horsemanship – Page 2 – The Hermits' Rest

I Fall (ouch) but Get Rewarded

I fell really well, I hear. Oddly, I feel more confident about Drew after getting bucked off in my first attempt at cantering than I did earlier today. Who’d have guessed?

But look how cute he is with his graying mane and tousled effect (he had just stumbled hard).

Since my last lesson with Drew, I’d been really cautious with him. I admit I mainly took him out and exercised him, avoiding grooming, because I was having trouble keeping him from trying to bite or kick me, even with a riding crop to make my bubble larger. I needed help.

What don’t I need help with? Befriending bunnies. These young cottontails no longer pay me any notice.

But I had an ego boost today that buoyed me up. I felt irrationally good about myself because at the conference sponsored by my previous employer I was called out for an award as someone who is helpful to their users. This was given by the director of the group that tried so hard to get me to leave, and I was nominated by former colleagues. That felt good, because Dell can’t give contractors awards or bonuses. I’m happy that the hard work I do is noticed!

I’m as cheerful as the color of this Gulf fritillary.

So, I was more confident when I went to get Drew for his lesson. He was so good, coming up to me to be haltered and being friendly as heck until I tried to groom him. He even bit my riding crop in two. But I got it done. That pleased me.

When we got to Tarrin’s he was sweet as pie and let me get all the little burs out of his mane. I felt better already. I just had to figure out the grooming thing.

Oh it’s figured out now. Tarrin gave me the Tough Love speech about how I had to stop moving away from him and rewarding his behavior or I’d have to sell Droodles. I felt really bad about being scared after being kicked but it’s a human reaction. I just had to get past it.

After that unpleasantness, she showed me a great technique for encouraging him to keep his teeth and hooves to himself. I managed to finish grooming and even get his mane and tail done. He is not fond of the bamboo stick I was semi-competently wielding to bop him. He was quite the gentleman thereafter. He even took the bit politely!

In fact, other than one stumble while we were nicely trotting, he was perfect during the lesson. I think we both were having fun together. He was doing so well that Tarrin thought we might be able to try a canter (have I mentioned before that I’d never cantered on a horse? Never got that far in lessons with Apache because he has canter “issues” having nothing to do with my skill set).

Just some nettle leaf noseburn to break up the tension.

She set it up so that she had him on the lead rope and I was in the saddle holding the reins in one hand and the saddle in the other. It all went fine. He started to canter but something happened that made him buck me right off. We were all surprised.

There was NO WAY I was going to fall in such a way that my cesarean scar would get re-injured like it did on my old hybrid saddle with Apache. So I went off to the correct side to not be trampled and somehow successfully rolled like I was doing judo or whatever. It went butt, back, head in such a way that I’m only bruised and have a headache.

THIS is why you wear a helmet when riding a horse. It protected me. In fact, I was wearing the helmet I had to buy after Apache bucked me off (which led to me starting lessons with Tarrin.)

Apparently after I landed and had the wind knocked out of me, I said, “I think I’m dead.” Tarrin, being pretty smart, figured out if I was talking I was alive. She and Drew came to see if I was all right. He was quite concerned that I was on the ground, as horses tend to be.

Once I was up, Tarrin got on Drew to firmly remind him how to behave in canter.

After a little squabbling, he was fine. We went back and practiced grooming his sweaty little self. Lee came up and Tarrin said I got an A+ and Drew got an F. That’s a great reward! She is not pleased that this little hiccup occurred, because she considers it her job to keep her students safe. But I think, in the end, everything worked out fine.

He settled down. Yes I took pictures. I was a little nauseated but sitting down to recover.

Honestly, I’m proud of myself for how I handled the events of the lesson. Getting thrown from a horse was a concern for me, since older people don’t bounce as well as young ones. But I coped well and mainly feel sad to have caused Tarrin concern. I feel good about Drew, the best I have since he got hurt. We are on the road back to a good relationship.

My wrinkles and I are intent on telling you I’m fine. I have perky pajamas and strong drugs.

Tomorrow won’t be fun. I guess checking out my bruises will be interesting. My back is a bit tweaked so I’ll do stretches and hope I don’t need a chiropractor. But yes, I have appropriate medications, analgesics, and medical professionals to contact if I get any concussion symptoms. Honest. No need to post medical advice!

Maybe I’ll ride Apache tomorrow. Hee hee. He looked bummed that he didn’t get to go to lessons.

Maybe I’ll Ride Again!

What’s the most fun way to exercise?

No surprises here! I find riding horses to be the most fun way to exercise. That’s followed by grooming and feeding horses. (I also like hiking.) Now, I’m not doing a lot of riding right now, since Apache’s feet are healing and Drew is still “off.”

Today, Droodles headed off to the fancy vet in Bryan, because Tarrin said she’s not seeing the results we need with just the rehab they’ve been doing at her facility. I completely agreed, because his health is my first priority, whether being ridden or not.

He went with friends, including Tarrin’s very large personal horses, and Vapor, who’s been in rehab, too.

I was very impressed with how the vet evaluated Drew. He would manipulate Drew’s hindquarters then see how he trotted. It became clear that his left stifle, which is equivalent to a knee in a horse, was the problem. Drew made that clear.

After all this, Drew was taken inside for X-rays. We had his head looked at, too, to be sure his kick didn’t damage him. The vet was pretty sure the issue wasn’t Drew’s back, but they wanted to be sure.

Bonus shot: you can see his more gray mane coming in.

The X-rays showed that his head is good, and best of all, so is his spine! I saw it myself. Nice spacing. But, there’s something called synovitis, swelling on his stifle, which is like arthritis. Well, that sounds painful!

So, he got injections in his spine and stifle (I am not sure what they are) that should make him feel better until the swelling is down, which should be soon. He has a medication for equine arthritis called Adequan. Once he’s on that and gets the inflammation cycle under control, he won’t need injections again until he’s old, we hope.

Regan takes care of drugged Drew. He’s very relaxed after his X-rays and meds.

Whew. I think this will do the trick. Droodles will stay at Tarrin’s so she can administer the first doses of Adequan (by the way, $$$). He can come home in two weeks! And we should be able to resume lessons and such. Back to my favorite form of exercise!

I just hope he feels a lot better. What happened to him is the result of being ridden extensively as a two-year-old, poor guy.

Other Stuff

I picked up my Costco glasses after the vet was done. I got one wild and one mild. I love the red ones, even if my family is iffy on them. The black ones look all sedate, but I just noticed that on the sides, there are holographic stars and logo. Ha!

I didn’t get home until late, because I had to do a work meeting in the car (I have no backup) and then ran into a bad storm. Another one is about to hit. We need the rain, even if it messes with my horse schedule.

I did get to go out and enjoy birds between storms. The sparrows entertained as usual.

Best of all, I looked up to see a flock of…birds…fly right over my head. They looked like sea or shore birds, so maybe they’re the sandpipers I keep hearing as they pass through. Hmm. A mystery.

Another mystery: what causes all the white flowers along our road? These should be purple.

Thanks for reading all my veterinarian details. As I often do, I blogged this so I won’t forget it.

It Pays to Have a Backup Horse

Whew. I was so tired last night that I couldn’t write anything. But a good sleep works wonders. I’m here to share about coping with the unexpected and my favorite obsession, personal growth.

Flowers are another obsession. This buttercup is white!

Ha, you thought horses and birds were my favorite obsessions! I’m just so effing happy to have achieved my goals of being centered and flexible in the face of challenges and changes! That’s hard work for the chronically anxious!

I’ve been mentioning that Apache, my horse who’s always on the verge of some issue, has had trouble walking since the farrier came last week. The good news is that he seems to be doing a bit better and is walking normally. But he certainly wasn’t ready for a horse show yesterday.

But, I had a backup horse who is slightly less lame than Apache and who happened to already be at the trainer’s place for rehab. Drew goes to the vet to get his back worked on Tuesday and is still touchy on this right side, so I couldn’t ride him.

But we did shows in hand all through 2022, so Tarrin suggested we do that. Ok…

I woke up yesterday and realized I no longer remembered the pattern for the Functionality/Dressage part of the show. So I printed it out, put on a patently unflattering shirt, and gathered up by show halter and some food. I’d just wing it.

I studied while Sara and Aragorn brought me to the show, found Droodles, and got him ready. I did some warmup stuff and he seemed fine. I should have walked him around the arena area a bit more. I was avoiding it and the judging area, because I thought you were supposed to do that, so I just walked him through some familiar obstacles to get used to working together after two months of not interacting.

That was a mistake, as Sara pointed out later.

The new friend who was doing in hand with her beautiful leopard Appaloosa did really well with the pattern, and I reminded myself where to turn for the second big circle.

Angie and Newt do fine by the judges table.

When it was our turn, my plan was to see if he’d trot, and otherwise walk. He didn’t trot, but that was fine. When we went to make our first big circle, a gust of wind came up and he spooked. The judges’ table had Tarrin’s annoying flappy tablecloth on it, and Drew didn’t like that. We didn’t even make a circle and got a 0. We preceded to fail at the next two instructions, but made it to where we were supposed to back up.

From the video Sara took. Not a happy guy.

That was directly in front of the flappy tablecloth. I got to demonstrate my ability to calm a horse down for what seemed like the longest minute of my life. I was mortified when Tarrin started helping me rather than judging, but I kept calm, and he eventually backed up a few steps.

Off topic, but look! A huge flick of migrating pelicans flew over!

I was able to do a couple of turns with him, but then started the second circle the wrong direction, even after trying to remind myself earlier. I was very proud that I just said “oops” to myself and did it right, with Drew cooperating! We got a 7 on that, and were able to finish the course correctly.

What was so good about that? I didn’t fall apart or get upset at Drew. I just kept going. I think we actually may have done worse early on, but I was pleased with my 47% score. It means we didn’t get all 0.

I got to relax while the advanced people did their stuff.

I won’t write out the Trail part of the show in excruciating detail. The above was so I’ll remember. I put Drew away and loved on him, then enjoyed everyone else. It was especially interesting because there were a couple of new participants and one experienced rider brought a new horse. Of course, Sara and Aragorn were magnificent.

The Trail part was a fresh start, and while it remained incredibly windy, Drew was fine. I realized my old horse was back, right from the start, abandoned my plan of walking the whole thing, and went for it! We had lots of fun, and most mistakes were all mine! We got a 67% with a couple of 9 scores on obstacles, including our favorite, the jump. That’s a great score.

That just shows how much it pays to not give up. It was a great experience, plus I got to enjoy watching others, like my friend Jackie doing what I would have done with Apache as well as can be done. They are only in Beginner because Jambo can’t canter anymore. But whoa, can he walk and trot. It was beautiful and a great role model of what to aim for.

Seeing all the horses try their best, and especially watching Sara’s level where both horses have overcome health issues and are now thriving, was really a pleasure.

I was Aragorn’s “groom” while Sara called obstacles for other riders.

I like that our little group is such a warm and supportive community. It makes showing fun, even when it’s a little stressful.

Maizie showed two horses, her palomino, fresh out of rehab, and Tarrin’s personal horse.

I sure was tired, though. After being a tour guide on Friday and sitting for hours in the wind, I was a zombie all evening! Glad for a break today.

Nothing is better than looking at pretty horses.

Thanks to anyone who read this!

Fine Weather for a Horse Show

What is your favorite type of weather?

I love a sunny day where you don’t need a jacket but don’t get all sweaty. Today was such a day, as the capricious Texas spring granted us a good one. (By the way, my second favorite weather is a cool mist, which is what I woke up to today).

Even the welding stuff looks good surrounded by mist-covered grass just after sunrise.

Since Sara and I aimed to leave for the first live horse show of the year for our Working Horse Central group, I was up before dawn trying to get Apache ready. He had, of course, slept in mud last night. So he was both wet and muddy.

I managed to get him back to mostly the correct colors and got lots more hair off him. I tried to bathe him a bit, but whoever coiled my hose up last time the grass was mowed created a tangle I cannot solve. I need to fix my horse bathing situation. I’m glad Apache was a good sport about it.

As you can see, he ended up looking white on his rump, miraculously.

The beautiful weather contributed to the most pleasant horse show experience I ever had. Each and every human and horse showed great improvement, to our collective delight. It was young Maizy’s first show, and she did way better than she expected on a borrowed horse. Good for her!

Love this picture with the horse totally unfazed by the rope. Believe me, my roping didn’t look that good.

Sara and Aragorn had their best show ever. He seems to feel much better on the same medication Apache is on, plus another. He was a cantering rockstar! And every other task he was asked to do went as well as he could possibly do. Hard work pays off! It was a joy to watch them and to see Sara’s smiles.

The experienced riders were so great to watch. I learn so much from them! I’m the least experienced, even though two participants were teens. That’s why I don’t compare myself to the others and just hope to improve!

I didn’t get any photos of Kate, who went before me, because I was always in my horse waiting for my turn, but she’s such a great horsewoman and the horse she rode was just gorgeous. She showed me how the things Apache and I did were supposed to look. Ahhh…

Of course we got to visit poor Drew in Reform School. Apache seemed glad to see him and called to him whenever I returned him to his stall.

As for our performance, both Apache and I were a lot calmer than we’d been before, which meant we did some things well. There were also mental lapses by me and Apache oopses as well. The best one was when we were supposed to walk straight down a corridor, stop in front of an obstacle, then back out. Well, the obstacle was a fake Christmas tree, and Apache tried to eat it and pulled it over. I just had to laugh! Of course he did it perfectly in the Agility phase, where form didn’t count.

The fatal moment. We got 3 out of 10 for the tree pulling.

Nonetheless, our trotting was better in all phases, and I exhibited improved handling. That’s what counts, improvement! I’m doing a pretty good job of not beating myself up for not doing better. That’s an improvement, too! See, I can learn.

He and I did pretty well on the last thing, Agility, which is timed. if I hadn’t gone through the gate the wrong way, it would have been spectacular. But we ended up winning that one (out of 2 people) because I let him trot as fast as he wanted to. My Goddess, that was bumpy. My helmet kept falling down, as did my glasses. But it impressed the judge (Tarrin). And I lived, albeit with a headache.

The best part was watching everyone on this beautiful day.

I’m a bit sore from the trotting, but it was worth it. The shoes are a little of work for everyone, but well worth it. I’m grateful for everyone who helped judge, score, set up, and tear down.

Now to collapse.

Off to Equine Remedial Education

Droodles is not himself. My sweet, talented, and gentle colt has turned into an unsafe young horse. I’m really sad, but he’s just not recovering well from whatever he did that hurt his head and neck so badly. Last week we had a couple of good workouts, but today when I tried to get him ready for our lesson, he was a mess.

He was okay walking from the pasture to the pens. But things went downhill fast. I couldn’t groom him, because he kept coming at me with his teeth. So he was covered in burs and had dirty feet.

I tried exercising him, since that had helped earlier. I smartly put him in the round pen. He just cantered in big circles in a wild way, only slowing down when I got his attention and exhaled. He let me pet him when he stopped, but was a bit scary when I asked him to go the other way. When he stopped after that, he kicked me (grazing my wrist) then pulled the rope from my hands and ran in uncontrollable circles. I approached him to get the rope back, and he came at me flailing his hooves.

I did stop him, then calmly as I could, I exited the round pen, shutting the gate before he could follow. He then flung himself at the pen a few times. I did get him out and back to the pasture. He then galloped like a racehorse as far away as he could. Damn he’s fast.

That ruckus got all the other horses stirred up and racing around. I used that opportunity to get Apache out, hoping to take HIM to my lesson, but Drew started pushing and Apache got out without a halter. Off he went all over the property until he found the greenest, shiniest grass we have. Just what he should not eat. Of course, not being completely bonkers, he settled down and I got him in a pen. Whew. He then happily ate his applesauce/medicine combo, let me groom him, and got some exercise. We did not go to lessons, though.

No, I drove myself over to Tarrin’s to discuss each other’s woes and figure out a plan for Drew. We discussed whether to take him to a vet, wait it out, or have him come back to her place for a while. We decided to do the latter. Remedial Education.

At Tarrin’s, he can get daily pain killers, frequent visits from Jackie for bodywork, and daily training sessions to help him build back whatever muscles are messed up. If that doesn’t work, we will re-evaluate. I don’t want to spend too many more thousands of dollars if he can’t be helped.

He looks so innocent. Just eating like nothing happened.

I am concerned that the kick in the head damaged him. Or maybe there’s something growing in the pasture that got to him (and maybe the others?). The spring grass? I don’t know but I’m worried about him. Maybe I’m just not meant to have horses for anything other than petting and feeding. Ugh.

I Do All the Things, Except

Something on your “to-do list” that never gets done.

I do have a to-do list. It’s my bullet journal. I get pleasure from checking off things I’ve done. Here’s a confession. There’s one thing I rarely even put on my list, because I hate doing it.

Looking at clouds during sunset rarely gets omitted.

Yes, I hate hanging my clothes back up in my closet. I have always hated this, since childhood.

There’s no reason for me to dislike it. I have a huge closet with windows and a fancy light fixture. But it piles up. Maybe admitting this will inspire me to get I. There, grab a stack of velvet hangers, and file my clothes where they belong. I should have space after recent purges. Maybe. (No, I’m not posting a photo of my closet.)

I did get many items on my to-do list done today. I dutifully attended the Master Naturalist Board retreat and took notes. It’s always good to listen to the group’s ideas and get excited about possibilities for field trips and activities. Even though I wasn’t feeling well, I got through it. (Yeah, my health has me puzzled — my joints have started hurting in my hands, and my knees and back are unhappy with me for no reason I can figure out. Plus I suddenly have ringing in my ears, which has never bothered me before. Time for a checkup I guess.)

Linda Jo found an excellent insect during our break, during which she and I looked for flowers. Naturally.

After checking that item off, I took the horses over to Tarrin’s for an unscheduled visit. (Make that “we” since Lee drove.)

Apache was the easier horse to deal with. Tarrin and her hoof consultant picked out some boots for him to wear while his abscess heals. I’d say they cost more than any shoes I ever bought, except I have some really nice cowboy boots.

I was relieved that she got him to pick up both front feet to get cleaned and treated. He let her put the boots on, too. They will stay until Monday, when the farrier comes. It took him a while to adjust, but I think this will help him. Now he just needs to shed all that long hair. He’s so hot!

They will never be this clean again. They are also reflective!

Drew was acting less weird today, but I was very glad to get her to look at him. He just hasn’t been himself with all that snapping and kicking. Plus today he had blood on his legs. He’s been getting into something!

Quickly, Tarrin figured out his neck hurt. He had a huge knot in it. No wonder he didn’t like being groomed or having his mane brushed. She worked hard on this neck, and even Lee could see him relaxing.

She then had him stand on the special pads that are supposed to make him feel better. He kept pawing at them and sniffing them. We don’t know what that meant. But he seemed less tense and grouchy. I’m interested to see how he is tomorrow when I groom him and pay special attention to his neck.

I sure am glad I have such a good trainer who cares about my animals. The horses have certainly benefited! Me, too!

I’d give her real flowers if I could. It’s Field Madder (*Sherardia arvensis*) and is tiny.

There’s a lot to be thankful for, even if I don’t get all my chores done every day. Those clothes are waiting patiently.

Today I was thankful for many interesting cloud formations.

Day or Night, It’s All Right

Are you more of a night or morning person?

Let’s answer this prompt. It’s harmless. I used to prefer nights, back when I did a lot of music stuff and going out with friends. I think I liked the activities, like choir practice and rehearsals more than the fact that it was night.

This is here just because I thought it was pretty.

Now that I mostly stay home, I’ve come to enjoy my morning routine out in the fields and woods. It’s grounding and gets my mind ready to get stuff done. I do enjoy having morning rituals like coffee and filling out my bullet journal for the day, too.

I often meditate while looking at lichen and bark.

I have evening rituals, too, like blogging and reading before I go to sleep. I guess I like to ease into the day and ease back out.

Magazine patiently waiting for me to finish blogging

I enjoyed the distraction of a lesson on Apache this afternoon. I wanted to build on last weekend, and it worked. We are doing well together, and I’m impressed with his eagerness to learn. I’m a lot more calm, too. He’s feeling better.

Next lesson will be for Drew, but it’s been postponed for family stuff. That gives me lots of time to work with them both at home, though. Drew and I have lots to practice, too! He is still weird about his head but otherwise tons of fun.

Daily Bird

I think the great blue herons on the ranch will be upset (or more upset) with me if I don’t feature them, so today’s the day.

At least today I didn’t scare one who was busily cleaning out the overflow pond like I’d done for two days. I just watched them flying and posing at water’s edge.

My favorite thing about these large birds is their croak. They yell when disturbed and made to fly off. Often they don’t vocalize enough for the Merlin app to catch them, but it did this week. It’s a great creaky sound.

I’m glad we have water to attract these and the other herons/egrets here. They have so many postures and look so elegant when they fly. And they’re so big! It’s a nice contrast with all the tiny woodland birds.

I Am the Champion

No, I’m actually not the champion, but I’m very happy with myself and the beleaguered Apache, my equine partner in the last Working Horse Central show of the year. We’d been scheduled to go camping this weekend, but with no pet care, we canceled. I’m glad, because that let me go to the show.

Apache was jittery in Functionality, the first part of the show. I didn’t think I was, since I knew the dressage pattern and knew he could do all the parts. I was ready to try to improve our performance by showing what we’d learned, but I insisted got to show how to deal with a horse that decides not to leg yield or turn right at a trot, both things he knows how to do. We were at Tarrin’s, too, the place he practices.

But after some initial irritation, I let Apache chill in a stall, and he settled down. We ended up doing our best Trail pattern ever. We even did the gate! He really didn’t mess up anything but the side pass and a bit with the garrocha pole. But we did it all! I think we were pretty calm, too.

He refused to look perky, though. Still a zombie.

After enjoying watching Sara and the others do their parts (Aragorn seems to feel great and was a superstar), we did the final event, Agility. On this one you try to go as fast as possible. And we DID. We just zipped through the curtains, over the rails, on the slalom, and everywhere. If we hadn’t made some mistake I’m not certain of, we’d have won that one, because we were fast!

It was so much fun to do. It finally feels like we can be partners. We were turning and just plowing through. I’m so glad to have had this experience. It felt like we were really riding, not trying to ride, if that makes sense. Apache really seems to feel better now.

Sara said we look ready to canter. Ooh like the big kids. Hey, I may be slow, but I’m progressing. Everyone was happy for me, which felt great. Our little group is so supportive of each other that it’s hard to get down!

After the show there were end of year awards. It was cute to see how many awards and prizes the young competitors got. I think the littlest one would have been just as happy to just play in the mud obstacle with the Rottweilers.

Generous donors enabled us to have some very nice prizes for the winners in each division. I was very happy for Sara and Aragorn, who really worked hard and attended every show. She is the actual champion, in her Novice group.

Apache and I were second in Beginners to our friends Jacqui and Jambo. I really enjoy watching them! We had a lot of fun with our ribbons.

The winners of each group received beautiful belt buckles designed by one of the group moms. What a wonderful surprise. Sara sure deserves one for her effort. The big surprise was that the reserve champion in each group also got buckles. That means I got one, and it has turquoise on it!

I feel so legitimate now. I guess I always wanted to earn a buckle and work hard for it. Sara can wear hers to her next Working Equitation show! We are champions.

After last week having to abort any try at filming a virtual show entry, feeling connected and successful today was a real win. Life sure has its ups and downs! Today was up.

Apache made me proud. Even of the yellow.

It Always Helps…

…to have someone supportive confirm that your instincts are not off and you can do things you need to do, with the right tools.

I’m not talking about my new yarn spindle, though it’s a nice tool.

Today Tarrin came here to do the horse lessons, which was very helpful, even though I’d managed to write the time wrong on my calendar. I need a personal assistant!

I’d been wandering around looking at the heron and not realizing I needed to groom horses.

Since I got Drew to come with me easily, he went first. I got some really helpful input on not pushing myself to trot and trot if he isn’t in one of his good frames of mind. I feel so much better practicing on straightening him out at a walk. I do wish I’d gotten pictures of him doing his warmups. He was pretty spectacular cantering and jumping high, calmly. Probably the very cool weather had him perky.

He’s doing better in lots of ways. But I felt validated when Tarrin got on him and had trouble the same way I did. He took a long time to relax like he was still a bit unsettled. Maybe we’re both more settled now.

I had a really good lesson with Apache. He even came up to me in the pasture. All those “treats” (medicine) seem to help with that. I got good information from Tarrin on how to deal with his lethargy. She explained that he’s losing some of his stubborn fat and the toxins in it are going to his liver, so we’re going to give him some milk thistle for a time. And he’s changing to different supplements that will support his metabolism. Luckily most of it isn’t too costly.

As for the lesson, he had good energy for his ground work. I’d say he did the best I’ve ever seen him going over jumps and low obstacles. And he was a joy to ride. I got great information on ways to keep him standing up better, then we went out to test his “issues” with going outside his comfort zone.

Tarrin used his lead rope to keep him from flinging his head down (without constricting his comfortable head movement). Once he realized that option for making me nervous was gone, everything was better.

Since I took no pictures today, here’s a bonus.

We made tons of progress on re-settling him when he first starts to act concerned (as a helpful blog reader mentioned as well). We stopped and breathed, and we did lots of circles and figure eights to give him something to center himself on.

I did really well staying centered and calm, myself, thanks to not having the threat of him jerking the reins out of my hands and Tarrin providing helpful cues. I ended up feeling really good and like I have ways to make riding at home more fun with both horses. Whew. I sure needed the insights.

Carlton points out that he does nothing but emit good vibes. I love him, too.

I’m very grateful to have had my coach here at home for some help with my situations. Both horses are doing so well at her house. I’d like to get there at home.

Daily Bird

It was really cold (for here) so not many birds were out. But I thoroughly enjoyed listening to white-throated sparrows settling in the big tree by the pond for the night. Oh, the tweeting and chirping! It was like a mini bird concert. I was charmed.

A Guest Blogger!

Neigh! It’s me, Apache Smoke Signal, Suna’s horse buddy, also known as Patchy. I’m taking a break from constant eating, my favorite hobby, to be your guest blogger. Suna is too tired to type.

I had to dictate this, because I can’t use a keyboard.

I want you all to know I’ve been eating my special treats with the nasty pink centers every day, and I think I feel a lot better. I jumped two jumps in a row today, to my surprise. I surprise easily.

I’ve been extra well behaved, too, not like that young punk Droodles who keeps pestering my little friend Fifi. Today he decided to gallop full speed into the pens, pester Fiona, then gallop back to our manna from Heaven that Suna calls a round hay bale, three times. I don’t know what gets into that boy.

He won’t even lower his head like a gentleman to get those pain balls Suna calls burs off his head. That’s probably what’s making him all goofy.

Suna says maybe next year my coat won’t be so thick in winter. I’ve been so sweaty.

I had fun this evening when I had my first night visit with the human who tells me what to do and gets all bossy when I get nerved out. She always makes me go fast and tells me I started on the wrong hoof. How do I know?

I tried to enjoy eating my delicious bag of hay while my pal Aragorn was running around with my previous rider friend Sara, but there is a horse baby who won’t shut up there now. He kept yelling that he wanted his mommy. She was just over by the handsome man horse, so I can’t figure out why this baby was so loud. It ruined my moment of peaceful eating with no other horses daring to try to share.

What Suna wanted me to tell you is that even after enduring her washing my mane (I was enjoying that dirt) I did things I didn’t know I could do! Even though it was dark with bright lights in my delicate eyes, I trotted less awkwardly than I used to at many speeds and could understand what Suna was asking! And I went around the barrels well enough to please the bossy human. I admit I don’t like that weird fast walk they keep making me do, but it’s getting easier.

I need to get back to chewing and dominating the other horses now. Suna will be back to talk about birds and plants tomorrow. How boring. Grass is the only interesting plant! And maybe alfalfa.