Loading was an issue this morning, really had to work at it to get her in, and hated taking her right back out, but wanted her to load in and out several times before leaving. She pitched a fit at one point, flipped her head up, and skinned herself between her eyes. No bleeding, but the fur was scraped off.
The trip to the park was uneventful, both horses rode in the trailer reasonably well. Phebes did act up when it came time to saddle her, and also was dancing around when it came time to mount. I prefer not to ground mount as it pulls hard on the tree and I know that can't feel good, but she wouldn't hold still long enough for me to mount off a step, so ground mount I did.
The horse lacks confidence so bad that we have a time keeping forward momentum, even at the walk. She will get up to about 3.4 mph and before you know it she's stopped and thinks the next tree, or rock, or bird is going to eat her. She is very intimidated by other horses on the trail, she just locks up, doesn't want to move at all, and is bothered when they pass. I rode her down to where the trail passes under the road through a big creek tunnel. She was majorly freaked out by the cars up above on the highway. I had to get off for safety and walk her in circles, and finally walked her down the creek and through the tunnel. She seemed fine in the creeks today except for not watching where she puts her feet very well. This took us up onto trail X. We rode about five miles total on X Trail. I also measured B trail with the GPS and it is shorter than the park service has it listed on the trail map. It is more like 3.76 miles, not the 4 miles as listed. When I get the opportunity I want to measure all of the trails for accuracy.
For the most part she actually did alright today. It was "I" who wasn't doing alright, when we start off bad, I just can't enjoy the rest very well. I want to mesh with her but get so aggravated with how slow the process is taking and having to constantly back track. My idea of where we should be by now was trotting along the trail, and up to at least 12-15 miles. She won't trot more than a few strides because she is so insecure of EVERYTHING! The answer I'm sure is more exposure, more riding, etc. etc. But I'm running out of time fast, and hauling out once on the weekend just isn't going to get the long miles she needs this year.
I've tried sacking her out, despooking exercises, trotting patterns, ground exercises for respect, riding her on our own trails behind the house, hiking with her on foot, hand walking her down the road, round penning, lounge lining, two trainers, and Frank Bell DVD's, and I'm feelin' sorry for myself right now. I know it....just worn out with it being such a job. I want to enjoy my riding (like I did with Puddin'). ~Sign me out today as "whiney Granny."
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