Water woes..

When it rains it pours....or well at least here it does! We needed rain sooo bad but it would have been nice if we didn't get is all at one time.  Yesterday morning after all the rain the arena was pretty wet. Luckily it packs down good due to the sand so you can still ride. I stay along the rail though or the upper corners where it is most dry. The middle gets a little slick and creates a suction and I don't think that pulling would be good for tendons, so I avoid any bad areas. I rode Moose first and he did pretty good. He was not thrilled about the puddles in the arena but once he walked through a few of them he got over it. We did a lot more work at the trot. He's doing fairly well but still wanting to throw his head up a little bit. We picked it up to a canter and it became quickly apparent that he wasn't ready so I brought him back down to a trot. He didn't do anything crazy but he became super high headed and tense so we stayed at a trot the rest of the ride. Right now our main focus is for him to r-e-l-a-x and stay soft. After about twenty minutes he was warmed up and riding nice. He really moves good once he starts to relax. I also introduced some circles and started working on getting him "round" in his turns which he did ok with. Once he relaxed and became very responsive we called it a day.   Here is a pic my friend took of me hugging him once I got off: awww he's so sweet!

Today when I rode him he did better in the saddle but did something funny while I was tacking him up. My vet made a funny, but very accurate, observation: "He spooks but he doesn't react". I have often noticed this when I am leading him or saddling him. Every time he spooks he does the tiniest jump and than instantly is over it. He doesn't pull back or lose his head, he does snort for fifteen minutes or rear back and flip over. He just jumps and than its over....Weirdo lol Well today while I was saddling him I girthed him up and than turned around to grab his bridle. Upon turning back around he pulled back just a little and than he laid down. Just as gently and quietly as if he was taking a snooze. I looked at him in disbelief and said, "Moosey! What in the world are you doing?! Get up!" He looked back at me as if it was the most casual thing in the world to lay down while be saddled and than stood up like, "Well, If you insist.." Aaaand that was it! He just stood there like a perfect gentleman. I brushed his belly off and than put his bridle on. I guess whatever he did stretched him real good because he rode great! :-) We warmed up at a walk like always before I started asking him to get on the bit. We also did some work on leg pressure. I picked him up to a trot and he was just as relaxed and quiet as could be. My friend stood in the arena with my phone and took some pics. Here is a few of what she took:

I also rode Riley yesterday for a little while. I didn't do much schooling with him but rather we just played. I tacked him up and we went in the arena and warmed up really good and than did lots of trotting with rollbacks, serpentines, figure eights and lots and lots of circles. We also did a good bit of cantering and we worked on our cantering circles as well. He keeps them nice and round but I have to really use my outside leg to keep his butt from trailing off the circle. After that we just did some extended trotting on a loose rein to loosen him up and stretch him out. Now that the temperatures are dropping I have to make sure I exercise him really regularly or he stocks up. At first I was a little surprised when I saw him stocking up last year because he is turned out all the time and worked regularly but when he's out in the pasture he pretty much parks his happy butt in front of the hay and eats all day with the occasional walk to the water trough and salt block. Not enough movement to keep his circulation going good enough I guess. I could pressure wrap him but with him being out I don't want him pulling the wraps off and messing them up so instead I just keep him exercised good. A better option for both of us.  I also did some stretching on the ground with Riley before I turned him out. Our chiropractor says it's good for him to loosen up his muscles. Here is a pic of him stretching in anticipation for a carrot lol. Such a cutie pie! His legs look wet because I had just cold water hosed them. I always do after a hard work out.

This morning I rode May before I rode Moose. (I know this post is a little "all over the place" I apologize but I'm trying to include their rides from yesterday and today lol) She was HOT! She always gets a little more hyper when the weather changes and it cools down but today was ridiculous! She wasn't acting up but was just tense and full of it! She is a naturally very touchy and temper mental like I have said before so you really have to "negotiate" with her when you ride. You can't just tell her what to do and expect her to do it. Oh no. She's very opinionated and has no problem telling you when she doesn't like something your doing. She has never offered to kick, bite, rear or buck (except when we fiiiirst got her) but she still has other ways of letting you know.  She does this thing where she nods her head sometimes while you are saddling her or riding. Mostly when she is tense, hyper or anxious. She doesn't pull the reins out of my hands or anything like that. Really, she doesn't pull at all. Just very quick, compulsive, slight head bobs and it is so ANNOYING! I hate when she does it but there isn't much I can do other than get her to relax. Sometimes if I hold my reins to where there is a little contact and just keep them there she will bob her head and pop herself and stop but usually you just have to reaaaaally take the edge of off her and get her to relax.  It's so compulsive it has gotten her the nickname "Tourrettes mare". 

I took her in the arena and we started warming up. We were doing ok until I started picking her up to a faster trot. She started pulling on my hands and I tightened up. Wrong answer! Now she was tense and I was tense and neither of us were getting anywhere. Finally I just stopped her and took a deep breath and told myself to relax and loosen up. How is she going to relax if I don't? Well what do you know, our next round of trotting was almost perfect! There was still a little tension but the more I relax the more she relaxes. I just really have to 'breath' with my reins. She does best with  a little contact but not too much. Just enough where we can feel each other and communicate and she's happy.  After a good 45 minutes of just exercising her and getting her to relax I stopped her and walked her out. The difference in the way she rides sometimes is amazing. She can go from being so up tight and tense and coiled to relaxed and like butter in my hands. Silly, touchy, MARE! I love her to death though and everything is always worth it when it comes to my horses.  Horses and humility certainly go hand in hand.May trotting up to me in the pasture. Love her face in this one. She's such a good girl!