I hadn't ridden Gambler since last Tuesday, so today I thought I would give it another shot. To my delightful surprise, there was a small section of arena that wasn't ice or mud or standing water.
We brought the horses in as usual to give them their grain. Kezi gave us a scare yesterday. She had a reaction to her shots and at first it seemed like colic. You can read about it here.
 |
| Making grumpy faces at each other. |
I put Gambler in the cross-ties and groomed him as usual. I put the bridle on him, but ended up taking it off again. I don't think the bridle will fit with a halter underneath (especially the browband area) and Mom is still leading him right now. I'll probably introduce the rein aids with the gaming reins and then use the bridle when Gambler is no longer being led.
Today he was feeling a little below the weather, possibly also a reaction to the shots. Definitely not as serious as Kezi's reaction. He was just a little quieter than usual and his neck was sore. When I asked him to flex laterally, something he's been doing without a problem, he barely bent at all. He was a dream to mount today. He only walked away from the mounting block once. Otherwise he stood there calmly, licking and chewing and yawning.
For the last few "rides" Gambler has been very tense. I realized today that he's probably a little unbalanced. I know that green horses can have trouble balancing a rider at first, but for some reason I never put two and two together. We worked on long straight lines without too many sharp turns. I felt the difference. He definitely stretched out and loosened up.
It's definitely an odd sensation to have a rider, lots of circles and serpentines help a lot in the beginning days for sure!
ReplyDeleteI think the difficulty was, because of the footing, we never really were going straight. He was always making a tight circle and never got a chance to find his balance. I think he needs to start out with wider circles and turns and build up to the tighter turns.
DeleteI'm working with my green horse, Leah, and it's really hard for her to go straight and stay balanced. I'm happy if I get 5 or more straight steps. Then I return her to a circle until she regains herself and choose another line. My instructor told me to always have my eyes on a spot about 30 degrees off the line to widen the circle and keep my own body in the right spot. It's harder for them than you'd think. It sounds like he's really trying though. :)
ReplyDeleteI really do think he is trying, and he's getting better every time. Right now I'm not terribly picky about how he carries himself, but the first three rides he was so tense that he was stumbling over himself. Now I can feel him relaxing and stretching out.
Delete