A little bit of this, a little bit of that

Last Friday night MIL came over and we went for a ride. I saddled up the old lady and she saddled up Sis. We rode down behind the house where the fields are open and unplanted and just let loose. It was such a wonderful feeling for both of us to just let go and run. I’m not so sure the horses would agree however Black wasn’t too fond of letting Sis get in front of her. We rode into the timber and stopped for a brief moment to check for mushrooms. I found a few but the horses found a swarm of mosquitoes so we decided to head back.

Sunday my father, BIL, nephew, Chase and I went mushroom hunting. My Father, BIL and nephew rode down on the four-wheeler so Chase and I doubled up on Sis. Chase and I had a good time but he doesn’t think it is very comfortable to ride behind the saddle. I’m not sure if Sis has ever ridden double before but she did a great job.

Monday night I decided to get Miss Cat out. We did some LFR Stage 1, LFR Stage 2, the outback exercise, yhq stage 1, yfq, circle driving and some desensitizing. She very much wants to please but I find we end up fighting a lot. I’m sure it is me so I’m trying to “chill” and just go with it. During LFR she has an energetic departure but she also has a lot of draw when I yield her hq. Where our first argument comes into play is during the outback exercise when I try to back her back to the outside of the circle. She tries to take off vs. backing which usually gets a “fight” (for a lack of better words) started between the two of us.

LFR Stage 2 she is doing awesome. She was starting to get nervous when I would move the stick and speed up but she was also anticipating so I spent some time just moving the stick back and forth until she relaxed a bit. She really didn’t relax a lot but she did relax some.

During the desensitizing w/the stick/string she is getting much better. She usually flinches once or twice when I whack the ground but she doesn’t move. By the time I go to the other side she’s standing quietly.

YHQ Stage 1 she is doing very well. I just need to refine it a bit and get her to plant her foot more. I didn’t push it as she does have yet another injury on her front left leg.

YFQ was very ugly and I’m glad no one was around to see it. I’m hoping it is a bit better tonight when I try again.

Circle driving made her nervous. She was afraid she was going to get whacked with the stick so I changed things up and put the string on my stick and “flogged her with kindness” as she went around the circle until she relaxed.

I ended the night by clipping her. She HATES the clippers so I’ve decided to clip a bit each night after working her when she’s dog tired. It seemed to work well as I was able to clip a bridle path, her jaw line and muzzle, the exterior of her ears and part of her legs.

Last night I rode over to drill practice with MIL. I wasn’t sure if I would ride since my last ride on Cat was 03/16 but took my saddle so I could at least work her in it. I saddled her up as soon as we got there and headed to the arena to do some LFR. I didn’t stay on stage 1 very long as I didn’t want to “fight” the backing with an arena full of horses. The sand was nice and deep so she had to work twice as hard. Her turns weren’t quite as precise as I would have liked but she was listening to me and trying. I can barely move in the arena so I decided to cut her some slack.

I’m not sure how long I did LFR Stage 2 but it was long enough to make her want to die. She was pretty warm and when I drew her into me I don’t think she could have run fast enough. We left the arena so the drill team could run their routine.

I took her behind the trailers and did some desensitizing with the stick/string and then flapped the stirrups. She was good as gold so I decided to go ahead and mount up (ride #18). I rode her in small circles around the parking lot until I felt comfortable and then we ventured off. We went out of the arena grounds and onto the road. She was a bit nervous but not bad. I had forgotten how fast the cars drive on that road so I was thankful she didn’t mind them. She called a few times for Sis but she did keep moving. When we got to the end of the road I turned her around and headed back. The team was still practicing so I dismounted and let her eat grass.

During their break I mounted back up and went into the arena. To my surprise Cat is ok with me opening the gate while mounted. We went into the arena and trotted a bit but we weren’t able to stay in long before the team ran again. I decided this time to stay on her and just “sit”. I don’t do that often so it was good for her. It took her a little adjusting to figure out how to maintain her balance while just standing. She tried for grass once but once she was told no she left it.

When the team was finally finished we went back into the arena. The sun was quickly disappearing but I wanted to lope her before leaving. She did pin her ears at a few horses but I’m going to ignore that for now. I think if I start to pick on everything I will create more issues. If she still pins after she’s been ridden around other horses consistently then I will get after her but I don’t think she will.

Once the arena was free I asked her to lope. I didn’t do a bunch of ORS but I did temporarily shut her down after a few strides the first two times and then I let her go. She was literally running circles around Sis. She broke a few times and once or twice I had to whack her. Each whack was followed with a small kick up. Once she was loping out freely and away from Sis I shut her down and dismounted. She really wasn’t arguing about that.

Our high today is 67* but it won’t be raining so I’m hoping to get just one more day in on her tonight so I can get my three days in a row.