The good news is I didn’t fall off my horse. And I’m sure I learned a lot and will eventually be grateful for all the chances at relaxing and giving when I didn’t want to.
But no, my latest try at practicing dressage at Sara’s did not go very well. I appreciated Sara’s help with getting his bridle on and removing the fire ants he stepped on. That must have hurt, so no wonder he was head shaking, trying to canter, and dancing around, all things that I handled as calmly as I could.
It was all my fault that I didn’t have a death grip on the reins that were serving as lead rope while he was supposedly calming down and grazing. A truck pulling a rattling trailer sped by and scared him (even though the same vehicle has probably passed him when he grazed next to the road in our pasture). Drew jerked away and ran his ass off down the tree line.
Luckily he stoped when he got to Spice in her paddock. All geldings love Spice. When we caught up with him he was happily interacting with her and Lakota. He doesn’t seem to have injured himself, and he went nicely back to the scene of the incident to graze some more.
And he made it back through the scary trees, though he was nervous. After a nice visit with Sully and Jhayati, we went home, which is where he will stay for a while. I’m not going to try to film a virtual show there this weekend. I could get hurt.
I did help set up the obstacles for the other parts of the show and will bring Apache there tomorrow to see if he can do a better job than last time we tried filming over there. It’s disheartening. I’m doing my best to be positive, but both horses act weird over there. Maybe tomorrow will be when the tide turns! Sara tries so hard to set up the spaces, and I’d like to take advantage of it. at least today I got some riding in that was calm. Yay?
Today was just plain challenging. I went to the Red House to help Anita get it clean for the next group (quick turnaround day), and I must have twisted my back putting sheets on the bunk bed. Between that and riding a jumping and pawing horse, I’m quite sore.
Sorry. Nothing but whining for today.
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Horses see and sense more than we do and that causes spooking. There’s probably something on the property he is reacting to. Horses are hard wired for this. It’s frustrating and scary when this happens. Keep doing what you are doing and it will get better. Things like fire ants and ground bees trigger that instinct to go. Years ago I was riding my friends mare when we encountered ground bees (fall hazard in New England). Poor girl got stung in the udder. She did everything to keep me on. Once I jumped off, she started bucking hard to rid herself of the bees. I had the utmost respect for that little standard mare after that but I can tell you I was trembling that day!
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Oh man, that had to hurt her! I think the horses may also be reacting to how I feel on that property. There’s someone there who doesn’t like me and as hard as I’ve worked to not care what others think or say about me, I see that I’m being watched and judged. So, I’m probably not helping no matter how much I breathe deeply and center myself.
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Sounds like you may have the reason. Horses read our emotions and mirror them back.
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Glad you and the horses stayed safe. Those fire ants are no joke. And I’ve had horses that just didn’t do well in certain locations too. For whatever reason, they just could not relax at a particular barn. Always on edge. That’s horse life for you. They keep us guessing. Here’s to a better ride on a better day for you in the near future!
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Thanks. It’s their right to have their feelings, for sure.
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