Saturday, April 25, 2009

Work has been a bear, so I do apologize for not posting more often.

My surcingle came today!!! Well, last night, but let’s not be picky. ;) Adiva was first today. She’s usually first, just because she’s the easier one, and I like to start easy. I groom her up, and she’s spooking at everything. Big spooks. Lucky for me, her spook consists of jumping in place and planting all four. I like that spook. LOL I almost back out - if she’s not on her game, I don’t want to push her - but she has to learn to deal. I figured I’ll just take everything in stride and see how far we get. I put on her boots and grab the surcingle. I let her smell it, then slip it on, slowly cinching it up. She doesn’t care. I keep it kinda loose until we get to my lunging area, then I tighten it. Again, she doesn’t care. She’s such a good mare! She lunges very well - we’re working on figuring out a good language and she’s very in tune with me. She does get quite tired by the time we’re done - she’s really thinking about what I want, and starting to enjoy trotting around loosening her muscles!

Anni’s next, and she’s less spooky than Adiva, but she has a very distinct personality, and I can’t tell if it’s because she’s young, or a TB, or just her. No matter what it is, I really enjoy working with her. She’s a thinker - and a youngin - and I love it! She’s a bit more apprehensive about the surcingle but is more interested in chewing on my gloves. I think it’s because they smell like peppermints! She lets me cinch it without incident and we’re off! She’s so freaking good to the left. She’s a strong pony tho, and pulls constantly. I start to give and release, in big but slow moves, and that’s when she starts to stretch down and you can actually see her back come up. When it does, she slows down and really steps under herself. I’m so pleased she is doing this on her own. Plus, she’s learning to carry herself and not lean on me to carry her. When we go to the right, however, we hit a snag. She throws the temper tantrum again. Not as bad as before, so I’m trying to wait it out and not cause a bigger scene. But she does it twice more. Ok, I don’t know how to deal with this. She’s almost scared/nervous when she does it, so that means that she A) knows she shouldn’t and B) is worried she’s gonna get hurt because she did do it. So, is she trying to get out of work due to pain? Is she being stubborn and just doesn’t want to work? Am I confusing her somehow? I start back at the beginning and have her on a small circle. I just focus on her hip - getting it forward - and apply the give and take theory so she can’t grab n go. She gets it! I mean, I can see her getting this! So I let her on a bigger circle, and she does great. I know she’s tired, and that helps, but I’m really proud of her. She tried, really hard, to do what I wanted. I need to get some liniment for her neck. It’s where she’s the sorest. I need to be careful when I start using the side reins so that I strengthen her neck without hurting her. She seems to enjoy the work tho, so I’ll keep it short, fun, and positive!