The Riding/Training - Prima, Gus and PJ

Prima, Gus and PJ

High Winds in the Morning

I had the horses in and was planning to start riding at 9:30.  At about 9:10 the wind came up and there was dust everywhere and I could hardly stand up outside.  So I checked my hourly forcast online where it said the winds would subside by 2:00 in the afternoon.  This gave me four hours of daylight and the last very narrow window of opportunity for the next several days to get some riding in. 

At 2:00 the wind was still howling and shaking the house.  So I kept on doing laundry and cleaning vegetables.  At 3:00 it started to subside and by 3:30 it was gorgeous out.  So off I went to the barn.

Prima was first.  I decided to lunge her first and see how she was, and it was a good thing because she was not sound.  So I lunged her for 20 minutes and called it a day.  If she is not pregnant, and we will know for sure in a few days, I think I need to put her on a pretty restricted diet and have her hocks done.  On the lunge line she looks all on the forehand, but she is lame in front, so it doesn't make sense unless her hocks are sore as well and that's why she is going so much on the forehand.  And that could be aggravating the front foot situation.  When she was sound in the spring she was much more foreward and  through.  She just isn't moving like she does when she feels good. 

Gus was second.  I rode him without lunging.  He was great!  He was a bit high headed at first, so we warmed up, up there and he really went straight to work. (Very uncharacteristic!)   We worked on turns on the haunches and turns on the forhand at the walk, leg yields, shoulder in and renvers at the trot, walk/canter transitions and 10 meter canter circles.  He was pretty terrific.  No fussiness: all business.   He did pick up the wrong lead a couple of times, trying to change the subject, but only a couple of times.  We also worked on three loop serpentines at the canter with no change of lead and canter across the short diagonal with a change of lead at the rail through the walk.  Good boy, all around, and my core was sore at the end so I must have been doing something right as well.

I had planned to  work Elvis third, but PJ was so jealous and into everything when I was getting Gus ready that I really had to get after her.  She was chewing his reins, grabbing his flash and stealing brushes; anything she could think of to get attention.  And when I brought him back she was sulking off in the far corner by herself.  So I went and got her.  I tied her and brushed her and picked up all four of her feet.  I put hoof dressing on her feet and then we went for a long walk around the middle pasture, closing gates for  the night.  I think this was the first time I had asked her to walk away from the others and still be within earshot.  Usually we have gotten in the trailer and gone off the property to a show.  Her mother, of course, tried to cause a scene and screamed for her.  She only answered once and stopped and thought about trying to go back.  But I talked her out of it and we had a nice walk.  I probably should do this more.  When we got back I left her tied while I cleaned everything up and then turned them all out together.  She was a good and patient girl!