Ride 3/31/10

Pretty good ride today. Went out in the evening to try to avoid the sun, and stayed in the shadows as much as possible. Captain was his usual sweet self even when I had to get off and readjust the saddle three inches forward (which means all buckles undone, saddle up and forward, then settle back slightly to smooth the hair and buckles redone).

He repeated his tricks when I asked him to trot (or rather, when I started posting), so as an experiment, I let him move out in a nice, swinging trot and sat it the whole time. He was willing to keep trotting as long as I let him, but when I started posting, he pinned his ears and stopped again.

~sigh~

I'm not sure what it is. He's not a mean or deceptive animal, so my posting must be uncomfortable to him in some way. I think I'll try the other saddle on him again and see if it helps any.

So instead of more strenuous work, we concentrated on flexion. He gave me some lovely shoulder-in at the walk to both sides. I got him to turn on the forehand fairly well, although it needs work. And we both bombed on the turn on the haunches, so I guess I need to brush up my technique on that one.

We also did some sidepassing and some halfpassing up the field, and then rode down the road a ways, but he HATED the new rocky road so we turned back to the soft grass.

I was pleased with our progress, though. After, I hosed him down (which he loves - he closes his eyes and stretches out his neck so I can thoroughly soak him) and then after I scraped him off, I let him graze awhile.

One sweet horse + one tired mama who needed some time to herself = a much happier tired mama. :o)

Gotta give her points for creativity

Sophie just came to the door (after being put to bed) in great distress. "Mama! I smell...there's a bad...I SMELL MONSTERS!"

When Erich and I managed to get our laughter under control, I asked her to explain. She said, "There's a monster in my room and he SMELLS BAD!"

She couldn't describe the smell, sadly. But she insisted, hand on heart, that she smelled monsters.

Ride 3/26/10

There have been a few rides since my last post that I've forgotten to chronicle. They weren't terribly memorable, though.

Our mounting routine is down cold. Set him up, he plants his feet and doesn't move until mine are in the stirrups and I give him his treat. THEN he walks off. But he doesn't dance around, and he's managed to neutralize 99.9% of my mounting fears.

The last two times I've ridden, he hasn't wanted to trot. Oh, he'll speed up just fine. But he wants to canter, thank you very much. So I'm getting lovely canter departs (from a walk to a canter with no trotting in between) but I don't want him to canter too much because of his allergies (and because we're both so out of shape).

But every time I asked for a trot, he would hump his back, swish his tail and pin his ears. Even more oddly, he only did that when I started posting the trot. If I sat it, he would grudgingly trot a circle for me. But as soon as I started posting, he started popping an attitude.

I'm not sure if the saddle was positioned awkwardly or if something was bothering him physically, but he's never done that before. I checked him over thoroughly and sprayed him with liniment (which he loves) and he was fine when I left. Just something to keep an eye on, I guess.

Have a sewing lesson with Marlene from church tomorrow, so I should go to bed now. Captain gets his teeth floated on Friday - I'm hoping to try the bridle on him then and see if he goes differently in a bit.

(The whole family came out and the girls climbed the huge tree at the back of the property. Erich did too, and then Sophie decided SHE could too and shinnied right up. Of course, then she had a hard time getting down, but it was still pretty impressive!)

Future highwire performer

Quick-witted kid

Driving home from the store with the kids, we were passed by a guy who nearly blew our doors off in his haste to get around us.

"Where exactly do you think that's going to get you?" I said to his diminishing taillights.

"Jail," Gabby deadpanned.

BEST Mother's Day present!

Gabby was baptized this morning. :o) She was so excited about it, and of course I cried like a baby. (I'm going to be a WRECK at her wedding, I can already tell.)

She got to take communion with us after, and she's just been so joyful all day. She is such a blessing to me!

Ride - 5/09/10

Happy Mother's Day! That was Erich's gift to me - sending me out to ride Captain. I hadn't seen him for about a week, so it was especially nice. Poor Erich is sick, so he stayed home with the kids while I went alone (armed with cell phone and helmet, natch).

Captain looks great - shiny and fat - and seemed very happy to see me. We've got mounting down cold - he gets one cookie once he's flush against the table and then one more once I'm in the saddle and have my stirrups. He plants his feet and won't move until I'm settled and give him the cookie, THEN he moves out, which is exactly as I want it.

We rode all the way around the park, did some fore and hindquarter yields, figure eights, and some bending on the circle. We also sidepassed up and down the length of one of the berms out in the pasture - forefeet on the top, hind in the ditch, moving sideways up and down.

Then we moved on to trot work, and I found to my delight that A) I was able to trot for longer and B) I found the right diagonal almost every time from the start and was able to keep it as long as I wanted to. Captain moved easily, his shoulders moving freely and dropping his head to stretch occasionally. He's much happier in this saddle (which already is showing rubbed spots on the leather, good grief).

Finally we did some cantering, and I learned a few things. One - we're still working on canter departs, but I can usually get one within three strides. Two - he picks up a right lead easily and it's becoming smoother the more we do it. I was able to sit it much more comfortably and rate his speed and direction easily. Three - he can't for the life of him seem to pick up a left lead. Considering this is the most exquisitely trained horse I've ever had the pleasure of riding, I think it's something physical that's stopping him. We kept counter-cantering (which is going around to the left on the right lead or vice versa) no matter how I set him up to pick up the left lead.

So making sure what we were doing together isn't making things worse for him, I longed him after I cooled him out. He tracked up significantly better on his left hind (his problem leg) in both directions, and there was no sign of lameness or tenderness. So I was much relieved - I always worry that what we do together may make him worse. But he is seeming actually much better since I started riding him, and he asks constantly to move faster than I usually let him, which he certainly wouldn't do if he was uncomfortable.

All in all, we had a good ride and we both ended happy. I tucked a flower into his headstall and it made me smile every time he turned around and tried to mug me for a treat. :o)

Wait, what?

The kids are playing outside. Sophie runs by. "I'm a policeman and this is my uniform and this is my gun!" (Holding a bendy straw.)

Zoe runs by. "I'm a policeman and these are my police boots!" (Wearing rainboots.)

Gabby. "I'm a policeman and this is my Bible storybook!"