Yesterday was the first day I'd ridden since the initial time I came out to give Spree a "test ride." The day before, Saturday, was quite the wake-up call as to her youth and energy. Her ground manners are pretty awful, but I don't think they are something that can't be worked on. On Saturday, Jenn (her owner) and I decided that we were going to lunge her under saddle before either one of us got on and rode. Well, a nice idea in theory. After grooming (where I learned she never had her feet handled much, but that's something she's already improving on), we attempted to tack her up. She just will not stand, period. And ever time she wouldn't stand, Jenn would keep her moving in whatever direction she was trying to go. And around and around we went. The saddle kept dumping off, and we'd repeat the process all over again. After about a half an hour, she finally had the saddle on enough to show me how she lunges her under saddle. Side reins and a lunge line, and Spree was a little snot the entire time. She was not happy about all she was being asked to to, and a few times she kicked out. Once she kicked out deliberately at Jenn, and left a pretty nasty looking bruise on her arm. I just winced from the sidelines. She worked her hard, until Spree was listening to what Jenn was asking. After that whole ordeal, we didn't end up riding. Jenn did say that she went out there later in the evening and free lunged her, and that things went much more smoothly. I was a little worried, because I don't want come out to ride and spend 45 minutes just trying to tack up my horse! But, I'm interested in all aspects of horsemanship/training/ownership, and not all horses are going to be lesson horses and do everything like angels.
Yesterday we tried a different approach. For about a half an hour, Jenn worked with her in the lunge pen, completely free lunge, no line at all. Spree responds incredibly well to posturing and body language, and I unfortunately think it's something that may take a while to pick up on. It's amazing to watch though. Jenn had the tack waiting by the pen, and after Spree's energy seemed to be working itself out, she tried tacking up. The issues wasn't as severe as the day before, but Spree still wasn't standing. They just kept working (eventually on a line) until all Spree was doing was gently circling tightly as Jenn tried to tighten the cinch. Not ideal, but we'll deal with it for now. That whole process only took a half an hour, which was a vast improvement from Saturday. I need to remember that she's only 8 years old, which is still quite young for a horse, and she has a lot to learn.
Jenn rode her for a little bit, and then I hopped on. She is so responsive to seat and leg aids, and I need to learn how to better adapt to that. I rode her at a trot (her trot is very floaty when she's going well), but I bounce around too much when she isn't going well. My seat and center need a lot of improvement :( That's something I'm confident will remedy itself in time though. Jenn took some pictures when I was riding (though I didn't realize it) and I'm not thrilled. I should have lengthened my stirrups; my knees are popping up too much. I need to sit up taller, sit deeper, and make sure the line from bit to elbow isn't broken and work on collecting Spree's head. I want to have a serious photo shoot sometime soon, so I can get feedback from my horsey forum on what I can start on improving. I just worked a lot on my legs and seat, getting her to turn that way, and lots of walking and trotting since she had already worked pretty hard.
She's a stunning mare; one of the prettiest I've seen. Her personality is equal parts curious and sweet and naughty and sassy. It's going to be a fun adventure. I'm hoping to get out there maybe tomorrow night or Wednesday for sure.
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