Hairy Situation

I kept seeing all the "No Stirrup November" posts and figured I would try to do some this month. For me that means bareback. So I have ridden Rosemary, Dottie and Comrade bareback in the last week. Roscoe was up next and I went back and forth whether to attempt a bareback ride with him. The last time I tried was not long before he went to Indiana. That ride ended up with me on the ground because he was able to suck in his tummy and loosen the girth enough to tip me off.

Night eyes and Rough Cob look

You may have figured out I really enjoy riding bareback and decided to go for it. The first test, how does the pad fit? It actually worked with both sides on the last hole. The next was getting on and making sure I had the balls to follow through. Well, my baby is definitely wider and that makes me more comfortable. Plus he has better body awareness and is not so wiggly.
I was seriously impressed with his walk. Yeah, I know I say that all the time, but for this ride he was active and pushing. Even lazy he can over step, so the energy he gave was great. Then I asked for trot. Roscoe did move forward, but it was more of a jog. I was okay with that while I got a feeling for his back. Overall the trot was much better than I expected and I could relax. But when I relaxed, Roscoe was like "this is weird." The full seat feeling was different and he started thinking. When he just does, he moves off fine. If he starts thinking we lose forward. And in this case he decided that trotting was not the thing to do. So now I had a situation. Do I push the point and get him to trot? Or do I refocus on another task? I had to be sure I could follow through with the push if I went that way. Nothing he had done to that point gave me any bad feelings, so I pushed. The first few times I had to tap him with the whip. Then he started to figure out he could move even though I felt different. Roscoe decided that he would move on with a burst and maybe not stop. So we did transitions until he was not sticky at all with either the upward or downward. At that point I called it a win and hopped off. Bareback won't be a normal occurrence with Roscoe, but at least I know it will work in a pinch.

Racing stripe

All the riding we have done recently has shown who needs clips and who can wait a bit longer. Rosemary was the one who was sweaty even before working, while Roscoe and Winston just got sweaty during work. The old guys will stay hairy unless they get too hot on the warmer days. I really want them to retain as much as they can. I had a bit of time after we stacked new hay and decided to give Rosemary her clip. This year I went bigger than normal, but not as much as I have seen online. Hopefully this clip will be just enough for the amount of work we do with her. I did not have time to do anything creative, but that may come later. I still need to do the other two. Luckily the blades are sharp. Now if only there was a way to deal with the hairy situation afterwards. Hay and hair make for a very itchy shirt.

My SUPER patient pony

Happy Trails

Life is still crazy, but we are slowly clearing the old barn. Sawdust has been moved over to Peggy's and this weekend my brother with his friends should get a lot more hay moved too. Since I can't do much in the way of packing, I told myself that I would make sure all the horses worked.

And I did too :)

To help me time wise, I rode bareback. DaVinci felt really good. He had a huge swingy walk and was stretching at the trot. I even cantered and he gave me the same pace both ways. He was funny because he could not figure out how to trot over the little x's. He kind of hopped in the front and trotted in the back. But overall it was a  solid ride.
Then it was Winston's turn. I definitely put the saddle on for him and made sure Peggy was on hand. He really handled the arena well, even with the dogs playing and loud noises in the area. When I felt like he had a solid walk, I got brave and asked for trot. Well, more of a jog. I used a tiny bit of leg yield to get his focus, but again he really was not fazed. I think he was really happy to get back to work. Mom rode him the next day too and with me on DaVinci, he went for his first trail ride. He was a tourist, but not a nervous one. Mom even let him lead at one point and he slowly worked it out.
Well, then I asked Peggy if she wanted to ride one of the girls for me. She picked Dottie. Dottie continued with her awesome trot she gave me last week. So I guess it was not a fluke. Rosemary and I really just tooled around trotting over the x's and poles. When she was warmed up I asked Larry if he wanted to get on. He was in a bit of pain so he just walked her around. You could see her taking care of him. Those girls love Larry. Then I got back on and we walked out on trail. Peggy walked Dottie over a bunch of wood piles. Rosemary happily walked by Larry, not caring that Dottie was way ahead. Mom and Peggy took them out again the next day for a trail ride too. I thought about riding Comrade for that ride, but DaVinci tripped earlier and really hurt my hand, so I walked it behind them.

Happy Trails

Finally later that first day I got to the red boys. Roscoe was so mad when I left. He though it was his turn. I tried to work him on the line, but holding the whip in my bad hand proved to be too much weight. Without my normal adeptness, Roscoe was getting away with doing movements wrong. I had to find a way to end on a high point and be done. He is too smart to work with when I can't keep the standards where they need to be. Mom put him through his paces the next day. She got some tips from Larry, who helps with Wounded Warriors riding program in our area. They use the Clinton Anderson methods and have soldiers who have been trained by his clinicians. It will be nice to have his discerning eye to help with Roscoe's training.
For Comrade, the ride was a reminder that he can move with contact. For the first time in 2 months, I shortened the reins and asked him to put himself together. His muscles more than anything had to work it out, but then it was not too shabby. I had to use some rein back when he got heavy and some lateral to get him straight, but his movement was steady. I had to call "Uncle" and give him to Peggy when my hand said enough. After Peggy let him know she meant business, he gave her just as nice a ride.
While I am not thrilled about the early mornings we have at Peggy's, the benefits are out weighing the negatives. The horses survived the rain after we juggled turn outs and the set up process is slowing moving forward. It was a little bittersweet to hear that one of the farms we had looked at to buy, sold recently. I have not given up, but it may be further in the future than I hoped. For now, we can enjoy our new situation.

Pony Epiphany

Time flies. I wish I could say it was because I had been having fun, but no such luck. Work has been somewhat of a trial. The weather has been very windy and some days wet preventing riding.
So today I was determined to ride. Dottie had an appointment with the farrier, then my day was clear.
I headed out to Peggy's to ride Comrade. As I was grooming him, he flinched along his back. No obvious injuries, but definitely ouchy. I had already planned a low key ride and brought the bareback pad. Unfortunately, he was stiff and had an occasional hiccup. Probably someone that did not know him as well would not even feel any discrepancy. I went slow warming him up. Then moved into the trot. There was no unevenness and he really tried to give me what I asked, but I could tell he just could not maintain. He even pulled his old trick of skipping into a four beat canter to the left. The fact that even when I asked him to move forward at the canter, he did for a few strides then lost it, really told me that something was up and he was not just being lazy. After a bit more trot work, I ended the ride. He is at too good a point in his training to push him when he is not feeling right. Tomorrow I will lunge him and put the balance system on him so that he can work without me on his back.
By the time I got back to my barn the sun was beginning  to set. I decided to ride Rosemary and work on contact She has not worked since her lesson in the balancing system, so I really wanted to see how she would do. We had to have a conversation that just because all the other horses were outside did not mean she got to act like a demanding drama queen. Luckily she listens much better when I am on her back.
I immediately felt a difference. She did not fight the contact or do her giraffe impression. Her neck was long, soft and floppy (crest top moves with her motion). I did not have to do anything special with my hands, but stay soft. So then came the real test, moving into the trot.
Cue the Hallelujah angel choir. Rosemary stayed soft in the trot. I was so amazed. Never before has she quietly accepted the contact. I just went with it. She had some problems going to the right staying in the outside rein, but that is for another day. I have learned since riding Comrade, that cobs seem to do homework between rides. By the next ride it is like they have had an epiphany. Rosemary gets an A+ for her homework.
The worst part was that no one was around to see her working so well. Hopefully she will be just as good when mom is around to watch. After the ride, she turned into Barn Monitor. She raised the roof calling until all the other horses were inside. I swear she counts heads. Peace in barn.
After the week I had, Rosemary gave me the perfect ride. My quirky, drama queen pony made me so happy.

Tiny Terror Rises again

So, I think Roscoe is going through another phase. The "Its always rough house play time" phase is not great for humans. My sister fed the horses for us last night and ran into the same issue I did. Roscoe refused to let her leave and tried to play with her by rearing. She did get away with the help of canine distraction.
Today mom and I decided he needed work. I put the bareback pad on DaVinci and mom brought the Brat out to the arena. Ponying lesson #2.
He decided that DaVinci and I made really good moving targets. I had to multitask: ride DaVinci, direct them both, and beat off the baby. Have I mentioned that DaVinci is worth his weight in gold? All during the Roscoe attacks he just kept walking and listening to me. Occasionally he would give a good swish of his tail and tell Roscoe to behave.
After Roscoe nearly pulled me off, we tied the leadline around DaVinci's neck. I also picked up a short whip to keep him off of us both. That worked great for a while. Then Roscoe would hang back and try to rear up onto DaVinci. Thank goodness I do a lot of riding bareback, because he tested all my skills. We did get some peaceful moments and ended the lesson there.
Then he tried to pull the rotten pony routine on mom as she was leading him. Ha, jokes on him. Mom chased his butt around. All the way back to the barn, mom had to move him around. I swear that sweet face hides a devious mind.
DaVinci got a big carrot for his patience and cooperation. Roscoe not worried at all over his activities, cocked a leg in his stall and went to sleep.
We are hoping this behavior is just 8 month old testing us and not hormones starting to show. Any ideas?