Mope, mope--Pout, pout

I left town last week Thursday for a family reunion, having had a very good ride the Wednesday before. I figured Toler would enjoy his time off, as I wouldn't be back until Monday and probably wouldn't get out to see him until Tuesday at the earliest. My father (who was going to be home) even agreed to go out once or twice to give him a treat and feed him his grain and supplements. Two days without his joint supplement would be fine, but I didn't want him to go four days.

Tuesday (yesterday) I went out for my ride, and got there just his paddock was starting to get brought in for the day. Toler stood by the gate, probably thinking that the person he heard approaching with a lead line clinking against the metal fittings of his halter was surely the groom. Instead, *I* came around the corner of the cycle shop into view. [Our stable is also grounds for an awesome Triumph motorcycle shop, which means our horses are super awesome and never spook at vehicles of any kind!]

Toler's ears went flat as I approached the gate, and he was just starting to turn around when I snapped the tip of a carrot I'd brought along as a bribe. Good thing, too. Had I not brought it, Toler would have hightailed it to the other side of the paddock for sure. (He's done it before, after all.)

Toler was grumpy the whole time I was out there with him, just to make sure that I knew how he'd felt about my being away.

In the aisle, he kept moving over while I brushed his side, nearly pinning me against the stalls. I'd shove at his ribs and say, in my stern "mom" voice, "Toler!" He'd freeze, pick his head up, stare at the ceiling a little, then slowly crane his neck around as if to say, "What? Oh. Were you there?"

Picking his feet, he'd snatch each hoof away just as I was about to start cleaning it. Tacking him up, he pretended like I was a boa constrictor wrapping around his middle. And in the arena, he did everything exactly opposite of my cues.

I gave up after only 10 minutes (if even that), and took him to sponge off (as if he'd done anything to get properly sweaty over). And he knocked over my bucket. On purpose--I saw him looking at it.

I tell you. Some horses are such children.


Stay tuned for: The Moose and the Ditch.

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Warm-Up

It's been a relatively quiet week. We had a bit of inconsistent weather--from pleasant and cool to stormy to walk-in oven with humidity. All this makes it a bit difficult to feel motivated to ride seriously, especially with County Fair coming up. (Meaning that the barn gets a bit crowded, especially when the outdoor arena was too wet to ride in, as it was for a while.)

I did a lot of simple days with Toler, either indoor and outdoor. We got in a day of serpentines and counter-cantering, a day of circles galore, and one day of 2'6 jumping. I also did another round of no-stirrup dressage days. The first time was a bit rough, as Toler once again decided it was the perfect opportunity to be stubborn, so instead of focusing on my seat and posture, I was constantly fussing with him. Moving forward, keeping rhythm, not sticking his nose out and dropping his hind end, that sort of thing. The second day I decided I would anticipate his behavior and rode with the German Martingale (at least that's what we call them). It's a leather martingale that goes around the bottom of the girth, through the bit and fastens at the girth under the leg. I leave it pretty loose when I work with it, so it really only comes into play when he tenses his neck or tries to stick his nose up and out. In that way, it's *excellent* for getting him to relax through his back and move consistently, particularly when I'm otherwise engaged, such as concentrating on my sitting trot.

We also had a trail day, which was perfect. The trail hadn't been used much recently, as the grass was long and un-trampled by horse or ATV/dirt bike, which meant it was in perfect shape for doing lots of trotting work down the big hill. I thought about trying a few strides of cantering downhill, but Toler was extremely excited to be outside (especially with the horses in the paddocks running around and nickering at him), so I kept the cantering to the uphill direction.

All right, all right. We galloped. Twice. It was the best gallop we've had in a while; Toler actually kicked it up from hand-gallop for a little while, which he hasn't wanted to do on his own. There's nothing better than a gallop, let me tell you. The wind, the adrenaline, the feeling of stretching along his mane...I can't even describe the exhilaration of the actual gait! It's like coming alive, or breaking the surface of water after an intense swim, or standing out when the rain is so hard you can't feel the individual drops.

I hope to do another trail ride soon, but the flies have been downright nasty out there. Every time I go out there Toler's got another giant welt on him from those bugs. They also like to bite me in the back of the thigh.

More coming tomorrow, I promise!

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