Finally!

Well I am home again, begrudingly. I went yesterday to visit Mo and Indy to re-aqquaint myself with my fluffy friends. Indy was prety much indifferent to me showing up, she perked her ears and said hello but then moseyed on her way. Mo, on the other hand delighted me entirely. She was in the far corner of what used to be Candy's paddock and didnt notice me until I called her name. What followed was utterly adorable and totally made me squee. Her head shot up, she looked around to see where I was and then GALLOPED her lazy bum allll the way over to me. *squee* You know when your heart does that extra little thump-thump when something really touches you? Thats what happened to me. I just couldnt believe her reaction. I loves my Mo!

I dawdled around with her outside a little, playing some tag and what not before taking the round about route into the barn so I could open the door and let Mo in. Indy, the ever present oppurtunist, weasled her way in as well. Mo and I hung out a bit, played with trying to kneel [its still a bow] and then she went back out. Indy just got some cookies and then went out.

Today was actually a great day. I thought it was raining when I woke up and heard the water dripping from the ... words escape me.. the piping that runs the length of the house and then drains down one tube *right* by my window? Anyways, usually that means it raining, and it was supposed to be, according to the radio weather man. The only plus of the whole forecast was that they were calling for above zero temperatures! I woke up planning my day centred around indoor activites - watching Parelli dvds! Finally got my Savvy Club dvd after all! When I finally dragged myself out of bed and went up to check the actual weather, I was pleasantly surprised! All that dripping I had heard was not the called-for rain at all... it was SNOWMELT! WHOO!!

It wasnt exactly sunshiny, but it was warmish, and not raining. Bonus. I had some things to do this morning - like go to the dollar store, trying to find a ketchup squeeze bottle to make  putting molasses on the bit super simple... alas, no luck on that front, but I did find a snazzy massager to practice clipping with! When I finally got over to the barn, I realized I had forgotten said massager, but all was well, because what  I hadnt forgotten was my Fluidity Saddle!!! Thats right! After goodness knows how long, I finally got to try out my loverly saddle!

Mo was out with the herd in the middle of the pasture along the treeline, but once more, to my infinate delight, she cantered and trotted her way over to me when I called. LOVE IT! Mo is a rock star and a half!  In the barn I brushed her all up, detangled a weeks worth of tangles in her many many hairs... I swear they get thicker when I am not looking... !

After she got all gorgeous we went out to play on the 45' line because it doesnt get so heavy when snow laden. I didnt use the whole thing, but we played with circles and me being NEUTRAL. I have gotten in the habit lately of playing with tranistions on the circle, and not really giving an allow... This last week really reitterated the importance of neutral and an effective allow, so I wanted to play with that a little bit. At first Mo was everywhere, but on the circle. She was going sideways, stopping, turning, going, pulling, trying everything basically, except going forwards on the circle. I just had to laugh because the look on her face was "What about this? No.. how about this??" She is such a goofball.

When she finally got it, I found out my maintain gait is pretty good! Especially for climbing through snow and avoiding frozen-to-the-ground barrels. She was even asking some questions about the barrels, putting feet on them and such. We played with some moving circles and change of direction [can we say rusty?] until everyting was flowy and nice. Driving from zone 3, we headed back to the barn. After an interesting gate adeventure, we made it and I started playing with shimming.

My first thought when I put the saddle on Mo was actually "uh oh, might need a super-wide!" but once I got things shimmed, I think it was good. More playing required either way. Mo always ends up more beefy than I imagine... I started with a three shim wedge, made from two thicks and one thin, but when we went to play with that things were slipping forwards and sideways, so obviously the stability was being compromised, so I put it down to one thick shim, and then hopped on to try it out. Throughout the ride I pretty much decided to add one more shoulder shim, but it wasnt disastrous, just not perfect.

Being that its winter, and this is Canadia, I didnt really have to many rideable areas as options. The ring would have been ok, but the deep snow would have made it harder for Mo to move and she would have wanted to stay on the few paths the horses have created. That left the laneway and the road. Off we went, with Teddy [dog] as our leader!

Teddy trotted happily off down the laneway and me and Mo came after at a more sedate walk. Mo was looking around, happy and stretching. She is usually pretty stretchy, so I am not sure if I put that down to the saddle exclusively yet or not. We picked up the trot and played with some transitions a bit, Mo was pretty go-ey for her! She didnt really want to slow down, which is good because sometimes she is hard to motivate, but I'd also like her to pay attention to me! We did a whole bunch of isolations, fore quarters and hind quarters and a little sideways to. She is getting really good at those, almost at spin in slow motion... almost! She is getting much better at staying straight to, and not just spinning like a top.

As we progressed down the laneway something really fun happened. We were trotting, and then I asked Mo to walk.. but she didnt. In an "ok, lets see what she offers" kind of moment, to not make her feel wrong, I just kept my energy low and waited... what I got was the most lovely, slow, wonderful jog/trot ever. With a little more suspension it could have been passage! How cool is that? I've never been offered that before! It was wonderful! I also tried some canter transitions, but Mo wasnt super confident with the footing [snowy/icy a bit] so I didnt push her.

Once we made it to the road we played with a lot of transitions, sideways at a trot and I *think* we even got a little shoulder in! To make things more interesting for me [extrovert] and Mo, I used the lines on the road as transition points, or as a weave to go through - which I decided we should have to go through sideways, at a trot. Mo was a complete rockstar, she was right on! I have never had her so light and willing to go from side to side! By the end she was a little hover craft.... MY little hover craft! It was so neat! It got to where I was accidentally shifting my weight and she would go "sideways? yes?" and step over a step or two before I could apologize and get back to centre. I will really have to work on ME now!

As I was playing some people on skidoos were coming so I did the savvy thing and jumped off. I had no idea what Mo's reaction would be, since I am sure the last time she saw a skidoo up close was at least two years ago! All for nought though, she calmly watched them pass [slowly, thankfully, they were polite skidoo-ers] and licked and chewed after they were gone. She didnt even move one foot! Isnt she great? I hopped back on and we proceded home, I didnt really want to over-do it on her first ride out since... a really long time ago? I cant even remember the last time I really rode.. ack!

Either way, it was a super awesome ride, Mo was and is a super mega rock star. LOVE my saddle. It was warm. I saw sun for ten minutes. Good times!

:-)
S

Just Needed to Squee.,.

So today I woke up feeling a little yucky. It was grey out, I was warm and cozy in bed, and more than happy to stay there, but the call of work pulled me out of my warm cove. Usually, I am pretty happy to go to work. I like my job, I get to be outside, I get to be physical and I get to hang out with horses all day. That is pretty cool for me. Just a blah day today, they happen.

I guess I did something right because Karma decided to smile on me because when I got to work I found out one of the riders was off today and instead of just doing sets of two, one of us [barn staff] would be filling in! It was between me and M, but M had only running shoes, so by default I won the vote and GOT TO BE A RIDER FOR A DAY! And not just ride one, on the last set because there wasnt enough time, no, RIDE FIVE horses all morning... FOR MY JOB! HA! How cool is that?!

It was a jog day, but it was still on the track, so that was cool, and in a racing saddle, which is fun. Just in case they ever get famous, I want to be able to say I rode them - I rode Tahiti Pearl, Moon Stalker, Grey Boundary, Wedding Scripture and Like the Look. Moon Stalker, by the way, is the biggest horse I ever rode... he is about 17.2 and he is a two year old! He moves just like a normal horse though, I was surprised at that. I figured he would have a big nice floaty stride, but nope. Flat, boring, had to work to post. Boundary, Pearl and Headlight [Like the Look] were the nicest. Pearl just floats in her extended trot, Boundary is sooooo smooth and flowy and Headlight is just beyond power and comfort!

It was really fun seeing how their ground personalities matched up with their track personalities. Wedding Scripture is EXACTLY the same. She is a total LBI and it was ridiculous trying to get her to just maintain a TROT. And she's a racehorse... figure that one out!  Pearl was a surprise. She always drags her feet when going to or from the paddocks, she is super calm and slow for everything and then she was all floaty wonderful forward and delightful undersaddle. Not runaway, but forwards. Stalker was the same, just medium. He is kind of a giant lummox. He is adorable, and huge [on my tip toes I can barely reach the top of his bum] and not really sure what to do with himself, and that tranferred I think. He goes, but he is very "okey dokey" about it. Boundary was a treat to ride. He is GORGEOUS [ beautiful dapple grey] and I have admired him since the beginning. He is a treat to ride to, apparently! Forward, but not unstoppable and sooooo comfortable. He is one of those horses you stop and stare at when he plays in the paddocks.

Headlight was herself I think. She always wants to go somewhere, do something, has a schedule. She was that way undersaddle to. Strong, ready to go, powering off and I had better come to or have a darn good reason why she was staying slow. Funny horse.

I think I smiled and laughed a lot this morning because lets face it, how often do I get on a racehorse and go ride on a track?! I think thats pretty cool!!!  So thats my story, I just needed to squee.... I have the coolest job ever. Today, clean stalls, tomorrow, ride a racehorse... who knows what the future holds?? I am just glad I keep my helmet and half chaps in the car!!!

:-)
S

Playing in the Storm

Like any sensible person during a highly humid day, when the rain began I headed out to play. The thunder only started later, and there was no lightning, so I wasnt to concerned! It was warm, it was dark[ish] and it was raining, not to hard and not to soft. Ironically, the 3.5 seconds I spent in the barn retrieving some treats, the rain tempo increased dramatically and poured buckets - until I was ready to step outside to go visit the horseys.

Mo was actually with the rest of the herd on the far side by the tree line that separates the pasture from the neighbours. I walked over there, amused by my dry foot-prints in the top-moist sand. I got about 20 feet away before she deigned to notice me and walk over. Mo was thrilled I had come all the way out to see her just to feed her! I scratched her some, rubbed her belly, swatted mosquitoes and then walked away. Behind me I hear a discreet "thud thud thud" and turned in time to see Mo [seeing me see her] try to look like she was just browsing grass. I kept walking a bit more and hear more footsteps, so I stop without looking back and all of a sudden there is a Mo at my shoulder! Cool!

I loved on her a bit more before walking away, and this time she realized I wasnt hoarding treats so she returned to finding her own. Crystal on the other hand approached me! She walked right up and stuck out her nose to smell me. I stuck out my hand to be sniffed and sniffed did I be! Her little [thoroughbred] nose scuttled all across my hand, by arm and up and down my body twice before her curiosity was satisfied. I thought it was pretty funny! I dont usually pay much attention to Crystal, because she is not my horse. I spent some time with her though. Finger combing some of the tangles in her mane and scratching some bug bites. She loved that!

I eventually walked away from her and she actually followed me a short distance where we stopped and made nice once more. Her head got lower and lower, until she was determined to investigate my boot. She snuffled it. She licked it. She pushed it. Then, in a really slow, methodical way, she opened her mouth and tried to bite it. At that point [while laughing in a mildly hysterical manner] I blocked her and asked her not to eat my shoes [please]

Some more scratching time later I walked away and said hi to King, the smallest pony in the field. He is so cute, I just cant resist his itty bitty little ears. Mo saw this though and came over to make him leave so I would scratch her instead. She gets jealous so easily! Once King had be removed though, she lost interest in me and walked away. I followed her lead and walked myself back into the barn.

My intention last night had been to play with Indy, and now that I was thoroughly moistened anyways, I figured why not. I grabbed her halter, but exchanged a 12' rope for a savvy string in case of lightning [so my twisted logic tells me] Indy was waaay at the bottom of the pasture with Ivy and Candy. When I was about 50 feet away she 'saw' me and actually came over to say hi, almost. About two feet away she went "Oh no.. cant do it.. sorry... "and dove right and went for grass. Ivy on the other hand pranced her midget bum right up to me all bright and shiny to say hi. She looks a bit daft right now all shedding out. Cant be helped!

I walked over to Indy and she looked up at me from her grazing, so thats a good sign. She also turned her head for haltering, so that was a real nice thing. From there I went into a porcupine challenge mode. Can your hindquarters move? Well.... sort of, but ONLY if you are really really sure.... and then I will take only two steps and then one back towards you. How interesting. Can your forehand move? Sort of... but 'over' gets mistaken for forwards... Can you move backwards off of halter and chest pressure? YES! YEY!

Some of this is Indy's horsenality going "Nanner nanner I'm bigger than you" but a lot of it is just that I tend to under play the porcupine game and havent done much with Indy since her pregnancy left her pretty uncomfortable as is. I plan to play with her a lot more as the summer wears on and Ivy grows up.

After porcupine 101 I went into Lateral Flexion 101. This was really interesting. Flexion came really easily with a lot of licking and chewing to the right. To the left it seemed like everything was a brace! No licking, just brace. I waited for one little try and then filed it away to play with another day.

I started to play a little game of stick to me after that. Just walking, stopping and backing. *Usually* when I try to back like that with Indy she tries to turn and face me. Not last night! We actually achieved moderate success at this activity! I was super proud of her! We moseyed in circles and straight lines all around until we ended up at some barrels nera the barn. I asked Indy to do something with them and she chose to put a foot on them after investigating with her nose. Pretty cool!

We played with that for a while, with her crawling all over the barrels several times before I set them up right into a figure 8 pattern and asked her to go through that way. The required a lot of thinking on her part, but she got it really fast and tried really hard! After accomplishing that pattern I changed it up and stood on a barrel asking for a circle. My goal was to get her to bend around the barrel. She didnt bend overmuch, but she did go around and she did offer herself for a ride. It was so sweet!

I couldnt say no, so I slid on with my one rein and off we went - two steps to practice our lateral flexion. A big surprise here was that lateral flexion mounted was SUPER EASY! How interesting!!! She flexed to both sides like she did it every day, and totally didnt care when I threw the string over her head. Whoo! We walked all the way to the end of the pasture and back to the gate, just getting in sync with each other. Ivy was carovting and cartwheeling circles around us the whole time.

At the gate I dismounted and unhaltered Indy. She was awesome and I am very proud of her. Just a small session, but you gotta start somewhere! Lots of hugs and scratches later, I got her dinner and everyone settled in for the night.

I am very glad I played in the rain!

:-)
S