't understand what is going on with Harry. I had the draw reins on him but he stil kept throwing his head up in the air and was getting mad, so I eventually took those off and put on normal reins. He was still mad, so I changed his bit. I don't know if he's tired of working or if he's just being lazy, but he will not gait. His boards sounded terrible. He won't gait around the rail. He acts like you're stabbing him if you put a little leg pressure on. Is something wrong with him medically? I don't think there would be. He's acting normal on the ground. I just don't know what to do with him anymore. I had a terrible time and actually cried after I got off. He doesn't want to walk, but he can't figure out how to canter either, he doesn't largo, instead he paces. So he can't do anything right. I really don't know what to do with him and it's very upsetting because I feel like every time we take a step forward, we take three steps back. Is it because of the weather? Is he burned out?
Sunday
The farrier was supposed to come today. He didn't. He thought he was supposed to come next Sunday. So we sat around and wasted half of our day. We rode before we thought he was supposed to be there. I rode Brie today while my mom took Harry. She was very stiff and limping when we started, but after she warmed up she was better. I have to remember that my efforts do pay off, because I've been working so hard with Brie the whole time I've had her and she is so good now. She is calm and happy and responsive and does everything I ask of her. I have fun when I ride her, which is a lot more than I could've said a couple of years ago. I just have to figure out what is wrong with Harry.
He was obnoxious for my mom today too and kept trying to rear. She got mad too, so she got off and brought him out into the round pen and just made him run. By the time I got out there after I brushed off Brie, he was tired and just walking around her. I don't know what is his deal. Is it because he's off of the Calmex? He shouldn't be this stubborn, he is a gelding after all! Does he need a break? Should we leave him alone for a month? I really don't know what to do.
Showing posts with label not so good days. Show all posts
Showing posts with label not so good days. Show all posts
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Days 260 & 261
Saturday
I was concerned that Harry wouldn't be able to ride today because of his leg, but I made him longe before I rode and he wasn't limping, so I tacked him up to ride. He was so strange. He doesn't want to gait, really, and when he does, he goes way too fast. He hates when you apply leg to him, gets mad when you put pressure on the bit. I just don't know what to do with him. He only wants to do circles. Just circles. Circles of all sizes, but not around the arena. My mom told me that he ran out of calmex, so maybe that's the problem? He didn't even have that great of a board. My mom took him and tried to work with him, but he didn't want to cooperate with her either.
I took out my frustration by letting Brie canter around the arena. She loved it and so did I, so at least that was a nice end to the day.
Sunday
My mom took Harry first today and I worked with Brie. I worked on getting her to set her head a little better, since she's been getting lazy, and she responded well. I also did a lot of stretching from the ground with her before I got on. She wanted to go fast but I just kept working on keeping her calm and making her walk and she settled into a nice walk and then a beautiful corto. She had a wonderful board and her head was set so nice. We did mostly corto, I'm working on her reverses too, since she got in the bad habit of cantering those.
Harry was not too great today either. We're going to just continually keep him on the calmex now, since he seems more able to focus on what we're asking of him when he's on that. There was so much going on today for him to focus on, between music playing and people talking, things that shouldn't bother him, but apparently it does. When there's a lot of things going on, he just likes to chase around Nina and follow whatever she's doing, but that's not gonna happen in competition, so he has to stop wanting to do that.
At the end of our ride, we worked on walking over some poles on the ground. At first, not even Brie wanted to go over them, but we were able to get Harry and Brie over them without hopping, just walking over them. Horses sure do test your patience. I wish I could figure out what to do with Harry though. Hopefully he'll be better again once he's back on the calmex.
I was concerned that Harry wouldn't be able to ride today because of his leg, but I made him longe before I rode and he wasn't limping, so I tacked him up to ride. He was so strange. He doesn't want to gait, really, and when he does, he goes way too fast. He hates when you apply leg to him, gets mad when you put pressure on the bit. I just don't know what to do with him. He only wants to do circles. Just circles. Circles of all sizes, but not around the arena. My mom told me that he ran out of calmex, so maybe that's the problem? He didn't even have that great of a board. My mom took him and tried to work with him, but he didn't want to cooperate with her either.
I took out my frustration by letting Brie canter around the arena. She loved it and so did I, so at least that was a nice end to the day.
Sunday
My mom took Harry first today and I worked with Brie. I worked on getting her to set her head a little better, since she's been getting lazy, and she responded well. I also did a lot of stretching from the ground with her before I got on. She wanted to go fast but I just kept working on keeping her calm and making her walk and she settled into a nice walk and then a beautiful corto. She had a wonderful board and her head was set so nice. We did mostly corto, I'm working on her reverses too, since she got in the bad habit of cantering those.
Harry was not too great today either. We're going to just continually keep him on the calmex now, since he seems more able to focus on what we're asking of him when he's on that. There was so much going on today for him to focus on, between music playing and people talking, things that shouldn't bother him, but apparently it does. When there's a lot of things going on, he just likes to chase around Nina and follow whatever she's doing, but that's not gonna happen in competition, so he has to stop wanting to do that.
At the end of our ride, we worked on walking over some poles on the ground. At first, not even Brie wanted to go over them, but we were able to get Harry and Brie over them without hopping, just walking over them. Horses sure do test your patience. I wish I could figure out what to do with Harry though. Hopefully he'll be better again once he's back on the calmex.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Day 201
Guess who's back!
Yeah, after going to the doctor on Friday, it turns out that I don't have a stress fracture in my foot and am good to go! I have to admit, after not walking on it for about three weeks, it's really sore today.
I guess I just expected Harry to be wonderful and for us to have a magical moment because I was able to ride again. As if! He was absolutely dreadful. I even got so fed up with him longeing that I asked my mom to help me out (imagine that!). Eventually he calmed down for me longeing, but then riding was a trainwreck in itself. I felt like I was fighting him the entire time. Now that we've taught him and encouraged him to largo and go fast, that's all he wants to do. I spend a good 2/3 of my ride trying to collect him and get him to slow down. His passes across the board were awful because he kept going out of gait at the end because he'd speed off of them. To add on top of it, every horse on our side of the barn was out in the arena today, along with the horses that Nick was training, PLUS Nicks' daughter Brianna kept running around and squealing (she's 6). Harry almost fishtailed out into her once and I felt bad and scared and I'm sure Nick gave me a dirty look but I couldn't bear look over at him after that, even though Brianna should have definitely not bolted out into the arena so close to where I was working. Ugh. Chaos.
After all was said and done, I got on Brie. Good old Brie. It's so bizarre, going to her and having great rides after I used to cry about how she wouldn't listen to me either only a year ago. While it's frustrating to be dealing with Harry's quirks still after two years of owning him, I need to look back on how long it take to make real progress with Brie and how much of a change there is in her. In short, it took me, on my own, shoot I can't even remember, at least 4 years and a month's supply of mare hormone balancing supplements to get to where we are now together. And while I may feel some days like today that there is little hope for Harry and I, at least there is hope.
Yeah, after going to the doctor on Friday, it turns out that I don't have a stress fracture in my foot and am good to go! I have to admit, after not walking on it for about three weeks, it's really sore today.
I guess I just expected Harry to be wonderful and for us to have a magical moment because I was able to ride again. As if! He was absolutely dreadful. I even got so fed up with him longeing that I asked my mom to help me out (imagine that!). Eventually he calmed down for me longeing, but then riding was a trainwreck in itself. I felt like I was fighting him the entire time. Now that we've taught him and encouraged him to largo and go fast, that's all he wants to do. I spend a good 2/3 of my ride trying to collect him and get him to slow down. His passes across the board were awful because he kept going out of gait at the end because he'd speed off of them. To add on top of it, every horse on our side of the barn was out in the arena today, along with the horses that Nick was training, PLUS Nicks' daughter Brianna kept running around and squealing (she's 6). Harry almost fishtailed out into her once and I felt bad and scared and I'm sure Nick gave me a dirty look but I couldn't bear look over at him after that, even though Brianna should have definitely not bolted out into the arena so close to where I was working. Ugh. Chaos.
After all was said and done, I got on Brie. Good old Brie. It's so bizarre, going to her and having great rides after I used to cry about how she wouldn't listen to me either only a year ago. While it's frustrating to be dealing with Harry's quirks still after two years of owning him, I need to look back on how long it take to make real progress with Brie and how much of a change there is in her. In short, it took me, on my own, shoot I can't even remember, at least 4 years and a month's supply of mare hormone balancing supplements to get to where we are now together. And while I may feel some days like today that there is little hope for Harry and I, at least there is hope.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Day 96
Surprise!!! I got to go out to the stables today! School was being a bore so I went out.
Let's say today wasn't the greatest because I know better.
Harry was psycho. I know it's because I didn't lunge him enough. So we went off and he was okay doing his warmup circles in the counter clockwise, but immediately tried to rear when we went clockwise. I did probably the worst thing imaginable: cried. Yeah, I cried because I was scared. All I could think of was "this horse is gonna kill me". So my mom got off of Brie and we worked.
We went over to the pole and she took the pisador (thank the Hispanics for their inventions) and we lunged. She put the rope around the pole so it would pull on Harry if he pulled her. He kept pulling back to rear again and again and I actually had to kick him to get him to move. Once he settled down, we reversed to the counterclockwise. Of course he was an angel in that direction. We reversed again and he kept pulling and pulling that he snapped the pisador! He didn't go up, though, when he snapped it. Mom tied it back together and we continued on. After a while more of some pulls and kicks, he calmed down for real. She sent me out onto the rail and we managed to walk for a bit before gaiting. I have to admit, my grip on the reins was tight. He tried to go up once but I made him stop. Half wanting to get off, I kept telling myself "I will not get hurt, I will not get hurt" until I calmed myself down. We then gaited as usual and everything was fine. I even loosened my grip considerably by the end. He just needs a lot, A LOT of lunging before riding.
It makes me think back to the Brie Archives, before I even started this blog. We did all sorts of crazy things with her, most of them that people would deem us seriously insane for doing. Example? We'd turn her out in the arena at a full gallop and my brother would go in, sit, and then lay down in the sand while she was running. She'd immediately stop, walk curiously over to him, and sniff like a dog at his hair. He was about 10 at this stage.
Or the time she reared on me, the very first time. I haven't seen my mom as angry at a horse since then until today. After I jumped off once she was down, my mom took the pisador and made her lunge, spinning like a dervish, all while angrily hitting her own leg with her free hand.
Back then, like with the galloping thing, us kids, especially me, didn't know any better. I really thought I was invincible. Helmet? What helmet? I was going for a gallop along the property, or for a mounted stroll in an overflowing red flamenco dress around the fairgrounds at 10pm while cars were leaving. But now, now that I've experienced what could happen should a horse rear and land on it's side, crushing my leg, how I wouldn't be able to walk like when I had knee surgery; or the pain that I saw my mom suffer from a pinched nerve, how she could barely use the left side of her body, that could happen from falling off a horse as well.
But it has to come down to a cautious place between being over-scared and just plain stupid.
Let's say today wasn't the greatest because I know better.
Harry was psycho. I know it's because I didn't lunge him enough. So we went off and he was okay doing his warmup circles in the counter clockwise, but immediately tried to rear when we went clockwise. I did probably the worst thing imaginable: cried. Yeah, I cried because I was scared. All I could think of was "this horse is gonna kill me". So my mom got off of Brie and we worked.
We went over to the pole and she took the pisador (thank the Hispanics for their inventions) and we lunged. She put the rope around the pole so it would pull on Harry if he pulled her. He kept pulling back to rear again and again and I actually had to kick him to get him to move. Once he settled down, we reversed to the counterclockwise. Of course he was an angel in that direction. We reversed again and he kept pulling and pulling that he snapped the pisador! He didn't go up, though, when he snapped it. Mom tied it back together and we continued on. After a while more of some pulls and kicks, he calmed down for real. She sent me out onto the rail and we managed to walk for a bit before gaiting. I have to admit, my grip on the reins was tight. He tried to go up once but I made him stop. Half wanting to get off, I kept telling myself "I will not get hurt, I will not get hurt" until I calmed myself down. We then gaited as usual and everything was fine. I even loosened my grip considerably by the end. He just needs a lot, A LOT of lunging before riding.
It makes me think back to the Brie Archives, before I even started this blog. We did all sorts of crazy things with her, most of them that people would deem us seriously insane for doing. Example? We'd turn her out in the arena at a full gallop and my brother would go in, sit, and then lay down in the sand while she was running. She'd immediately stop, walk curiously over to him, and sniff like a dog at his hair. He was about 10 at this stage.
Or the time she reared on me, the very first time. I haven't seen my mom as angry at a horse since then until today. After I jumped off once she was down, my mom took the pisador and made her lunge, spinning like a dervish, all while angrily hitting her own leg with her free hand.
Back then, like with the galloping thing, us kids, especially me, didn't know any better. I really thought I was invincible. Helmet? What helmet? I was going for a gallop along the property, or for a mounted stroll in an overflowing red flamenco dress around the fairgrounds at 10pm while cars were leaving. But now, now that I've experienced what could happen should a horse rear and land on it's side, crushing my leg, how I wouldn't be able to walk like when I had knee surgery; or the pain that I saw my mom suffer from a pinched nerve, how she could barely use the left side of her body, that could happen from falling off a horse as well.
But it has to come down to a cautious place between being over-scared and just plain stupid.
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