Sailor Moon, my Appaloosa. She's 10, a very sweet girl, but needs to be more dependable for me to ride. She dumped me last July and I haven't gotten over it yet. I don't know how many good bounces I have left in me! She's had some good professional training, but is the kind of horse that needs constant work to keep her head and not get flustered. And that's hard to do in an area where winter lasts 6 months.
Hi Linda. Since you dropped by my blog, I decided to drop by yours. I've added you to my Favorites in Explorer.
ReplyDeleteMy blog address: www.follywoods.blogspot.com
We are not too far away from each other. I am in Central New Jersey (exit 8A on the Turnpike)about 25 miles away from the NJ HorsePark.
Sailor Moon is a cutie. What were the circumstances of the bucking? There are lots of possible causes. But I'm with you about not having many bounces left in me either.
There are a number of horse bloggers I follow. Several are across the ocean--Britain and Italy. We've developed a pretty good Internet friendship over time.
We have the lower end of your snowstorm with perhaps four inches and now rain. This has, so far, been the worst winter for trying to ride since I brought my Boys home to live with me. Too cold, too icy and just plain not fun.
Drop by my blog again if you get the chance. I'll check on you regularly. Perhaps we can figure out what to do about your girl's naughtiness.
links on my blog... some are up to date and some not - as jean says, we have a little community going! you'll find some of us discuss schooling issues a LOT ...
ReplyDeletehave you tried in hand / longlining? that might help keep yours entertained when you can't ride - and build the relationship as well
Thanks Claire. I'm afraid I've never tried longlining, and don't think I've got the skills. My basic problem with Sailor is that while she is quite smart and willing, she also does not have much confidence. She needs a strong leader, and that's where I fall down on the job. When she dumped me in July, we were riding in a hay field through the worst swarm of deer flies that I have ever seen. Her mane was coated with these awful, bloodsucking things, but she was wearing a Cashel sheer riding "bonnet" to protect her face from the bugs. As one of our group ducked into some nearby woods to head home and out of this nightmare, Sailor's headshaking became full-body twisting, jumping and ultimately, one major buck that launched me. I think she was stressed about the bugs, and when her equine buddy disappeared into the woods, she just lost it. but someone else was riding my other mare Noble, who was annoyed with the bugs but did not react this way. I wish I could come up with the right plan to keep Sailor from freaking out when she is stressed. She has a lot of groundwork training in natural horsemanship, but I know she needs more reinforcement than I have time to give her. And I don't have an indoor arena, so that means almost no riding from December to April, and by then she needs a complete overhaul in her training. It's a miserable situation.
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