Since the show I've been directly targeting Quaid's separation anxiety. It really wasn't rocket science. What I'm doing is brining both horses in when I ride. So one is in the ring and one is in the stall. It's been a bit of PITA, to be honest, but has shown some interesting things.
fall colours are coming out
As expected, Quaid was a bit tense the first few times. Also, as expected, both horses are better being the ones leaving vs being left. There were a lot of sad whinnies. And a few outraged ones (looking at you Carmen).
Surprisingly, Carmen is the one struggling the most with this. Like she is not a fan at all. Quaid's crying is causing her all sorts of tension and worry. Even when he's quiet, she's more tense. I say that this is surprising because she seems totally okay with this when we travel. But it's possible/probable that it bothered her more than I realised.
Qaid: 'DON'T LEAVE ME! Carmen: be brave and I'll be back. Probably. Also, don't eat all the hay while I'm gone.
She is just now starting to settle a bit. It helps that that whinnying has died down significantly.
Quaid, however, seems to be better with it. At least when being ridden. After a couple tense rides he's settled into work like everything is fine. When Carmen whinnies, he cocks an ear and that's it. He is struggling more with being left but is doing way better. There is much less calling.
I feel that, at the very least, they will learn to ignore the calling when we travel. It's a theory, anyway, so don't burst my bubble.
Some other interesting things have happened too. I've noticed that both of them are much more attached to me even when I'm out doing other things. Especially Quaid. He'll come trotting up to the fence when he sees me.
The other thing is that they have figured out that one of them will be locked up so when I bring in one. It use to be that whoever I haltered, the other would follow. Now the other tries to stay out in the field.
I'm fine here. Really. Carry on.
When I go to get them they come right in but it's kinda cute. Every now and then I leave one out to see if they become fixated. So far they do not.
Is this the answer? Hard to tell until we go somewhere and I ride them separately. But it is helping my rides at home. So we'll see.
Last week Julia messaged me that she was coming home for a short vacation and could she come and visit. I, of course, said yes. We picked Sunday and I texted her asking if she was just visiting, wanted to ride or did she want an adventure.
Being Julia she chose option 3. I reached out to Tanya and she was game too. She brought along a young rider as well. So that's how four of us (me, Tanya, Julia and a junior) headed to Coveside to ride the trails. It was a beautiful sunny fall day. The horses loaded up and we hit the road.
Quaid: what's going on? Carmen: Save your energy kid
We tacked up and mounted pretty quickly and headed out. Because Quaid can get a bit defensive with horses behind him so we put him at the rear behind Carmen. That seemed to work really well. Carmen is quite happy in any spot, front, rear or middle but I think she prefers the middle.
Carmen: it's only logical. Everyone knows that the predators pick off the front or rear of the pack.
Quaid: but I was at the rear?!
Carmen: Exactly!
Quaid: .......
heading out
It was such a lovely ride. The horses were all pretty settled, despite some early tension. I think that they were enjoying the lovely weather and getting out of the ring. We did quite a few hills. I was so impressed with how Carmen put her head down and used her hind end to push up the hills. She was just motoring. She handled the downslopes well too. Quaid did really well at the back too. I rode mostly with a long rein.
Near the end we tried to find the small church on the property. Tanya remembered it and we headed that way. It was at the top of a long hill. Carmen started off motoring but it was a long hill and a steady climb. About 2/3 of the way up she ran out of steam.
Carmen: we don't need to get to the church because I'm about to meet Jesus.
Me: you can do it!
Carmen: *sigh* fine.
Me: totally worth it right? Carmen: well it is pretty
Quaid: so that's a church. The grass around it looks yummy.
The last few times we took Quaid here he found it a bit overwhelming and didn't seem to enjoy it. This time he was much more relaxed. Not totally but Julia said that he was really good about listening to her directions.
After the church we headed back to the trailers and then decided to head to the jump ring. The view from there is spectacular. We then decided to play with the poles on the ground.
I think Carmen and I are ready to be jumpers. I love how this mare puts up with my silliness
And Quaid was so serious, it was adorable:
There was a lot of giggling.
We headed home tired but a happy tired. Training can feel like a grind sometimes and it's easy to feel like you are on a bit of a treadmill. Sometimes you just need to relax and be a little silly and enjoy the privilege of having horses.
