It having been a long and stressful week, I thought I'd have me some ride time on Phebes this afternoon. We appear to have been dumped a beagle which we are sharing with the neighbors. She's a nice little fat short legged affair, and just a really sweet wiggly dog. She was following us down the field. Phebes is usually pretty hot to handle for the first hour under saddle, but today I discovered that she is not BEAGLE PROOF. She caught sight of Daisy Duke (the beagle) coming up from behind, bolted into a bounding gallop, then set to bucking. This ride I managed to hang on, pointed her nose into a circle that we rode smaller, and smaller, and smaller, until her nose was tucked up by my stirrup. I then commenced breathing, and headed her to the back of the field where Daisy Duke (the beagle) was lying in the grass. Phebes was moving along fine until Daisy Duke wagged her tail, and the little white tip waved above the grass. Phebes slammed on the brakes, spun, and I had a nice little unplanned dismount into the hay field. Let me tell you something, this horse is freaking FAST! by the time I stood up she had ran the entire length of the field, up the gravel road, and was standing in the yard next to the other horses. Of course any remotely sane person would not find this to be a bright and shining moment, but I found out my lazy horse has speed...this opens up all kinds of possibilities for the future. Anyway, so I pick my sorry butt off of the ground for the umpteenth time this year, and trudge my creaky joints back up the field, and to the house for the horse. We worked out in the field with Daisy Duke for awhile, but she was stiff, and resistant to my cues, and just begging for another melt-down. So back to the front fenced lot for remedial ground work. After running like a runaway locomotive for fifteen minutes, she finally started tipping her ears at me, and lowering her head, and halting with a whoa off line. Then we worked on ground manners, and I got back on, and low and behold she trotted out so nice and pretty. The steering was working, the brakes too, and the backup was awesome. Trotted laps both directions, and even cantered once without her trying to hammer me.
Moral: My horse is not getting enough work.
Next we had her barefoot trim updated, and lastly we did trailer loading, and she was loading herself.
RESPECT: it is a beautiful thing. ~Endurance Granny
No comments:
Post a Comment