June 14, 2008

I have been severely neglecting this poor blog! Things have been a bit of a roller coaster ride in the horse world lately. Spree has been being so much of a brat while lunging (read: charging me and rearing) that I got scared and had to call in Jenn to help me out. On Friday night, I went out to work with them both, and she saw how Spree was acting (though it was far better than she had been) and saw my fearful reaction, so she showed me ways I can stand up to her to show I'm the boss/ It's simple stuff, like actually tossing the lead rope at her chest if she's coming at me, cutting her off with a brisk, no-nonsense walk if she's not listening when I ask her to change directions, etc. We worked with her together free lunging, and Jenn watched as I worked with her and said I was doing well. She free jumped her over a really loww crossrail, which was fun to watch; Spree seems to enjoy it!

Saturday was a great day. I had all the time in the world, so I headed out there and grabbed my girl. I wanted to scope things out next door, so we went for a walk on lead to the farm next door, and walked all the way to where the (unfenced) outdoor arena is. I worked with her there, lunging on lead, and I'd give her a C, grade-wise. She was distracted, understandably, but she also wasn't respecting when I was asking her to change directions every time. It was tough to cut her off, because there was no fence and we weren't in a round pen, and she wasn't responding to the lead rope swinging near her face. After we got back, I put her bridle on, and had a pretty easy time with the saddle, considering how long its taken in the past. Jenn had warned me that after not having the saddle on for a week, she might freak out, but nothing of the sort happened. I hopped on and headed back to that afore mentioned outdoor arena. She did excellent for the first half of our ride, listening to everything I asked, but she got progressively worse: trying to leave the arena, trotting fast and having minor freak outs at certain points in a circle, and generally fighting me like a fish on a line. We ended on a good note (my making her stand still right before leaving the arena, and if she didn't, kept her moving), but she walked way too fast on the way back, and almost knocked me off by running me under tree branches.

I also hate the saddle I'm using. The pad is old, scratchy and thin, and the saddle itself has the hardest seat ever and today it feels like someone literally kicked me in the ass. My first new buy will be a new pad, and I'm keeping my eyes peeled for an AP saddle. I'm also chatting with Jenn's friend about leasing her mare, but considering she wants her to be completely taken care of so she can bring in her new horse, I don't think my pocketbook can afford that. We're meeting up again this week; I'll know more then. I also encouraged Jenn to keep Spree up for sale, though she had thought at first she wouldn't during my lease. I don't see why she shouldn't work to find her a good home, and postponing that for a year doesn't make much sense. It's both of our first priority to find her a good home, so I'll be putting an ad on Craigslist this week.