After Margaret and I had such a fun time at the fall hunter pace, we opted to go again this spring! This time, while I rode Rejoice again, Margaret rode her horse Jester and had a friend ride Ladyhawke. All Kennebec Morgans!! Jester and Rejoice have the same dam and Jester and Lady share the same sire. Unfortunately instead of a lovely late spring day, we had one of the first intensely hot and humid days of the year. It was definitely a bummer, but the ride was mostly in the shade of the woods and we had a great time! most of the fences were 3' coops but we found a small log and this hay to jump haha Until we didn't. 😑 We brought along a third friend who rode Margaret's older mare, Ladyhawke. She's a good rider but hasn't known Ladyhawke for very long and didn't realize how much of a cranky boss mare she could be at times. She kicked Jester right in the front leg just about halfway through the ride, and while the cut itself ended up not being a big deal in the
My vet was here for spring shots today. Almost $600 later.......both mares have their vaccinations, rabies, and Coggins. I did a fecal for the heck of it and also bought a new tube of Banamine. Thankfully for my checkbook, I do teeth floating in the fall, so I can spread the wealth around.
So far, no issues. It seems that there are always issues with spring shots: a colic, nasty sore necks, or even hives and seizure episodes! (Yes, one year Sparky totally became covered in HUGE hives and then had what appeared to be a seizure about 10 minutes after the vet left. Scary stuff. Luckily, the vet was just next door and was able to come back over within 5 minutes. She ended up being fine, but I was pretty shook up.)
But tonight, all looks well. A tiny bit of swelling on the point of buttock area, but nothing else. Both mares had their shots between 2:30-3:30 and cleaned up their dinners at 5:30. SO here's hoping we are OK.
Yesterday I had a good ride in the gorgeous weather. The field was OK for walking and some trotting, but when I rode at about 9:45 AM, the snow was pretty hard. Instead of being sorta mushy and easy to trot through, it was hard and crunchy. She kept falling into it, rather than being able to just plow through it.
GRRRR.....
So we did about 15 mins. in the field and called it good. I was frustrated with having such a nice day but not being able to enjoy it. Being at home alone, I did not want to go out on the road. So back in the barn yard, I realized the incredible amounts of MUD PUDDLES in the driveway would be a good opportunity to school. Dreamy has a weird thing with puddles.....she bends her body into odd contortions to avoid having to get her toes wet......about the third try, she sighs loudly and splashes through. She is really NOT afraid, just wants to test me and be SURE that I REALLY do want her to get her princess feet wet.
And you wanna know what she did? All that perfect puddle mess to practice with? She just blazed right on through the deepest spot the first time I asked. No body contortions, not even a blink of an eyelid. Either she is over her water "thing" or she is over her "OMG-I-can't-get-my-hooves-wet-because-I-am-a-ballerina-princess!" thing.
Either way, I made her do it a bunch of times. Her hind socks were as black as the rest of her body. :D
Then I decided that I might as well use the flat part of the driveway to do some trotting. OK, technically it is the road in front of my house, but because it is a discontinued town road and the plow guy stops at my house (read: there is a 6 foot high SNOWBANK so no cars can pass until it melts) I can get about 20-30 trot strides in a straight line, then turn and come back. Yes it sucks. But this is exactly how I got her ready to show back in 2007. And as I recall, we did pretty damn good that year. ;-)
She was all wobbly and looky and "OMG-I-can't-remember-how-to-listen!" mare. So I pushed her naughty self up into the bit, sat up tall, and made her WORK. She was fine until she spotted Sparky down in the lower part of her paddock, which is out in the scary trees. I think she forgot what Sparky looked like.....hmmmm....lost her mind for a moment and was immediately COVERED in sweat. Now, mind you, she did nothing naughty, just got tense and SWEATY. Ah, mares. No idea how she can became instantly lathered, but she did.
Well, we worked through THAT whole thing and soon we were doing LOVELY sitting trot, walk, rising trot, walk, halt transitions. Back and forth. Back and forth. Her sitting trot was so fabulous I was happy with accomplishing something. Actually, I was happy that she became scared mare for a few moments, seeing as normally at home she is totally chill and relaxed. This is more of how she acts at the track. So obviously I can never practice calming techniques at home.
No canter, as the footing in the field was ATROCIOUS and there was no room in the driveway, but that is OK.
Now, had I been able to ride her today, and done the SAME thing? She would have been fine. This horse just needs CONSISTENCY and really needs to be ridden 4-5 days a week. After an entire week off, it is normal for her to be as high as a kite. At least she is obedient and listens to me. Though she did crow hop when I poked her side because she was being a blob at one point.
Ah, mares. And spring rides. :p S is going to be on "mud season vacation" soon, so I will have plenty of time to start our real training.....without a week off in between.
So far, no issues. It seems that there are always issues with spring shots: a colic, nasty sore necks, or even hives and seizure episodes! (Yes, one year Sparky totally became covered in HUGE hives and then had what appeared to be a seizure about 10 minutes after the vet left. Scary stuff. Luckily, the vet was just next door and was able to come back over within 5 minutes. She ended up being fine, but I was pretty shook up.)
But tonight, all looks well. A tiny bit of swelling on the point of buttock area, but nothing else. Both mares had their shots between 2:30-3:30 and cleaned up their dinners at 5:30. SO here's hoping we are OK.
Yesterday I had a good ride in the gorgeous weather. The field was OK for walking and some trotting, but when I rode at about 9:45 AM, the snow was pretty hard. Instead of being sorta mushy and easy to trot through, it was hard and crunchy. She kept falling into it, rather than being able to just plow through it.
GRRRR.....
So we did about 15 mins. in the field and called it good. I was frustrated with having such a nice day but not being able to enjoy it. Being at home alone, I did not want to go out on the road. So back in the barn yard, I realized the incredible amounts of MUD PUDDLES in the driveway would be a good opportunity to school. Dreamy has a weird thing with puddles.....she bends her body into odd contortions to avoid having to get her toes wet......about the third try, she sighs loudly and splashes through. She is really NOT afraid, just wants to test me and be SURE that I REALLY do want her to get her princess feet wet.
And you wanna know what she did? All that perfect puddle mess to practice with? She just blazed right on through the deepest spot the first time I asked. No body contortions, not even a blink of an eyelid. Either she is over her water "thing" or she is over her "OMG-I-can't-get-my-hooves-wet-because-I-am-a-ballerina-princess!" thing.
Either way, I made her do it a bunch of times. Her hind socks were as black as the rest of her body. :D
Then I decided that I might as well use the flat part of the driveway to do some trotting. OK, technically it is the road in front of my house, but because it is a discontinued town road and the plow guy stops at my house (read: there is a 6 foot high SNOWBANK so no cars can pass until it melts) I can get about 20-30 trot strides in a straight line, then turn and come back. Yes it sucks. But this is exactly how I got her ready to show back in 2007. And as I recall, we did pretty damn good that year. ;-)
She was all wobbly and looky and "OMG-I-can't-remember-how-to-listen!" mare. So I pushed her naughty self up into the bit, sat up tall, and made her WORK. She was fine until she spotted Sparky down in the lower part of her paddock, which is out in the scary trees. I think she forgot what Sparky looked like.....hmmmm....lost her mind for a moment and was immediately COVERED in sweat. Now, mind you, she did nothing naughty, just got tense and SWEATY. Ah, mares. No idea how she can became instantly lathered, but she did.
Well, we worked through THAT whole thing and soon we were doing LOVELY sitting trot, walk, rising trot, walk, halt transitions. Back and forth. Back and forth. Her sitting trot was so fabulous I was happy with accomplishing something. Actually, I was happy that she became scared mare for a few moments, seeing as normally at home she is totally chill and relaxed. This is more of how she acts at the track. So obviously I can never practice calming techniques at home.
No canter, as the footing in the field was ATROCIOUS and there was no room in the driveway, but that is OK.
Now, had I been able to ride her today, and done the SAME thing? She would have been fine. This horse just needs CONSISTENCY and really needs to be ridden 4-5 days a week. After an entire week off, it is normal for her to be as high as a kite. At least she is obedient and listens to me. Though she did crow hop when I poked her side because she was being a blob at one point.
Ah, mares. And spring rides. :p S is going to be on "mud season vacation" soon, so I will have plenty of time to start our real training.....without a week off in between.
20-30 strides of trot is better then no trot in my book! And i hear you about spring shots...not cheap! Glad the girls were okay after them. And when you look around at your muddy driveway that you have to ride in and get mad, just remind yourlself that indoors are for weenies :P
ReplyDelete