March Break 2014 - Part 1

We all know how wordy I can get, so I'm breaking this into two posts to make it more manageable!

Sunday

I was unable to get up to the farm during the time frame that S&D wanted to pick up Mex, so I asked Kevin to load her for me. It may have been for the best that I wasn't there because I would have likely died of embarrassment as the princess was a nuisance to load. About half an hour later, she was on her way to her temporary home... thankfully she travelled and unloaded well. I was stressed about her being a pain to load but Kevin said it wasn't a big deal, we just need to work on it. Apparently baby horses don't always load like a dream when they haven't seen a trailer in two years, who knew.

I got out to the barn (clarification: I'll refer to Kevin's as "the farm", as per usual, and Mexi's temporary home as "the barn") in the afternoon to find Mexi inside, nice and quiet. Pulled her blanket off and let her run loose in the indoor (read: chased her around the indoor because she was content to just hang out and smell the dirt).

Picked out her stall and put her back inside. Little lady wasn't used to being alone and called to me as I would come and go in the barn and in the indoor. I know she was just talking to me because she was lonely but I'm choosing to view it as "cute".

Left and came back later in the evening to give her a good groom and a quick lunge. She was spot on, listening to my voice commands and even halting on the circle, something that has evaded us in the past. Managed to rid her of the majority of her rain rot scabs and tucked her in for the night.

Spoke with S&D and a boarder, M, and all of them praised Mexi on her good manners. Everyone kept saying how quiet she was. These comments continued all week and kept me smiling. Good mare. :)

Where are we?

 
Monday

Went to the barn in the morning; groomed Mex and lunged her again, this time in side reins. Did about 15 minutes of walk and trot work with the side reins, and she was a good girl, again. Turned her out (alone) and she didn't seem to care that she was in a new place at all; walked right over to her  hay and started munching down. Cleaned her stall and headed back to the farm.

Came back in the evening with a friend, A. Lunged Mex in side reins again, and she was really good. I switched her from a rubber dee to a Happy Mouth snaffle and I think she really prefers this bit. After I was done "working" her, I took her side reins off and A took her for a spin. It is really neat to see someone else work with your horse, especially when it happens to infrequently! A worked a bit with desensitizing with the whip and getting her to change direction herself on the lunge - neither are things I have ever done with her before. It was great to see how hard Mex tries to please... by the end of it, A was beaming and kept saying how smart my little mare is.

Before tucking her in for the night, I fiddled with Mexi at the mounting block, including laying on her back a bit while A held her. She was great and didn't react at all.

 Oh hi.

Tuesday

Did my normal morning routine - groom, lunge, turn out, stall. S rode his penning horse while we were lunging, and Mex was a bit "up" at first as S's horse's pasture mate was yelling bloody murder. We plowed through and lunged for about 30 minutes this time, 15 minutes each way. Mex actually had to work, and little girl was tired by the end of it!

I spent more time at the mounting block when I was done lunging, and Mexi remained a cool cucumber so I decided I'd ride that evening.

S also gave a little demo on how his Robo-Cow worked; it's an automatic pulley system with a piece of material on it. You move the material (or whatever add on you have - you can even get cow lookalikes) with a remote control and the goal is for your horse to follow it like they would a cow. It was really neat to watch S's horse in action, and see my horse's brain going a mile a minute at what on earth was going on. She was scared but inquisitive - pretty foreign stuff for an English pony.

I went back to the barn with Kevin in the evening, and rebacked Mex! She was great, we worked a bit at the mounting block first, leaning over her, and eventually laying on her. After a few minutes, I hopped on and Kev walked us around. After a lap of the arena, he stood in the middle and "lunged" us a bit, me trying to steer while still having the support system. Walked and trotted on the lunge, and then walked and trotted off the lunge afterwards! Little mare was great, and it was a quick ride. I was very pleased with her!

 Proper thing.

Part 2