dancing horses

dancing horses

Friday, March 30, 2018

Clinic Recap: Dealing With Things

I had planned for a leisurely morning and leaving around lunch time. However, I found out that if I wanted to ride in the ring I needed to be there sooner because of lessons beginning around 3:30. So that made me rush a bit to get ready.

I know that rushing and trailer loading are incompatible so I made sure that I was all calm when I went to load her.

While Carmen might have her issues- trailering is not one of them and she walked right on. I know she's worried about it because she won't take a treat when she loads but she's obedient and listening so I figure that the relaxation will come.

The drive took less time then I thought which was great. When I got there she unloaded and walked right into the barn like she knew the place. Thinking back to when entering a new place took a bit of work I was really happy.

Carmen walked into her stall with a regal air, found some hay in the stall that she deemed acceptable and decided that it would do.

she and her neighbour were quite enamoured with one another. 
There wasn't a lot of time so after letting her settle for a bit and find a spot for my things and then brought her into the indoor to look around and lunge. There's a lot to look at in the indoor- multiple doors in and out, round bales of hay, a viewing area at ground level and then above where the tack room is also located. Two of the walls are all mirrored and there was jump poles, standards and blocks to make cavalettis in a pile. 

So in other words there were multiple things for a sensitive mare to react to. 

Our ground work went really well and she was quite tuned in so I took her back to the grooming stall and got her tack on. When I was mounted and walking her around there were also people getting everything tidied up for the clinic. They were so kind,  asking if it was 'okay' if they kept working. 

I said of course. I wanted them to keep working that was part of why we were there. I didn't want anyone walking on eggshells around us. I was there to scramble some eggs. I am determined to not be the person that asks everyone to be quiet so that my mare doesn't spook. 

So I worked with Carmen at walk, trot and canter and we went all over the ring. I was trying to get a feel of where she was reactive and to be calm and ride her through it. 

It was, in truth a tense ride but not a bad ride. We dealt with everything with a minimal amount of fuss. I would have liked to ride longer and I actually could have but I felt that I was interfering in a a lesson and decided to call it. 

I was happy with how things had gone for Carmen's first time off property this year and what was likely my 6th ride. I drove to my friend's house where I was spending the night and had a relaxing evening chatting with her and catching up on the news.

 I went to bed excited and nervous for the next day. 





22 comments:

  1. That sounds like a good start to the weekend!

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    1. Sorry- didn't mean for it to be: I wanted to make sure that I didn't make a really long post and I wanted to make sure I wrote it down so that I can use it for it for information.

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  3. I love the scrambled eggs analogy! I'm going to borrow that one.

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  4. That’s impressive! Fingers crossed that Katai’s first trip of property this year is half as good.

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  5. 😂😂😂I was determined not to be that person. I get it!! I rode with a 22 year old girl today who had only one speed—gallop—and my horse kept reacting to her approaching at a dead run through the field. I did not complain because I didn’t want to be “that person “ either. I took it as a training opportunity. So yeah, different circumstances, same learning opportunity. Good job.

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    1. It is important. I figure that I can't control things at shows and such so we just need to learn to deal.

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  6. You two have come such a long way. Great start to the weekend

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  7. Sounds like a perfect start. Your girl is growing up.

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  8. Good for you for capitalizing on the atmosphere and environment to challenge Carmen. Agreed that I wouldn't want to be the person asking for quiet all the time too. I hope it set the stage for a productive clinic!

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    1. It’s hard to not ask for quiet but it’s counterproductive

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  9. Great job scrambling eggs and having a quality ride despite all of the busyness of the arena. Go, Carmen, and go you! You've come so, so far together.

    "a tense ride but not a bad ride" Oh, do I know that description! My head has trouble categorizing them because it likes to make rides "good" or "bad". With a sensitive mare, my categorization of how a ride went has to be a bigger spectrum than "good" and "bad" though!

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    1. Thank you! There is so much between good and bad

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  10. It is SO SO nice when they naturally load well!

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    1. It is- although that did not come 'pre-installed'. :) I worked really hard to install it.

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