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.

June 4, 2008

You know how I was mentioning PMS? OHMYGOD. I was a little shocked at how bad this was. The minute I went out to get her from the field, I knew I was in for it. She did not want to walk away from Chance, kept stopping as we were walking, and kept crowding my space. 

I had already gotten all of the tack out, so I was just free lunging her at first. Ugh. She would try to change directions on me at the same point every single time around the circle, and when I'd get in her face, she'd flatten her ears and sometimes kick out. This kept repeating, and only got a little bit better with time. I decided she was listening well enough to bring out the saddle. She acted like she'd never seen the thing before! At first she wouldn't even let me put it on her back, so I kept lunging her with the same results. Then, when I was finally able to put it on her back, she freaked out when I barely touched the girth to her belly. Backing away, snorting, and when I backer her like I normally would, she ended up rearing a little. I kept lunging her after she did this a could of times, and she was so determined that she was choosing the direction she was going, her aggressiveness was scaring me a little bit.

I tried to end it on a good note by having her follow me around without a lead on and then just put her away. I was an AWFUL horse mama though, because I didn't tie her securely enough in the enclosure, she took off, trailing her lead rope, which she ended up tripping on and scaring herself. :/ She was awful, and I hate the fact that I got scared of her actions.

I'm headed out there later this afternoon, so hopefully her attitude will have improved and we'll have a lovely afternoon.

June 2, 2008

Somebody has a case of PMS, and it ain't me! Jenn had left me a note warning me that they thought Spree might be in heat. Well, her attitude certainly seems to indicate that she is! She did ok free lunging, though she made it quite clear by her pinned ears, swishing tail and sometimes deliberately going the wrong way that she was not happy listening to me. I had already decided that today was going to be English tack day, so I'd gotten Jenn's friend's AP saddle out of its bag, changed the reins on Spree's bridle, and had my gloves and helmet ready.

After I free lunged her for awhile, I tried the saddle. She's actually been standing really well for the saddle recently, which is refreshing. However, she's really pissy about the girth being tightened, and certainly displayed her displeasure about it tonight. When she went to move, I would snap the lead rope back under her chin and back her up. If she kept moving, I'd start lunging her again, letting the saddle fall where it may. I was making progress, but Jenn showed me up to back her up while standing more at her side then in front of her, so as soon as she stops I can start trying to tighten the girth again. Genius. I'm happy about her responsiveness to me while lunging, and I feel much more comfortable with it now, both off and on lead. Once I'd gotten all her tack on and secured, it took me an embarrassing amount of time to actually mount. I seriously need a mounting block there. I'm having to climb up onto this little platform and have her stand at the right point next to it, and the whole thing is really awkward. I also should work on improving my flexibility on that front.

Because everything to this point had taken awhile, she was sweaty and I was about to kill every fly and mosquito in the state of Michigan, I didn't want to ride too long. I felt so at home in an English saddle, and actually feel more secure in it than a Western saddle. The saddle and pad themselves are pretty crappy though, so maybe I'll make an upgrade of my own sometime soon. She was much less barn sour than last time, though a little bit still. She was very responsive to the leg aides, and since I'd switched to English reins, I found myself using the subtle rein aides you're supposed to and not moving my hands. Whew! I felt like a much more competent rider today. I decided to give a canter a go, and had her canter back toward the barn. Not ever a good idea to move a horse quickly back to where they want to be going. I then circled her, walked and trotted back out into the field and canter/galloped back again. So fun :) Next time I think we'll definitely head next door, new tack and all, since it will be raining on Wednesday. My only fear is not being able to lunge her first. We'll see...