I was going to title this “Rain, rain go away” but it seems
we’ve gotten a stretch of nice weather – yeah!
Last week I had begun to do some spring tune up of the boys, but rain
moved in as well as getting called to substitute teach so I only got to work
with *Jack and *Leo. Finally toward the
end of this week the weather cleared and I’ve worked with *Sun, Dude, Silken,
*Beau, *Red, and even took *Walker
out.
I love that first time of working with each horse as it
allows you to see where their head is at, as well as, what they have
“percolated” on over their winter time off.
So how did each horse do? Read on
for a brief glimpse.
*Jack was not super focused on me. He is usually quite attentive so I’m not sure
if this was a “one of” or an attitude change, but he certainly makes me
laugh! In fact, when a horse expresses
an opinion that differs from mine, that is my usual reaction; I laugh! This day I found that whenever I raised my
energy to ask for more, he’d shake his head at me. Silly guy with a high opinion of
himself! Still, he did everything I
asked; he just needed to let me know what he thought about it.
*Leo, oh that golden boy!
He is so fabulous and I seriously have no clue why someone hasn’t
snatched him up to take him home. *Leo
is all about pleasing and bonding. He is
exceptionally smart, too. We worked on
transitioning up and down and it took very little energy from me. He really watched my body language
closely. He licked and chewed almost the
whole time.
Dude – is, well Dude!
He is a “tester”, he asks “Do you really mean that?” Once you have assured him that “Yes, I really
do mean that” he is more than happy to comply!
He has grown so much since we brought him to foster with us as a 17
month old that was about a 2.5 on the Henneke Scale. He is a gorgeous mahogany bay with the
softest of noses that is happy to rest on you.
I fitted him with one of our Myler bits, a 5” roller bar D
snaffle, and it fit quite well.
Guinevive will be happy as she wants to get him out and about when she
is up next month.
*Suncatcher, was well, wow,
did he mature more over the winter!
From the moment he stepped into the round pen with me he was a focus on,
energy receptive, “how far, how fast, yes ma’am” kind of a horse. His ear was on me the whole time. We did walk/trot/canter in both directions
and he never missed a beat. I was so
impressed.
Silken had a few thresholds as we walked down from up top
where she resides. I watched her
carefully and when I saw the tiniest bit of tension and “What’s that?” creep
into her face, I’d stopped and let her look.
I allowed her to tell me when it was time to move on. It didn’t take any time at all to walk down
to the round pen. She is as sensitive to
energy as ever and transitioning down in speed has always been her bug-a-boo
when she first starts back up at work.
Her transitioning from canter to trot is fine, it’s getting to the walk
that can be slightly problematic.
However, we did get there and I fully expect that the next time will be
far easier for her.
*Beau was ever the gentleman as I fully expect him to
be. We worked without a wand or whip,
only my hands and energy. We did
walk/trot/canter in both directions a few times and I even set up a row of
tires and asked him for a small trot/jump over.
He really does like to tell me that “Curly boys don’t jump” as it just
isn’t his forté, but I like him to do it as a strengthening exercise. I also had him stand next to the mounting
block and bellied up on him while he just stood there.
*Red was so happy to go with me and, like *Beau, such a
gentleman in behavior. *Red has always
required a bit more energy from me, so after using my hands for a bit and
having him decide that he didn’t really want to go left for me, I grabbed the
lunge whip and he decided it would behoove him to move on out. He’s a funny boy and I love him dearly. I have, and will continue to do so I’m sure,
learned so much from him. He is so smart
and curious.
*Walker
took a walk with me, as well. Due to
problems she’s had over the past couple of years, she lost some muscle tone, so
I’m starting her with just walking/trotting in hand. We took a trip down the hill to the round
pen, checked it out, and walked back up the hill, trotting on two different flat
areas as well. As time goes on we will
be walking up and down that hill more than just once. I expect it will get me in shape too!
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about the spring tune-up work
we’ve begun. You can look forward to
more write-ups about what each horse is doing, especially once Guinevive
arrives. We are so excited that she will
be here with us in June!
Don’t forget that most of our horses are for sale and we are
very motivated to sell. Check them out,
come visit if you’d like, and make us an offer!
