Lena schools me for next week

Sunday I had another lesson using Lena, and she did an admirable job of being good, but still challenging.

This is important as she is preparing me for a lesson on Calabar.

The difference between them is interesting. Lena knows what to do. She was trained in both cutting and basic western riding skills--stopping, turning, neck reining, collection. She just doesn't always do it. She likes to drop her right shoulder as you move to the right and cut corners no matter what direction you go.

Calabar doesn't really know what to do, so he reacts. Even Peter says he's not bad, that his main problem is not knowing what you want and then trying to get around it. He needs guidance, just like Lena, but in a slightly different way.

Lena needs a reminder that we know she knows what she knows.

So we spent time on moving her forward, staying straight, and collecting. It did take some doing, but once she saw I wasn't going to let her slack off, she got better. That was about 5 minutes before the end of the lesson, but hey.

We (well, I) also worked on posting because, as Peter says, I have to do it on Calabar. He has a big trot. BIG. Bouncy. Hard to sit. So I post, and not very well. In fact, the last time I got dumped, I was posting. I bounced too high out of the saddle, laughed.. and ended up on the ground when Bar bolted forward.

So Peter pushed me to work on posting effectively. We made some progress, but I think it's an ongoing project. I swear I was barely out of the saddle and Peter said I was still too high. Sheesh. "It's a back and forth, not an up and down." "Lower!"

My posting aside, I felt good about the lesson and what we worked on. My seat feels better, softer, more solid. I feel calmer, more confident. Again, it may be because of all the bits and pieces Peter makes me think about--hands, shoulders, feet, not to mention directing the horse. It was also good for Lena to use her body the right way and she seemed calm and happy when we were done.

My plan is to take a lesson on Calabar this coming Sunday. I'm nervous, I admit it. But I also know it's time to see what he and I can do.

Horse holiday has ended

So the good news is I got a job--a full-time job in Sebastopol, no less! The bad news is the era of spending 4 hours a day at the barn is over.

It's probably for the best, but I do have some regrets and I'm sure the horses will face a short readjustment period. "What?! Only 2 carrots per day each?!" I even had to skip the barn entirely today because I had a dentist appointment first thing this morning and couldn't quite figure out how to squeeze them in either before (like, O-Dark-Thirty) or after, since I had to work late to make up for being late this morning. Poor horses. I hope they aren't too traumatized.

I will have to figure out how to balance the new job, but it may take a couple weeks before we get there.

Hoping things will smooth out eventually and I can establish a new training routine. Should be easier once the days get longer, too.

I am excited to be working again, though. I just don't do leisurely very well at all. I even tried to learn, but alas, it appears I am entirely too wiggly for it.

No wonder I have the horses I do.

Hello from the mountains

Steve and I are currently in Bishop, where we stayed the night in hotel. Aaahhh, hot showers. It just so happens that the rodeo is in town, but I haven't run off with any of the broncs, yet. I guess all things considered, Bar is enough of a handful. :) Besides, he's coming along nicely.

We camped two nights in Devil's Postpile and are headed back up towards the Yosemite area to do some more camping before we head over to Slide Mountain for some time with Ike, Cheri, Tiffany, Amber, and probably some pretty interesting horses.

Katie reported from the home front that things are going fine. She rode Bar yesterday and planned on going back up today to maybe ride both of them. Brave girl. She and Adrienne are driving up on their own Sunday to meet us at Slide so Steve and I can maximize our time away.

More to come later in the journey, when next I have internet access.

Blanket Lessons

I scared Lena and myself the other morning, then had to spend half an hour (at least) doing horse therapy.

I had unbuckled the rainsheet to adjust the cotton blanket underneath - which was slewed sideways about a foot - and accidently dumped the rain sheet over her head as she stood, head down, eating her grain. She flipped up her head so the rainsheet was still around her neck, then ran around her paddock, sliding in the mud - the sheet flapping and flying around her legs - finally sliding to a stop in the front corner of her paddock and banging her nose on a fence post.

The other horses all watched, concerned, and I heard some of my fellow barn-mates come out to see what the commotion was - but all my attention was on Lena.

I stayed out of her way and talked to her until she stopped, then - hands shaking and heart pounding so much I could barely get the front buckles undone - took off the ruined rainsheet, all the while talking to her in as soothing a voice as I could muster.

THEN I had to get her to hold still while I got the cotton blanket off. After that, I figured out that my jacket noises - fweety like the rainsheet - were scaring her, so we worked with that awhile. Carrots from the front pocket, plus me putting it on and taking it off about 74 times helped. Then I took her and put her in the cross-ties to clean up her nose (she scraped it a little, but not bad) and put her heavy blanket on.

She was mostly fine by the time I left, though there was still definite suspicion about the now-ruined rainsheet. I did wrap it around me, drag it around next to her, pick it up on our way to the cross-ties, put it over my head, etc., to try to desensitize her a little immediately.

I knew if I didn't spend the time with her right then, it would be worse later. Plus, I felt bad for scaring her and wanted to work through it with her myself. I'm just really glad that neither of us got hurt.

I think it may take a little bit of additional work, though. Last time I took her (new) blanket off her, she was still a little leery of it sliding around on the floor, over her back, etc. Which means I did it more, of course. Steve says he hasn't noticed any problems and she may (!) just be pulling my chain.

That may be, but all in all it was a valuable lesson - even if it was a mildly terrifying one. I'm sure if I'd been around horses all my life, I would have known better - at least on a theoretical level. But I can honestly say I won't forget this lesson for a long, long time. Probably not ever.

I told someone it was like when something scary happens to your kid. You can't panic, because that just makes it worse, so you just try to get through it the best way you can to help them. Of course with a kid you can just pull them into your lap and rock them a little. 1,100 pounds of frightened spotty horse will not fit in my lap or I would have done it in a heartbeat.