virtual show – The Hermits' Rest

One Step Back

Yeah, they say it goes two steps forward and one step back. Today felt like a big step back for me and Apache. But we have it our best and that’s all we could do.

We think we’ve grown, but maybe we haven’t. Regression time.

Sara and another of our horse friends had set up the obstacles for the Working Horse Central spring virtual show, so I said I’d go over and try it out. So far, that’s never worked out well for us, but I figured we’d get some together time and riding in, anyway.

What can I say? It went better than last time. We got there calmly and did a walk-through of the course with Aragorn, but Apache was not at all interested in riding, just like last time. I got lots of practice being calm and trying not to tense up as he jumped and wheeled around.

There are certain spots he just loses his mind at. I have no idea why. But I did manage to get him back to his normal mind a couple of times. It was exhausting. Sara and I kept trying to figure out what I might be doing differently that caused all our improvements to go out the window. I’m sure I tense up when he starts jumping, though I try my best to not react and breathe calmly. He seems to want me to help him though.

In the end I got the idea that he does better over there with a friend, so Sara led Aragorn and we followed them through a bunch of the obstacles. That actually worked, so we were able to end on a positive note.

I tied my horse up to rest afterwards, and he and Aragorn got all manly at each other. We surmised that Sully must be in heat, like Mabel.

Neither of these guys is known for acting studly.

Apache looked so miserable that I took his saddle off and hosed him down. By that time, the other person who was going to try to film her virtual show. Look at her horse, Cheerio!

Apache just looks like the same horse, a size larger. They are exactly the same color, but A is wet here.

They must have a common Paint pattern. They even share the black forelock and white mane!

I took him home before they did their work. As we arrived at the gate to our property, there was Fiona. She had escaped the fence and came to greet her buddy. I wonder if he’d do better if she came with us? It’s not possible, of course, since Fiona isn’t very popular over there, but maybe in other circumstances she could be his emotional support animal.

But look! Fencing is up for a third pasture! Just need a water trough. I’ll put Mabel and Dusty there, to enjoy the good grass. Apache and Fiona will go to the other pasture a couple hours a day but mostly stay in the small overgrazed paddock, so the pasture they are in now can rest.

Well, at least I got some sun. Apache is pissed off at me, but I hope this episode hasn’t messed up all our hard work becoming a team. I shouldn’t have taken him over there, in retrospect. I just keep hoping we will be able to keep things together better in unfamiliar places. Or familiar places that spook him. I guess no equestrian camping for us any time soon!

Buh.

Invisible Demons Plus Apache Equals Trouble.

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.

WAIT!

Isn’t that how I started yesterday’s blog? yep. I’m a glutton for punishment I guess. Today I spent the required bur and mud removal time, then headed back to Sara’s. This time I brought Apache. I was hoping things would go better going over obstacles with some friend horses around.

I swear to you that I was in a good mood and happy with my old boy. After all, he successfully ate his whole pill and let me remove all the burs. We had a nice walk over there, but his arrival disturbed the foal, which disturbed Aragorn in his dressage. Still, all good.

But when I mounted and started showing him the obstacles, he did the same thing he always does and started hopping and going sideways the minute he got near the pens. Honestly, I’d forgotten this would be an issue, so I wasn’t tensing up. Where are these invisible demons he senses?

After two one-rein stops and a lot of conscious relaxing and not tightening the reins, I was able to successfully do a slalom, go over a bridge, and walk over a jump. He even sort of did a turn in a box thing.

We dressed nicely. As you can see, he’s still tense.

But, I couldn’t reach the gate to unlatch it when we got to it, he acted like he’d never seen a mailbox, and he refused to approach a jug on a barrel. He’s done those things many times.

So I gave up on the virtual show and just tried to end on a good note. I took him to Sara’s round pen, you know, the one I’ve worked with him in for years. He did eventually settle down as we did some patterns in there. But, that was it.

I let him graze in the pen while other horses tried to do their show filming. Aragorn didn’t like the bridge after a non-stick matt was put down. Later, after I dragged my ass home, he did fine.

Oh, that’s what I was supposed to be doing. Oops.

And Cole, who came with our training friend Tracee, surprised everyone by cantering away and doing a great job. All that cheered me up.

And Apache was a good guy all the way home. Hmm.

I keep reading “helpful” articles saying if your horse behaves poorly, it’s something you did. I’m inclined to agree, since both my horses act so weird over there, it may well be me. I do get a little embarrassed that my horses are flailing around and not listening to me. But I’m doing my best to calmly regroup and try again.

I’ll keep trying. I’m disappointed, but we keep going.

To top it off I broke my other thumbnail.

Droodles Has Teen Angst

Sara and I had this great idea to film our Functionality test for the delayed Winter virtual show for Working Horse Central this morning. Yep, the day after Drew and Aragorn worked hard on the in-person show. Great idea. It’s a good thing we had no time pressure and good humor, because we had some challenges and neither horse was enthusiastic about doing more fancy stuff. Droodles had a lot to say about it, too.

At least I had another outfit I could wear. and Drew looks happy here.

To start things off, I went to the trailer to get Drew’s fancy halter and saw a saddle in there. Uh, was my saddle there all weekend? No. It was Sara’s. So she had to drive over to get it.

Drew and I had a calm warmup and nice walk over to Sara’s. But that boy just can’t settle down over by her dressage arena (no, nothing fancy, but it works great thanks to her creativity). My horses just don’t like their trees or something, because I’ve spent hours with Apache over there. Once Drew got wound up I could not help him settle down. He pitched a fit and tried to buck and spin. Joy.

We were also challenged by the fact that we didn’t have any place to tie whichever horses weren’t being filmed, so we had to monitor the Pevo filming software and hold two horses.

Sara’s two get along fine. They were no problem with Drew’s filming. He was the problem. He spooked at a tree and was not able to act normally. We tried once and I ended up cussing at him on video. He wouldn’t slow down, wouldn’t turn right, kept bumping me (he does that when nervous), and acted like a surly teen. It was no fun. As they say, you ride the horse that shows up (or lead it in this case).

But Drew and Aragorn aren’t overly fond of each other so Sully’s filming was not easy. She at least did her bit in one try. Blue ribbon time for her—no matter what little issues she had, at least she was compliant!

The challenge when Aragorn was filming (which took three tries—Sara and Aragorn each had an oops) was that Sully and Droodles like each other, so Drew was hormonal and wanted to be in her face or nibbling on her. I could just imagine her getting irritated and backing into the arena, or him bumping the tripod and messing up the filming. But, we did it. Aragorn looked good for being tired.

Was that the end of Drew’s teen angst?

So, no, Drew was not done. I had a heck of a time getting his normal halter back on, but he did walk nicely to the cabin. The problem is that there’s an old gate there we have get through. Cows have apparently been stomping by the cattle guard and pushing on the gatepost. The post now leans, so to unlock it, you have to push up with one hand and use your other two hands to open the rusty hook that locks it shut. Oh wait, I only have two hands.

Thus, when closing the gate, I turned Drew loose to eat grass, like he had done all day (he eats frantically when nervous). As I finally got it locked, Droodles decided grass was not interesting. Cows were.

He galloped over to look at the cows. Then Sara drove up, as she was coming to get the grooming bucket she’d also left in our trailer. Off Drew went with tail flying. He ran back and forth at the edge of our pasture, having spotted his buddies. Then he got tired and just waited for me at the gate. I hope he had fun.

You’re sure slow, Suna. I’m right here waiting.

Geez. But, I just laughed and took him back to his pasture…the long way. Yeah, I’m the human leader here.

Little does Drew know he has another lesson tomorrow. And there’s a chance we may have a chance to record the other part of the virtual show. Now, I’m thinking Drew’s behavior had reasons. He was NOT happy in the trailer yesterday. He pooped so much that even shavings didn’t make the footing good. He might be tired from the long trailer ride, too.

I’m sure I’ll hear lots of ideas for how I can deal with this better than I did! There’s always room for improvement.