Things started out well getting for the ride on Monday. Phebes did show some balking behavior, not wanting to lead, but rather follow Big Cree. We went the little distance down the road, hopped up into the field and started heading towards the woodline. Suddenly out of the blue Cree spooked, this startled Phebes. She spooked, and spun a half circle to the left so fast that I had no way to prepare. Wiley Coyote moment suspended in the air, then the quick crash to the ground, and my head being thrown back upon landing. She didn't run off, or act silly over it. Which was good as I was writhing on the ground holding my head that hurt like H-E-Double L. My husband was shaken up, and I was just brain rattled and pretty mad. So back on I go, and we head to the woods. I guess I was aggravated enough that I wanted to get the balking thing over with. We made some improvement on that. We also attacked that downhill she hates so much. I decided to break the hill up into sections. To go down about a fourth of the way, and halt, go again, and halt, etc. It worked. No head tossing, no goosing around sideways. The problem was she was getting too much momentum going down the hill. I would try to slow her down by pulling back on the rein, and she would push through by flipping her head up and down. All the while gaining unsafe speed down the hill. So by breaking it up, we made it down quietly and safely. Too slow for competition, but that isn't the point right now anyway. Get her safely going through obstacles first, worry about speeding up later. The rest of the ride was uneventful, she did fine.
Tuesday was a wash as I was at work from 7:15 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. Just too tired to do it last night. I did practice loading with her. It still takes three attempts before she goes in, but she is directing and driving in rather than having to pull her in. She backs out really calm and soft now....we are making slow headway.
I'm three weeks into an upper respiratory thing. A course of antibiotics cleared the laryngitis, and the ear infection, but I continue to cough to the point of sore muscles over the ribs. I'm currently working 4 days per week at my 2 day per week part-time job....which will be the status quo until the first week of September. ~Endurance Granny
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