Saturday
Ten more days until I finish writing on this blog. I can hardly believe it. It is going to be so weird to not write what's going on anymore.
It was such a beautiful day today so I rode Brie outside. She was an absolute doll, I am so proud of her. I think she is really coming along in her old(er) age. Now if only she can keep it up in the show ring.
The music was super loud today (ugh), so we put the pom poms in Harry's ears to try to help block it out so that he could focus. My mom was riding him first and then came outside by me, saying that he doesn't want to flex to the right. I wanted to work on that before I got on and got him to flex on the ground after some struggle. When I got on, I wanted to flex before we started moving and he was good on the left, but boy when he got to the right, he went berserk. He just about threw me off, he was trying to rear to avoid the flex. I got off and made him longe to the right and at first he was like a bat out of hell. After he calmed down, I had him stop and worked on flexing to the right again on the ground and he was much better at it this time. Once he was going easy, I got back on and tried again and he was hesitant but better at it. After he was giving his head to me easily, I walked around with him a couple of laps, took a pass on the board, flexed some more, and got off. I can't tell if he's just being stubborn or if there is some pain there. Everyone is now saying that he is not broke at the pole, so we have to work on that too now, along with the pacing, although I think that once he is broke at the pole, he will be more balanced and the pacing issue should work itself out.
Monday, April 1, 2013
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Days 288 & 289
Saturday
We got up and out super early. Surprisingly, I was full of energy! It was also super nice outside, so I decided that I would ride outside. I was a little hesitant, since they haven't been ridden outdoors since fall, but I took Brie out to do our little program like nothing was different and after a few bucks of happiness, she settled right into it! We got ready to ride and were out there riding before anyone else was ready and she was sooo calm! It was a really nice surprise. She walked so slowly and was just happily going along with no problems. She tried to speed up a tiny bit when we would turn the corners to face going towards the gate, but with a little correction she regained her focus and settled back into a beautifully slow walk. Our corto was equally as calm. It was fantastic! Once everyone else came out she got a little hyper, but not really badly. We went outside in the fields to walk around and she was not super crazy so that was a plus! She actually wasn't bad at all. Never tried to stop or run away on me, just plugged along in her corto. =] It was truly a great day.
In other news...we're changing farriers. Our current farrier, according to the vet, cut Jane's horses hooves at all different angles. This lead to mass confusion but when confronted about it, the farrier had good explanations (supposedly) for what he did. After talking more with Nick, he explained how just being off on angles a tiny bit can make the horse not gait well or go into a pace. Harry has been pacing...so now we're concerned. We've decided on going back to a previous farrier that Gary and Nick fly in from Puerto Rico who supposedly specializes in Paso Finos.
This whole farrier v. vet business makes me anxious. Do farriers and vets ever really get along? And I'm not entirely convinced that Pasos need a special farrier just for their hooves. If the farrier is good, he should be able to comprehend adjusting the angles as necessary for the breed and conformation of he horse, right?
Sunday
Rode Brie some more today. I didn't use the mounting block because everyone was standing around it like a herd of cattle. I don't get it, really. No one outside of my family uses the mounting block for their horses, but they keep it in an area where they all stand. I might just move it to the corner or something, that way I don't have to keep asking everyone to move so I can use it and then feel judged if Brie doesn't stand still the first time. Also, there is a gazebo in the middle of the arena for this gathering purpose! Can't they go in there?!
It was crummy out today, so as much as I wanted to go back out, we got stuck inside again. Oh well. I'm really confident that Brie is going to do well if we take her to Michigan. This whole spring and show season is getting hectic, at least for me. I want to go to Michigan to show Brie, but my best friend has her graduation on the second day of the show...I'm not sure if my parents will want to drive back on Saturday night so that I can go to graduation. Otherwise, I might just stay home and then Brie will miss another year of showing, since I think Michigan is the last local one before State Fair, which I won't be able to go to because of law school starting, so no one will bring her to show anyways...plus I wanted to be the one to show her...
Anyways. This weekend is Easter! Maybe we'll go out on Friday and Saturday to make up for missing Sunday.
We got up and out super early. Surprisingly, I was full of energy! It was also super nice outside, so I decided that I would ride outside. I was a little hesitant, since they haven't been ridden outdoors since fall, but I took Brie out to do our little program like nothing was different and after a few bucks of happiness, she settled right into it! We got ready to ride and were out there riding before anyone else was ready and she was sooo calm! It was a really nice surprise. She walked so slowly and was just happily going along with no problems. She tried to speed up a tiny bit when we would turn the corners to face going towards the gate, but with a little correction she regained her focus and settled back into a beautifully slow walk. Our corto was equally as calm. It was fantastic! Once everyone else came out she got a little hyper, but not really badly. We went outside in the fields to walk around and she was not super crazy so that was a plus! She actually wasn't bad at all. Never tried to stop or run away on me, just plugged along in her corto. =] It was truly a great day.
In other news...we're changing farriers. Our current farrier, according to the vet, cut Jane's horses hooves at all different angles. This lead to mass confusion but when confronted about it, the farrier had good explanations (supposedly) for what he did. After talking more with Nick, he explained how just being off on angles a tiny bit can make the horse not gait well or go into a pace. Harry has been pacing...so now we're concerned. We've decided on going back to a previous farrier that Gary and Nick fly in from Puerto Rico who supposedly specializes in Paso Finos.
This whole farrier v. vet business makes me anxious. Do farriers and vets ever really get along? And I'm not entirely convinced that Pasos need a special farrier just for their hooves. If the farrier is good, he should be able to comprehend adjusting the angles as necessary for the breed and conformation of he horse, right?
Sunday
Rode Brie some more today. I didn't use the mounting block because everyone was standing around it like a herd of cattle. I don't get it, really. No one outside of my family uses the mounting block for their horses, but they keep it in an area where they all stand. I might just move it to the corner or something, that way I don't have to keep asking everyone to move so I can use it and then feel judged if Brie doesn't stand still the first time. Also, there is a gazebo in the middle of the arena for this gathering purpose! Can't they go in there?!
It was crummy out today, so as much as I wanted to go back out, we got stuck inside again. Oh well. I'm really confident that Brie is going to do well if we take her to Michigan. This whole spring and show season is getting hectic, at least for me. I want to go to Michigan to show Brie, but my best friend has her graduation on the second day of the show...I'm not sure if my parents will want to drive back on Saturday night so that I can go to graduation. Otherwise, I might just stay home and then Brie will miss another year of showing, since I think Michigan is the last local one before State Fair, which I won't be able to go to because of law school starting, so no one will bring her to show anyways...plus I wanted to be the one to show her...
Anyways. This weekend is Easter! Maybe we'll go out on Friday and Saturday to make up for missing Sunday.
Monday, March 18, 2013
Days 286 & 287
Saturday
Yesterday was Brie's birthday!!! She is now 12 years old. It's incredible to think we've had her since she was 3. She truly is the reason for this blog and is the motivation behind all of my efforts to become a better horse trainer and to help others work with their horses. I've learned so much from her and although I've shed some tears over excusals and bad days, I've gained so much more happiness. She is incredibly smart and loving. I only wish that, when I have my own kids, that I will have a horse as special as Brie for them to learn from.
Enough with that before I cry, haha. For her birthday, we brought her a banana and split up the remainder of those Stud Muffins from Harry's birthday last week. It was only my mom and I today, so we didn't ride Nina. Out of the three of them, Nina is probably the only one who will be totally normal with an extra day off. I brushed her off and longed her for a while. My brother never longes her, just hops on and rides, so she was very hoppy and bouncy! I think it made her happy though =]
I rode Brie while my mom rode Harry. She is coming along better, getting way more relaxed walking. I'm finding that having a deeper seat and keeping my hands low is really effective on keeping her steady and her head collected, although it still could use some more work. I might use the draw reins next weekend and see how that goes, but mostly I just do more flexing and circling, but not too much because she gets dizzy easily.
We got ear poms for Harry. Not entirely sure if they worked, because he is pacing again! =[ I rode him and he paced pretty much the whole way, but kept wanting to bolt and go fast, but then we all know that he will pace in a largo too...We really don't know what to do, and it's awful to leave feeling like a failure, especially when you know he's not doing it out of spite. He genuinely wants to do what you ask him, but he just is not gaiting too well. Only in gait over the sound board, and in Pleasure classes they don't have sound boards, so it doesn't even matter. He will never place if he is so visibly pacing.
Sunday
Getting to the end here. Day 287. 13 days left before I officially close this blog. I don't think that will be after show season starts, so I might add a Show Season Summary at the end of the summer. I just can't leave this open-ended! Depending on where I end up for law school, if I end up here I might create a "Notes from a Horse-Trainer (In Training) Part 2", but we'll see.
After some research, we found that Harry is pacing because he has a hollow back. This is fixed by having a slightly lower neck position. Right now his neck is pretty high but his head is tucked and collected so he looks fine, but it's affecting his gait. There might also be some muscle tension, but we can't call out a chiropractor or a massage therapist because they're expensive =/ so we might just put lineament on his back and rub him a little and see what that does.
Brie was fantastic today. Near the end of our work, I felt her really suck herself under and collect, raise her back up and it was phenomenal. I tried to notice what I did differently, if I did anything, but it seemed like I was doing the same as usual! Have to keep noticing the little things until I figure it out.
My brother rode Harry and he was a little upset that he couldn't get him to stop pacing either. My mom used the draw reins and said they worked a bit, but my brother couldn't feel it so he took them off and Harry wasn't much better either.
I rode Nina today instead and she was harder to ride this time than last time! It was hard for me to keep her head set. I guess I should probably add in a ride on her at the end of the days so that I know what I'm doing if I get the chance to show her this season!
After all of the disappointment over Harry, it's hard to be sad when you realize how much he loves us. Some people say it's impossible for a horse to love people, because we're people and they're animals, but you can really tell that he loves us. He was still hot when we were going to put him away, so my mom put a rope around his neck and led him into the arena to walk him around just like that. She dropped the rope and kept walking and he followed her along everywhere! My dad has the video, but didn't send it to me, otherwise I would put it on here. After she got tired, I went in and walked around and he followed me too. I could abruptly turn and change directions and do serpentines, make like I was going one way and then go the other, and no matter what, he followed me! He even stopped when I stopped. And just the look on his face while he was following us was so sweet. Yep, he definitely loves us. That makes up for everything.
Yesterday was Brie's birthday!!! She is now 12 years old. It's incredible to think we've had her since she was 3. She truly is the reason for this blog and is the motivation behind all of my efforts to become a better horse trainer and to help others work with their horses. I've learned so much from her and although I've shed some tears over excusals and bad days, I've gained so much more happiness. She is incredibly smart and loving. I only wish that, when I have my own kids, that I will have a horse as special as Brie for them to learn from.
Enough with that before I cry, haha. For her birthday, we brought her a banana and split up the remainder of those Stud Muffins from Harry's birthday last week. It was only my mom and I today, so we didn't ride Nina. Out of the three of them, Nina is probably the only one who will be totally normal with an extra day off. I brushed her off and longed her for a while. My brother never longes her, just hops on and rides, so she was very hoppy and bouncy! I think it made her happy though =]
I rode Brie while my mom rode Harry. She is coming along better, getting way more relaxed walking. I'm finding that having a deeper seat and keeping my hands low is really effective on keeping her steady and her head collected, although it still could use some more work. I might use the draw reins next weekend and see how that goes, but mostly I just do more flexing and circling, but not too much because she gets dizzy easily.
We got ear poms for Harry. Not entirely sure if they worked, because he is pacing again! =[ I rode him and he paced pretty much the whole way, but kept wanting to bolt and go fast, but then we all know that he will pace in a largo too...We really don't know what to do, and it's awful to leave feeling like a failure, especially when you know he's not doing it out of spite. He genuinely wants to do what you ask him, but he just is not gaiting too well. Only in gait over the sound board, and in Pleasure classes they don't have sound boards, so it doesn't even matter. He will never place if he is so visibly pacing.
Sunday
Getting to the end here. Day 287. 13 days left before I officially close this blog. I don't think that will be after show season starts, so I might add a Show Season Summary at the end of the summer. I just can't leave this open-ended! Depending on where I end up for law school, if I end up here I might create a "Notes from a Horse-Trainer (In Training) Part 2", but we'll see.
After some research, we found that Harry is pacing because he has a hollow back. This is fixed by having a slightly lower neck position. Right now his neck is pretty high but his head is tucked and collected so he looks fine, but it's affecting his gait. There might also be some muscle tension, but we can't call out a chiropractor or a massage therapist because they're expensive =/ so we might just put lineament on his back and rub him a little and see what that does.
Brie was fantastic today. Near the end of our work, I felt her really suck herself under and collect, raise her back up and it was phenomenal. I tried to notice what I did differently, if I did anything, but it seemed like I was doing the same as usual! Have to keep noticing the little things until I figure it out.
My brother rode Harry and he was a little upset that he couldn't get him to stop pacing either. My mom used the draw reins and said they worked a bit, but my brother couldn't feel it so he took them off and Harry wasn't much better either.
I rode Nina today instead and she was harder to ride this time than last time! It was hard for me to keep her head set. I guess I should probably add in a ride on her at the end of the days so that I know what I'm doing if I get the chance to show her this season!
After all of the disappointment over Harry, it's hard to be sad when you realize how much he loves us. Some people say it's impossible for a horse to love people, because we're people and they're animals, but you can really tell that he loves us. He was still hot when we were going to put him away, so my mom put a rope around his neck and led him into the arena to walk him around just like that. She dropped the rope and kept walking and he followed her along everywhere! My dad has the video, but didn't send it to me, otherwise I would put it on here. After she got tired, I went in and walked around and he followed me too. I could abruptly turn and change directions and do serpentines, make like I was going one way and then go the other, and no matter what, he followed me! He even stopped when I stopped. And just the look on his face while he was following us was so sweet. Yep, he definitely loves us. That makes up for everything.
Monday, March 11, 2013
Days 284 & 285
Saturday
Yesterday was Harry's 8th birthday!! Naturally, today we had to celebrate =] We bought him special cookies, not those cheapie treats that they sell in the feed stores. They're called Stud Muffins!
He definitely enjoyed them. They seemed kind of sticky like peanut butter is when dogs eat it, because he kept sticking his tongue out.
Today was also farrier day. Nina had to be tranquilized, so we couldn't ride her, but my mom and I rode Brie and Harry for a short time after they were trimmed. I rode Brie, and she was super full of energy today! Her head is coming down better and I need to look for supplements that will help her gain muscle in her back end, because her butt is not as round and muscular as Harry's and Nina's. Her's is kind of not hollow but not filled in either. I think that increased muscle will also help with her arthritis.
Sunday
Today I got to ride Harry AND Nina!! What a treat! I rode Brie first. I'm really working on sitting back and deep in the saddle and not letting my hands get to high or lean too far forward. I think it helps with her balance. I feel weird, I constantly keep changing my seat with Brie. I feel like this current trend is going more back to her roots whereas I was sitting more forward during my jumping lessons and then a little further back after those ended. Now I'm finally really sitting back and deep again and I think it's helping with her headset a little bit.
Harry, we've decided, is going to go into Pleasure class. Rather than trying to work him up to be all excited for Performance class and risk him losing his gait, we'll settle for the pokey relaxed gait he seems to like right now and put him in Pleasure and see how he does. If he wins, it'll be a good choice! He is a lot more calm when I'm not trying to get him to move quicker but stay in gait. He didn't break much at all so that was fantastic. He is also walking very nicely finally. All we have to work on now is getting him to largo!
Nina was a blast. She is so funny, she will get into races with Brie if they're going side by side. She has a pretty fast largo! Not as fast as Brie though, but she will do wonderfully in Pleasure and Performance.
For the shows this year, we're seriously talking about bringing Brie! Our first show is the Midwest Classic in May down in St. Louis and we're thinking of bringing Harry and Nina to that one, since it's more competitive. Then the second show is in Michigan in June and we're thinking of bringing Brie and Nina to that one because it's more relaxed and while it's still competitive, not a lot of the big barns go to it so it's more smaller barns and families for a calmer atmosphere that I think Brie will like. She was in Michigan before though...tried to run back to the barn while I was still on her. But that was years ago. We have a little system in place. I think that as long as I longe her on the line for a bit and keep myself calm and just go in with the goal of making it through the class and staying as relaxed as possible, we will do well.
Yesterday was Harry's 8th birthday!! Naturally, today we had to celebrate =] We bought him special cookies, not those cheapie treats that they sell in the feed stores. They're called Stud Muffins!
He definitely enjoyed them. They seemed kind of sticky like peanut butter is when dogs eat it, because he kept sticking his tongue out.
Today was also farrier day. Nina had to be tranquilized, so we couldn't ride her, but my mom and I rode Brie and Harry for a short time after they were trimmed. I rode Brie, and she was super full of energy today! Her head is coming down better and I need to look for supplements that will help her gain muscle in her back end, because her butt is not as round and muscular as Harry's and Nina's. Her's is kind of not hollow but not filled in either. I think that increased muscle will also help with her arthritis.
Sunday
Today I got to ride Harry AND Nina!! What a treat! I rode Brie first. I'm really working on sitting back and deep in the saddle and not letting my hands get to high or lean too far forward. I think it helps with her balance. I feel weird, I constantly keep changing my seat with Brie. I feel like this current trend is going more back to her roots whereas I was sitting more forward during my jumping lessons and then a little further back after those ended. Now I'm finally really sitting back and deep again and I think it's helping with her headset a little bit.
Harry, we've decided, is going to go into Pleasure class. Rather than trying to work him up to be all excited for Performance class and risk him losing his gait, we'll settle for the pokey relaxed gait he seems to like right now and put him in Pleasure and see how he does. If he wins, it'll be a good choice! He is a lot more calm when I'm not trying to get him to move quicker but stay in gait. He didn't break much at all so that was fantastic. He is also walking very nicely finally. All we have to work on now is getting him to largo!
Nina was a blast. She is so funny, she will get into races with Brie if they're going side by side. She has a pretty fast largo! Not as fast as Brie though, but she will do wonderfully in Pleasure and Performance.
For the shows this year, we're seriously talking about bringing Brie! Our first show is the Midwest Classic in May down in St. Louis and we're thinking of bringing Harry and Nina to that one, since it's more competitive. Then the second show is in Michigan in June and we're thinking of bringing Brie and Nina to that one because it's more relaxed and while it's still competitive, not a lot of the big barns go to it so it's more smaller barns and families for a calmer atmosphere that I think Brie will like. She was in Michigan before though...tried to run back to the barn while I was still on her. But that was years ago. We have a little system in place. I think that as long as I longe her on the line for a bit and keep myself calm and just go in with the goal of making it through the class and staying as relaxed as possible, we will do well.
Monday, March 4, 2013
Days 282 & 283
Saturday
Got out late, so I had even less time to ride. There were also a ton of people at the barn, so I had small space to work in. I managed to force my way in there and longe Brie and work on our flexibility program, which she is getting better at. I think she's getting bored with it now, so I have to figure out something new to add to it.
She was fairly calm while riding, but we're still working on headset. She's gotten really lazy without the pressure to show, so it's taking a lot of work getting her back into show mode.
As show season approaches, I find myself in the same place that I usually end up at this time of year -- wondering if I even want to show. On one hand, it's fun, but it's only fun if you win, which I don't do too often...I can't help but get the feeling that, despite all of my effort, everyone thinks I'm completely incapable of doing anything "right" with horses because I continue to ride horses that don't place firsts while my brother, for example, took over Nina and always wins firsts. It's just very discouraging.
And while I like going to have fun with my horses for the majority of the day and spend all that time with them, I feel like I'd rather be going trail riding or something. I don't know. Since I started riding, I've had this shift in interest from showing to trail riding. It just gets so boring going around in the arena, doing almost the same things every week, constantly trying to make your horse perfect...maybe they just want to relax a bit and go sightseeing.
Sunday
I got to ride Harry today! He was a bundle of anxiety and no matter how many circles I tried to do, he never really calmed down for me...for my mom, he was better, but for me, not too great. He walked really nicely, so I guess that's a plus, since I've struggled with getting him to walk calmly. But he only stayed in gait going over the soundboard and that's just because he's vain.
Brie is putting my patience to the test, once more. Now that I know she knows exactly what I want from her (to stand still at the mounting block), she is seeing if I can keep making her do that. It took at least a few tries to make her stand still at the block, and even then, she wasn't right next to it and I had to scoot it over.
I found out recently that one of my friends got an internship at a barn in Florida. I'm so jealous of her...I wish that I got to go work under a professional and spend my entire day with horses.
I've also decided that, after much thought, I will be ending this blog at Day 300. I was going to do an entire year (365), but after 3 actual years of writing, I've lost a lot of interest in it. I feel my posts getting repetitive lately with no real development happening and want to focus more of my energies into seeing a change in attitude both in myself and in my horses. This blog has really been an inspiration for myself during times where I feel like I'm at a standstill and I'm thankful for it. But with graduation fast approaching and the impending uncertainty of life after college, I don't even know if I'll be able to make it to 365 days in the near future. So I would rather end on a finite note than to be constantly wondering if I will ever have the time or opportunity to come back to this again.
Got out late, so I had even less time to ride. There were also a ton of people at the barn, so I had small space to work in. I managed to force my way in there and longe Brie and work on our flexibility program, which she is getting better at. I think she's getting bored with it now, so I have to figure out something new to add to it.
She was fairly calm while riding, but we're still working on headset. She's gotten really lazy without the pressure to show, so it's taking a lot of work getting her back into show mode.
As show season approaches, I find myself in the same place that I usually end up at this time of year -- wondering if I even want to show. On one hand, it's fun, but it's only fun if you win, which I don't do too often...I can't help but get the feeling that, despite all of my effort, everyone thinks I'm completely incapable of doing anything "right" with horses because I continue to ride horses that don't place firsts while my brother, for example, took over Nina and always wins firsts. It's just very discouraging.
And while I like going to have fun with my horses for the majority of the day and spend all that time with them, I feel like I'd rather be going trail riding or something. I don't know. Since I started riding, I've had this shift in interest from showing to trail riding. It just gets so boring going around in the arena, doing almost the same things every week, constantly trying to make your horse perfect...maybe they just want to relax a bit and go sightseeing.
Sunday
I got to ride Harry today! He was a bundle of anxiety and no matter how many circles I tried to do, he never really calmed down for me...for my mom, he was better, but for me, not too great. He walked really nicely, so I guess that's a plus, since I've struggled with getting him to walk calmly. But he only stayed in gait going over the soundboard and that's just because he's vain.
Brie is putting my patience to the test, once more. Now that I know she knows exactly what I want from her (to stand still at the mounting block), she is seeing if I can keep making her do that. It took at least a few tries to make her stand still at the block, and even then, she wasn't right next to it and I had to scoot it over.
I found out recently that one of my friends got an internship at a barn in Florida. I'm so jealous of her...I wish that I got to go work under a professional and spend my entire day with horses.
I've also decided that, after much thought, I will be ending this blog at Day 300. I was going to do an entire year (365), but after 3 actual years of writing, I've lost a lot of interest in it. I feel my posts getting repetitive lately with no real development happening and want to focus more of my energies into seeing a change in attitude both in myself and in my horses. This blog has really been an inspiration for myself during times where I feel like I'm at a standstill and I'm thankful for it. But with graduation fast approaching and the impending uncertainty of life after college, I don't even know if I'll be able to make it to 365 days in the near future. So I would rather end on a finite note than to be constantly wondering if I will ever have the time or opportunity to come back to this again.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Day 281
I haven't been out for over a week =[ Last weekend we were all very sick. Yesterday we went to see the dog show that was in town. So today was the first day that I saw my babies in a long time!
Of course, something always has to go wrong.
We get in and Harry is sleeping on the floor. No big deal. He gets up and stretches. Seems okay. But then he stays like that, with his feet spread and keeps looking at his stomach and I know something is wrong. I bring him out in the arena to walk him around and he keeps pawing the ground. Yep, he's colicking. I longe him around and then my mom takes over, making him longe and walk and move around. We give him Bute and Banamine and keep him moving.
Meanwhile, I groom up Brie and get ready to ride her. She was like a firecracker when I longed her! After she settled down and after a couple of tries standing still by the mounting block, I got on and went to ride. Because I was so preoccupied with Harry, I didn't have time to do my little program with Brie. She was fine, but her head could have been set better. She had a largo race with Nina and afterwards, I got to cool Nina. =] I've said it before and I'll say it again: if only every horse could be like Nina.
We were getting ready to go, waiting around trying to see if Harry would poop, when, just as we were packing up, he finally did! Hopefully he feels better and that's the last of his colic. I felt much better knowing that happened before I left instead of having to go home and worry about whether he'd be okay or not. Next week sure will be interesting for him after not riding for 2 weeks! Especially if the farrier knocks out one day!
Of course, something always has to go wrong.
We get in and Harry is sleeping on the floor. No big deal. He gets up and stretches. Seems okay. But then he stays like that, with his feet spread and keeps looking at his stomach and I know something is wrong. I bring him out in the arena to walk him around and he keeps pawing the ground. Yep, he's colicking. I longe him around and then my mom takes over, making him longe and walk and move around. We give him Bute and Banamine and keep him moving.
Meanwhile, I groom up Brie and get ready to ride her. She was like a firecracker when I longed her! After she settled down and after a couple of tries standing still by the mounting block, I got on and went to ride. Because I was so preoccupied with Harry, I didn't have time to do my little program with Brie. She was fine, but her head could have been set better. She had a largo race with Nina and afterwards, I got to cool Nina. =] I've said it before and I'll say it again: if only every horse could be like Nina.
We were getting ready to go, waiting around trying to see if Harry would poop, when, just as we were packing up, he finally did! Hopefully he feels better and that's the last of his colic. I felt much better knowing that happened before I left instead of having to go home and worry about whether he'd be okay or not. Next week sure will be interesting for him after not riding for 2 weeks! Especially if the farrier knocks out one day!
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Days 279 & 280
Saturday
Today, my goal was to get Brie on the makeshift Pessoa system that my mom created for Harry. In getting her to move her backend away from me, crossing her legs over each other, I've noticed that she is not as good going counterclockwise as she is going clockwise, but she is making great progress. She knows what I want her to do with that now and she is working to do it.
She was very confused when I put the makeshift Pessoa on her and only walked, but that was all I wanted from her. We did that only for a short while before I got on her. She is getting better at not cantering the corners, so I'm glad for that. Hopefully, I will be able to bring her to show this year. I'm also working on not letting her canter her reverses, since she has a tendency to do that.
Sunday
Spent a longer time with Brie on the makeshift Pessoa. She is also better going clockwise on that than going counterclockwise. She only walked counterclockwise, but was moving out going clockwise, so that was exciting! She collected her head today, but I didn't feel that same whole-body collection while riding like I did a couple of weeks ago. I took her off of two reins today and went back to using one rein. I'd been using two reins for a while now, I forgot when I started, probably late last year, but she responded very well to one rein again. It was also a lot easier to control her speed, probably because there was only pressure on the bit instead of split pressure between the bit and her jaquima.
I didn't get to ride Harry, but my brother did. He had a bit of trouble at the start, but came around. It's good that he got to ride Harry, he always only rides Nina and none of the rest of us ever get to ride her, so that was a nice change.
I wish I was able to go out and ride every day. We can only stay a couple of hours now on the weekends when we go out because my dad's work schedule changed and we have to come back home really early. It'll probably be really hard to be able to ride more than one horse now, because we all like to each ride for over a half and hour and we only have about an hour to ride if this weekend is any example. I'll have to alternate horses each weekend.
Today, my goal was to get Brie on the makeshift Pessoa system that my mom created for Harry. In getting her to move her backend away from me, crossing her legs over each other, I've noticed that she is not as good going counterclockwise as she is going clockwise, but she is making great progress. She knows what I want her to do with that now and she is working to do it.
She was very confused when I put the makeshift Pessoa on her and only walked, but that was all I wanted from her. We did that only for a short while before I got on her. She is getting better at not cantering the corners, so I'm glad for that. Hopefully, I will be able to bring her to show this year. I'm also working on not letting her canter her reverses, since she has a tendency to do that.
Sunday
Spent a longer time with Brie on the makeshift Pessoa. She is also better going clockwise on that than going counterclockwise. She only walked counterclockwise, but was moving out going clockwise, so that was exciting! She collected her head today, but I didn't feel that same whole-body collection while riding like I did a couple of weeks ago. I took her off of two reins today and went back to using one rein. I'd been using two reins for a while now, I forgot when I started, probably late last year, but she responded very well to one rein again. It was also a lot easier to control her speed, probably because there was only pressure on the bit instead of split pressure between the bit and her jaquima.
I didn't get to ride Harry, but my brother did. He had a bit of trouble at the start, but came around. It's good that he got to ride Harry, he always only rides Nina and none of the rest of us ever get to ride her, so that was a nice change.
I wish I was able to go out and ride every day. We can only stay a couple of hours now on the weekends when we go out because my dad's work schedule changed and we have to come back home really early. It'll probably be really hard to be able to ride more than one horse now, because we all like to each ride for over a half and hour and we only have about an hour to ride if this weekend is any example. I'll have to alternate horses each weekend.
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