I had a ride scheduled with Tara this morning, so I got all bundled up in my warm winter riding gear and headed out. I found Pluto with mudsicles sticking to him, so I got busy with an extended grooming session. Fortunately I got there before Tara so there was no rush.
That boy is shedding! He apparently doesn't care that it's only February. He is starting over on the coat issue. The ground was not as white around the grooming area as it will be in a week or two, but he made a good start at it. I brushed him in every possible location, and the hair never stopped coming out. I got hair stuck to my riding pants, my fleece top, my lips, my eyes.. definitely shedding season. I ended up spitting out hair as we walked to the arena.
But before we walked over, I swapped out the stirrups on the saddle. I finally broke down and ordered jointed stirrups. I can't remember who recommended them to me. Possibly multiple people. Over the course of multiple years, maybe. (Possibly I am stubborn.) Anyway I put them on the saddle. They look huge compared to the old ones, and are definitely heavier. The rubber tubes covering the joints make the stirrup leathers stick to them, which is nice - they stay tied up as we walk to the arena, instead of slowly working loose. And I left out Pluto's super-cushy sheepskin pad today. Lately it seems like it's been hindering more than helping. I think his back has changed a bit such that the pad now takes up too much room under the saddle.
Also I swapped my cozy helmet liner in for my mesh helmet liner. Niiice. Just the right amount of insulation to keep my ears from freezing. Although it turned out that even though it was only 40 degrees, I felt pretty warm. I think this is the first time in months that there was no wind when I rode. It felt closer to 60 out there in the arena. I was surprised when I got back in the car and it said the temperature was 42.
Let's see. Oh! He was very good about being bridled today. Woot! I spent several minutes before tacking up just touching his ears, head, and neck. And feeding him cookies. Positive reinforcement or bribery, your choice.
Okay, so: grooming: check. Helmet liner: check. Flexible stirrups: check. I'm ready for the good part.
I woke up with a back spasm today. (That's not the good part.) I took some advil with my vitamins, and my back was feeling better by the time I got to the barn. But I wanted to do a lot of walking, because that is a very nice way to get back muscles to relax. It's almost like a massage, but of course nobody is touching your back.
What we do on a given day depends on Pluto. He is not one of your agreeable pushbutton horses. He has Opinions, and he is not shy about asserting them. Like last week was canter week. No way around it. He wanted to canter. He wasn't mean about it, but it was going to happen one way or the other. Best to just go with it and enjoy.
So, I wondered how he would be this week. I hoped he would be amenable to walking. He seemed like he might. He was attentive while I groomed him, and relaxed as we walked to the arena. I took off his reins when we got there, as I usually do, to police the arena for fallen branches. And to get all the pebbles out of my shoes. I have GOT to start wearing gaiters when I don't wear my half chaps.
While he was reinless he followed me around, and when I sat down to empty out my shoes he was nearly catlike in his ability to interpose his nose between me and the shoes. He was very, very interested. And, he knew I had a pocket full of cookies.
I hopped on (have I mentioned how awesome he is about this now? People who knew us two or three years ago would be astonished.) We started walking around, doing leg yields, shoulder ins, halts, and just generally practicing all the things one can do at a walk. He still sucks at backing up (maybe I should install one of those beeping things?) but he was into all the rest of it. We walked for half an hour. We did circles, we walked over poles, we did serpentines. He was a sport. At that point, I thought my back was doing pretty well so I decided some trotting was in order.
Tara came over to watch and provide advice, knowing how into the C-word he had been the previous week. Her spot on advice was to drive him forward but half halt every stride. He made two half hearted attempts to canter, but mostly he gave me a lovely, light and floaty trot. It felt good and I'm pretty sure it looked good.
I try to do some sitting trot with him every ride. He is not a fan, but he is getting used to it, and/or better at it. Part of the problem is that his giant Lipizzan butt gives him a big trot. It is just not like sitting the trot of any other horse I've ever ridden. And I am not the world's most experienced rider, but I've worked at several barns and ridden friend's horses. I counted up a while back and it was over a hundred horses I've ridden. That should give me a pretty good idea of how a trot should feel. And the only other horse who has a trot like this, that I've ridden, was a full blooded Lipizzan. They just aren't like other horses.
My point is that sitting trot is not easy on this horse. I taught his Thoroughbred predecessor to do a nice little Western jog, which was pleasant for both of us. I may or may not be able to do that with Pluto. But he is at least figuring out how to do a super collected trot that I can sit. And he did that today.
Not using the sheepskin pad today meant that I had a lot more feel for his back than I've had, and vice versa. So while we were doing this sitting trot, very slowly forward, I accidentally added some lateral movement. And I got a few strides of shoulder in, which I quickly straightened out because that wasn't what I wanted. In retrospect I should have gone with it. We are usually charging ahead at the trot, and I have not spent nearly enough time doing lateral work there. So I got it by accident, but I was happy with it and hope to do it some more, real soon.
I was reasonably happy with my riding. Of course I didn't have the eagle eye of an instructor picking out faults, but it felt good to me. My legs and back felt strong, and I felt connected to the horse. Why now? I don't know. Time, I guess. Trust in the horse. (People told me I needed to trust him way back when, but those people were not riding that ticking time bomb. ) If you have not spent years with a temperamental horse who gradually became trained and fun to ride, I probably can't accurately describe this feeling to you. All I can say is that it is a VERY GOOD FEELING.
Pluto was having a lot of thoughts today. I can't tell you what they were, but I know he was having them. I know because he was licking his lips. A LOT. I don't know what he will retain from today, but I hope it will be the good parts. (Also, I was never sure how aware he was of his own hair, but after he rolled today (which he always does when I let him back in the field) he was still licking his lips. And then he shook and was enveloped in a cloud of white hair. He stopped licking and shut his mouth until the cloud drifted away. Then he started licking again. So he knows. Which means he's been getting me hairy deliberately.)
That's pretty much it for the neep. I mean, I could go on indefinitely, and JD will probably never hear the end of it. But I expect you've probably stopped reading by now, Internet.
Too bad, I had a couple of other things to say.
After riding, I headed up to Delee's and we planned our next backpacking trip. I was happy both to spend time with Delee and to have a trip planned. Love me some Delee and some backpacking.
Also I realized that I still have plenty of energy this afternoon. I attribute this to the beer and pizza blowout at Shirley's last night. I can't do that all the time, but I sure do love the extra energy I get from extra food.. If only my body didn't store it all in my gluteal region. Also, my knees didn't hurt after riding. Those jointed stirrups really do work.
So, that's my day so far. Definitely a good day. Maybe one of the best days.
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| Pluto and Mystery wondering if there any cookies left |
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| Pluto contributing to the nests of birds favoring white interior decorating |
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