Maddie was a perfect lady last night.
She came in from the pasture willingly (she will sometimes play "catch me if you can"), stood quietly in the cross ties, and only flinched a bit when the saddle came out.
I do not believe in "walking on eggshells" with horses, even young ones: they need to be able to deal with life. Yes, I give them time to learn and accept new things, but I'm not going to coddle them, because life happens--dogs appear out of nowhere, other horses will crowd them, I will get off balance (only occasionally), and they need to be able to deal with it. And a saddle coming at them is certainly something that they should learn to tolerate. Last night, however, I did move more slowly, lifting the saddle into place rather than swinging it up from my hip. Maddie watched warily, but stood firm.
So we went on to the next new lesson: the bosal.
I had decided that I would try it to see if I could establish a little vertical flexion without the fussing at the bit that Maddie has been displaying (though that was getting a little better).
It took her several minutes of bending left and right to figure out what was different, but once she did, she really responded to the new control! She broke at the poll and brought her nose in, and fairly quickly figured out that was where I wanted her to keep it, without constant pressure, just little bumps to remind her. She bent from nose to tail, much better to the left than the right, but we'll get it. (I didn't have my good boots and stubby spurs on, so my leg cues were less clear).
Only did maybe 15 minutes of walk-trot--I'm sore all over, not sure if from the fall or if it's general body aches from the crud (my friend has been telling me twice daily that it's the swine flu). But Maddie was willing and cooperative, so we called it good and I took her back in and gave her some lovin' (and dinner, which I'm sure she appreciated even more).
I was going to check out the video camera for the weekend, but when we got out of our Friday afternoon meetings, the librarian was already gone. Maybe next week I'll make my first foray into videography for y'all.
According to the vet tech, Kate's $75.00 culture came back as "no growth," but I never heard back from the vet as to what the next step is. I'm not sure the drugs are doing the trick, and if her udder is compromised, then her future as a broodmare is at risk (she is to be her momma's replacement, someday--after she builds a performance record).
She came in from the pasture willingly (she will sometimes play "catch me if you can"), stood quietly in the cross ties, and only flinched a bit when the saddle came out.
I do not believe in "walking on eggshells" with horses, even young ones: they need to be able to deal with life. Yes, I give them time to learn and accept new things, but I'm not going to coddle them, because life happens--dogs appear out of nowhere, other horses will crowd them, I will get off balance (only occasionally), and they need to be able to deal with it. And a saddle coming at them is certainly something that they should learn to tolerate. Last night, however, I did move more slowly, lifting the saddle into place rather than swinging it up from my hip. Maddie watched warily, but stood firm.
So we went on to the next new lesson: the bosal.
I had decided that I would try it to see if I could establish a little vertical flexion without the fussing at the bit that Maddie has been displaying (though that was getting a little better).
It took her several minutes of bending left and right to figure out what was different, but once she did, she really responded to the new control! She broke at the poll and brought her nose in, and fairly quickly figured out that was where I wanted her to keep it, without constant pressure, just little bumps to remind her. She bent from nose to tail, much better to the left than the right, but we'll get it. (I didn't have my good boots and stubby spurs on, so my leg cues were less clear).
Only did maybe 15 minutes of walk-trot--I'm sore all over, not sure if from the fall or if it's general body aches from the crud (my friend has been telling me twice daily that it's the swine flu). But Maddie was willing and cooperative, so we called it good and I took her back in and gave her some lovin' (and dinner, which I'm sure she appreciated even more).
I was going to check out the video camera for the weekend, but when we got out of our Friday afternoon meetings, the librarian was already gone. Maybe next week I'll make my first foray into videography for y'all.
According to the vet tech, Kate's $75.00 culture came back as "no growth," but I never heard back from the vet as to what the next step is. I'm not sure the drugs are doing the trick, and if her udder is compromised, then her future as a broodmare is at risk (she is to be her momma's replacement, someday--after she builds a performance record).
Good for Maddie! The not "walking on eggshells" approach makes sense to me. I'll be looking forward to seeing the videos. I do hope the news about Kate will be good.
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