Before-Sheath Clean
-Clip beard/ random long whispy hairs
-Bridle Path
-Pull Mane
-Evaluate Fetlocks, decided whether or not to trim them
First thing i realized is that i forgot my clippers, so i couldn't do much about that. I trimmed his beard with scissors... it actually made a huge difference. His face looks so clean and defined. I'll clean that up when i go out tomorrow with clippers. It was hard to do much grooming/shedding because it was a wet, rainy day. He had his rainsheet on, which was soaking. I don't know if the waterproofing has quit working or it was just too rainy, but that blanket was very wet. He wasn't wet underneath, but damp. I decided not to touch his fetlocks because they were muddy and once i rinsed them off they were damp and i didn't feel to keen to get down there. I'll leave that for when i bring out the clippers. Everything else went well!
After!Boomer never really minds hanging out on the cross ties.. but today he seemed a little on edge. He was terrified of the hose being dragged by him (the person dragging it of coarse paid no attention to this and continued on.) This is very uncharacteristic of him. He's seen that hose a million times, walked over it.. drank buckets being filled by it... maybe its just one of those unpredictable "horse" things. He was a bit flinchy as well, which worried me more than the spookiness. When i touched his back leg he pulled it away SO fast i also flinched away from him. I'm used to him being a tank, letting me proad and poke where ever whenever i feel like it. There were a couple other instances, nothing serious, but i'm going to keep my eyes on him. If this is a side effect of being on grain it's something i'll just have to get used to.
All tacked up :-)He says "don't look at my dirty boots pls!"
The ride was definatley the best part of the day though. Had to ride inside again, because of the rain. We warmed up by walking around with a friend, chatting and catching up. I walked him out on a loose rein, just feeling him out. I put his figure 8 bridle on, which has these amazingly nicley worn in reins and they're so long- i just love them! I added a bit of contact (and i mean a bit) and he immediatley refused it, throwing his poll up extravagantly. 8-) Silly boy, he forgot who's riding. The most important thing about riding Boomer is to realise when he's sending you a message i'm not warmed up enough! or i don't wanna! This was definatley one of the i dont wanna! messages, so i asked him again, to accept contact. He responds amazingly well to authority. If you half ass your aids, a little leg, a little hand, he will absolutley ignore you. I do not smack or kick my horse. I don't use force. I simply ASK. One strong ask is always enough, once he gets the picture, you can resume lighter hands, seat and leg. He understands a reward system, he likes working from his bum and carrying himself, he just forgets sometimes. It's so much easier to resort to putting his poll in the air, locking his jaw and bracing against my right leg.
After this discussion he moved quite beautifully. I felt our trot wasn't bad but the girl i was riding with was quick to compliment us. "I love how nicley he works for you! He's in such a pretty frame." is what she said. I appriciated her compliment, and worked from it. After he was warmed up at a working trot (we start off with big loopey circles, serpentines, figure eights anything that gets him moving and loosening up.) we settled into a 20m circle and i focused on getting him to bend move freely through his neck. My biggest pet peeve is a horse stuck in a "frame" with no movement or freedom. It helps so much to get him bending around a circle, thinking about where his body is. His trot was really gorgeous, I appriciated it. When i asked him to transition to canter i didnt expect much. I always ask from a moment that feels good. He lunged forward into the most powerful, gorgeous canter. I'm falling in love with this new canter. It's like all the energy he used to throw every which way is now packaged into a controlled into a powerful, frame-filled stride. WOW. I ended it by popping over a small x a couple times, letting him take it however he wanted to. He is really a talented jumper, it's my nerves that hold him back. I plan on changing that, which is why i just let him have fun today and run around over the X before cooling out. I think horses enjoy that fun, easy change of pace after a technical flat ride.
Overall a successful day. Looking back, writing it out i'm alot more positive about the ride than i was driving home. I think we have a lot to work on, and work for. I realised our first in house schooling show is May 10th.. not May 26th so im hoping we can get it together by then.
Hope everyones making the most of this rainy weekend. :)
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