Entertaining myself

Still a couple weeks away from riding, I'm finding ways to stay amused and work on what I can until I can climb back in the saddle.

The healing is progressing and I am able to stretch and do a little more yoga each day, along with some loosening exercises from the Centered Riding book. Most of those exercises really work better on a horse, so I came up with an idea that will help my balance without causing apoplexy in my family. Meet Sam, the pseudo horse. He is helping me with my balance and core strength while my butt heals enough to get back aboard for real.

I did try a "live" test recently, though more as a "We're going to do what I want even if you think we're done," lesson for Bar. I climbed on bareback--once from each side--and we just stood quietly. However, my posterior region informed me it is not quite ready for prime time, yet. Get off. Gently. Now.

Remy, Katie's new puppy, has provided lots of entertainment in his own right. He is quite amusing, actually. I'm still not convinced Katie needed to add a dog to her life, but since she did, this one was a good choice. He's confident and smart--trainable, too. His only fault is he will get a little play-aggressive sometimes and needs swift intervention. He's going to be a dog that might intimidate people, so it's best to get that under control now and she's doing a good job with that. He still wakes her up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, but eventually that will settle down, too. On the plus side, it's both preparing her for and deterring her from actually having children--a bit of an added bonus as far as I'm concerned.

Katie and her friend Russell have been taking Lena and Forrest out on trail rides, and Russell has been riding Lena fairly regularly, too. That's good for all of us, but Lena in particular. The only one who may think it is not good is Bar. His two tantrums coincided with Lena and Forrest being out together--the first time on a trail ride, the second time in the outdoor arena. It doesn't excuse his behavior, of course, but besides the little attitudinal things I let slide, he'd been fairly decent under saddle up to that point. Not perfect, no, but the more extreme behavior of the last month and a half coincides with Forrest and Lena activity, so I have to at least say, "Hm."

Forrest is oblivious to Bar's angst, as he should be, and is getting to be a good little trail horse, even if the ocean is a bit daunting. He prefers to stay close to Lena, naturally, and she does her usual good job of being trail boss.

Bar is getting as much of my time and energy as I can spare, plus more clear and consistent handling and direction than he'd been getting. He appears to be getting the message and when he "forgets," I don't let it go. He still gets lots of affection, of course, but I'm trying to balance it with challenging tasks and exercises that get him to think a little more. Thinking is a good thing for him to do.

I, on the other hand, am doing way too much thinking right now and am looking forward to a little doing in the next few weeks. Tick tock. Tick tock.

Just hanging out

Tonight I got all dressed up and went to the barn.

Then I just sat on the ground and listened to the sounds of chewing, snorting, tail flicking, and wild turkeys.

It was certainly better than mulling over reports and spreadsheets, though not quite as good as actively working with my horse.

On the other hand, it was a low-pressure interaction with Bar that maybe both of us needed. I wasn't asking him to do anything and he wasn't arguing with me. We were just there with each other. I did quietly explain that we had to find another plan with each other as the current one is not beneficial to either of us. I am sore and grumpy and he is not getting to go out on trail rides. It's a lose-lose situation.

But mostly I just sat and listened, breathing in the smell of horse and hay and dirt.


I did try alfalfa--garnering a funny look from the big brown horse. It tastes like wheat grass, obviously healthy, but not overly entertaining from my perspective.

Mostly, he ate, snuffled my feet and head periodically, and blew snot on me at least twice.

I tried to relax and not think about what I'd rather be doing and instead focus on just sharing space with this horse in my life.

The peace that ensued was much needed, quite lovely, and honestly a little surprising.

I'll take it, any way it comes.

Lay up

Having both Bar and me laid-up has led to possibly more thinking about training than is fair to either one of us. While he does want to work, he did look at me recently as if to say, "Sometimes it's okay to just to hang out and eat grass, you know." It may not hurt either one of us to just relax a little bit. Since neither of us is particularly good at that, it could be construed as training of a sort as it allows for some gentle detox time.

Of course, he is also ready to work--mentally anyway--and definitely tired of his pen. This week, he re-puffed and I was too worn out and sore by the end of my days from balancing my broken arm and over-using my good arm that I didn't even have it in me to take him down for a walk.

I go back and forth--do I trust him not to get goofy? Most days, yes. But he is who he is and sometimes needs strong reminders. That's fine, I am happy to reassert leadership any time, but afraid I would do what needed to be done before considering my arm. (Not that I've done anything like that at all during the healing process so far, of course. Absolutely not, nope.)

Bar, however, does not have my ability to take the long view and trade a moment's entertainment for getting properly healed so we can play hard later. Apparently he recently sneaked out past the guy who comes to clean pens and then played catch-me-if-you-can with Peter. Luckily, he doesn't want to leave the ranch and Peter always gets his horse.

Sometimes I wish I had that bio-link with him like the characters in Avatar had with their horse creatures, then he would know I totally understand and why we are so far out of our normal routine.

I couldn't exude any patience, of course, but we could at least grumble together.

Sunday with Katie, Lena, and Bar

Katie dusted off our cutting saddle--says she's used to them now--and got on Lena today. Katie was working on her seat, Lena was just glad to be out again (I rode her yesterday) after two weeks of the round pen.

I didn't get to watch much of her ride, though she says it was good and she spent a lot of time working on her seat using tips Ike and Cheri gave her over the last month. It's just really good to see her in the saddle again, and good for Lena, too.

I worked with Bar in the round pen using some of the tips Karen gave me to improve his fitness level. He has not been using his hind end enough, either because he was sore, or just because he was never trained to get into the frame that gets him to use his whole circle of muscles, or both. The idea is to get him into that frame and relaxed on the ground so it's easier to get him into it while under saddle. He is not, as you may guess, always relaxed about things. A tense horse is (generally) not working his body in the right way, not using the whole ring of muscle to propel himself forward from his hindquarters. That can lead to back soreness and injuries, and in Bar's case, he is also relying too much on that front end which creates a higher risk of stumbling over his own font feet.

Just like my chiropractor tells me, using the core muscles protects your back and it's important to keep them strong and supple. In the case of a horse, it keeps them balanced. Traveling through (I think this is the term, but please forgive me if I'm wrong) basically means that the horse is engaged from the poll, down the topline (neck, back), over the hindquarters, and around through the abdominal muscles, allowing him to drive from the hind end.

We are getting Bar much closer, and we're even getting there some of the time, but it will take patience and more work from both of us. That's okay, because I can already see an improvement in his body (and his brain, too), particularly in his topline, his range of movement, and his level of relaxation. I really appreciate Karen's knowledge of the bio-mechanics of how he needs to move and her help in showing us what to look for as we work.

Steve is also getting healed, though rather slower than he would like. We also ordered not-quite-matching helmets for our brains.

Mutual injury inspection

Mutual injury inspection
Originally uploaded by spottyhorse67

Steve's first excursion to the barn since "the incident" went well and both horses were glad to see him. They also think the sling would bean excellent way to carry a sufficient number of carrots.

Training times two

Despite the circumstances leading to it, I am enjoying the time I have to work with both horses. My body is weary and my muscles are complaining just a little, but that balances out the raw spot of worry and fear in my chest. Most of the time, anyway.

Having the time to work both horses means I've actually ridden both of them in the last two days. Lena has helped me remember, yes, I actually can ride and ride fast while being relaxed. Not that she doesn't try stuff, but my confidence is definitely higher with her, which in turn leads to better communication and cooperation. So even when I'm riding her, I'm learning about how to ride Bar better. Riding him, I'm able to be more relaxed, confident, and clear in my commands. He doesn't always like it, mind you, but we're making progress.

I'm also getting to do the massage and body work on both of them that I like to do, but that falls off when I have no time on my hands or when I'm away. Lena's hip had been showing signs of acting up again, so I've spent time working on it and on her back for the last two days, which seems to have helped loosen things up. With Bar, it's less sore spots as getting him to relax and let me groom him or work on his body at all. He's a little more touchy, unless I'm grooming his mane and tail or working on his lower legs. He will stand still forever as long as I'm working those areas, but the neck is an entirely different discussion as far as he's concerned.

As always, I'm getting just as much training and attention out of this deal as they are, though a little less massage. Their healing powers work wonders on my battered psyche, though.

People injuries

The other day, Lena got my foot really good. It's still black and blue. Dancing with horses means you always have two left feet and it's best to stay out of their way because they have four.

Then this morning, I managed to sprain my knee in a most unglorious way - I slipped getting into the tub. My left foot slid, my right ankle caught the edge of the tub and what appears to have given is a ligament on the inside of my right knee.

So not only do I feel like a dork, it's not even a particularly good story!

It does hurt a lot, though, and of course my real concern is whether or not it will affect my riding. I don't have to mount with my right leg, so that's good. It only really hurts with lateral pressure, so if I don't move it side to side, I should be okay.

I'm not a particularly good patient in any case - ask Steve and Katie - but if this interferes with my Lena time, I am going to be one grumpy buckaroo.