Drama Llama Ding Dong

oh oh oh oh
I got a girl named Drama Llama, Drama Llama Ding dong
She's everything to me
Drama Llama, Drama Llama Ding dong
I'll never set her free
For she's mine, all mine

Today was the day we were having Thanksgiving dinner; the kids were coming and so was Ed's mother and sister. I had everything planned to the minute so that I could squeeze a ride in before everyone came. I was prepared for Carmen to be a bit of a idiot after yesterday but she was really mellow in the barn. 

However, up in the ring she began to ramp up again. Now, in her defence, it was very blustery and the  biting flies are fierce this year. In my defence, it's been windy lots of times and the flies, while nasty, don't seem to be a real problem when she's grazing.  However, there was this one big gust of wind and we found ourselves in a maelstrom of leaves. 

This was the final straw for her. Clearly I was crazy and she was having none of it. I spent some time trying to get her to pay attention to me and NOT let her gawk to the far field. This just pissed her off. 

Now I could totally ride this out and work through it. But I didn't have time. Instead I dismounted and headed to the barn. There I removed the stirrups from the saddle, hooked up some side reins and headed back up to do ground work. I don't normally lunge in side reins but I wanted ot make it clear that she doesn't get to look to the outside and that, yes, she CAN actually trot forward with a proper bend. I know that she's had them before and she was perfectly fine with them. They really weren't tight- they just came into play when she tried to llama or turn to the outside. 

I'm glad that I did that because it was a faster way to get her tuned in. After lunging I did some basic ground work of yielding her quarters and shoulders, leading and ground tying. Now the mare that just .could.not.horse was able to stand like a rock while I flipped the lunge whip all around her. 

And I had time to come back to the house, shower and finish cooking. 

I had been neglecting the ground work lately (bad me) because I've been enjoying the riding so much. Clearly I need to make it a priority again. 

Tomorrow we're heading off property to go for a hack in the woods. And I am not worried about it. However, I'm ready to get my not-drama-llama back. 

Hopefully by tomorrow.