Beyond plain muscle soreness

Monte is a true trooper. Despite severe back pain, he tried to please his rider during the local schooling show tonight. We knew he wasn't in top form - each time a hand was run down his spine his whole body would twitch - but he didn't balk at going into the ring for the showmanship and English classes.

E could tell that he was sore while she was riding, too, but we didn't realize how much until she tried to mount him for the Western classes. The saddle hit him so that he almost fell over in pain. It was horrible to watch. We immediately took his tack off and a friend gave him a quick massage to try to relieve some of his agony. As she worked on his back we could see him relaxing, licking his lips and finally closing his eyes.

Back at the barn E gave him another liniment bath. I will call someone for an equine massage tomorrow.

E was so happy with Monte's performance. He really showed that he wants to give his best to her and she knows that with time and practice, they are going to be an awesome team.

Sore muscles

No riding today - both horse and rider are sore after yesterday's workout.

E spent 30 to 40 minutes giving Monte a massage this evening, and then washed him down with a solution of water and liniment to help relieve any lingering aches. He wasn't too sure about the whole process (It's those scary buckets full of water! We all know they eat horses!) but he definitely seemed looser after she was done.

They did take a moment to practice some halter skills before we left. E was happy with Monte's performance and hopes he can do as well in the show ring.

Curly has also been getting a workout these past few days. He has taken to standing at one end of the field he is in, looking forlornly out towards Monte. The other two horses in his pasture want him to join them in the main part of the field and routinely chase him out of the corner. So he's been doing quite a bit of running. Hopefully he'll fall in with his new "herd" soon and all will settle down. I hate to see him being chased about and bullied. And honestly, I don't know why he's missing Monte so much. Heaven knows Monte bullied him and pushed him around all the time, and even bit him last week!

A pink horse

E and I gave Monte a good wash today. He wasn't too happy about it, but boy did he need it. We mostly focussed on his body, knowing that one day soon we will have to do a thorough job on his legs - and oh, what a job that will be! We used several different products in an attempt to whiten some of the stains he has acquired, but a few were stubborn and will have to be tackled again. And his legs are even more stained than the areas we washed today...

So, even though we didn't get him completely spic-n-span, his coat was clean enough that several of E's 4-H friends told her that she now has a "pink horse." And he really did look pink in the sunlight! His skin shows through the clean, white fur. It's kinda cute, actually.

On top of our cleaning session, E had a lesson with Ruben out at our new barn plus it was a 4-H ride night out at the fairgrounds. Ruben had her cantering and doing very quick turns for a good 20 to 30 minutes; both she and Monte were tuckered out when they finished. But Ruben was satisfied with their progress and told her that since she now appears to have pretty good control over her horse, the real work can begin.

She then hosed Monte down to cool him off, loaded up the trailer and we were off to the fair grounds where they worked on equitation patterns with the 4-H trainer, which involved even more cantering.

By the end of the evening both horse and rider were completely pooped.

Unrealistic comparisons

E did not have a good ride yesterday. She tried to perfect the skills Ruben taught her the night before but was soon frustrated by what she deemed to be unsatisfactory results. After a hour of tears, anger, disappointment, etc., she untacked the horse, sat in the trailer and had a good cry.

Unhappy rider, heading back to the barn...

Later, she told me that she wasn't a good rider and didn't think she'd be able to ever get it right. I asked her who she compared her riding to and she told me it was her friend G. I then asked her how long G and her horse had been riding together. The answer: "About 4 years." And how long have E and Monte been riding together? "About 4 months." Hmmmmm, something for E to think about.

Crunch time and greener pastures

Fair is almost here and E & Monte are not ready. There are so many skills they haven't practiced (forehand turns, haunch turns, backing, etc.) and what they have done was with Western, not English.

Another lesson with Ruben last night. They worked on cantering, stops and those turns I mentioned up there. He's starting to ask more of E, which is good. She has a habit of using direct reining rather than neck reining, plus she doesn't release soon enough when she asks for something. E gets frustrated trying to keep it all in her head. There are so many things you need to do at once when riding a horse! All of this will just take practice and time.

Sweat marks - proof of a hard workout

Curly is semi-sold. The young woman from Seattle did call and is very interested in him but doesn't have the full purchase price in hand. She asked if I would either lease him or accept payments. If she had been local I wouldn't have hesitated; it's easy to check up on your animal when he is close by. But because of the distance, I'm not comfortable with letting him go until he is fully not my responsibility. There are too many horror stories of leases gone bad. So, I gave her the option of getting her finances together while I "saved" him for her. I won't sell him to another buyer for a period of time and if she isn't able to pay in full by the end of that time period, he's back on the market. And I was very generous with the amount of time I gave her....R was happy that he's not leaving right away.

In the end, the amount she pays me might be not much more than what I'm spending to hold him....hmmmm......

We move the horses to a new boarding facility tomorrow! The new place is much closer - 7 minutes from our door to theirs. It's a full-care facility, so we won't be buying our own hay anymore (Yahoo! Glad to let go of that responsibility!), plus they take care of the daily stall cleaning for us. I know I'm weird, but I think I'm going to actually miss that part. Although the barn owner did say I was welcome to pick stalls anytime I wanted. ;-) One of the best parts of this barn is that the animals get daily turn-out. Every day. All year. In green, irrigated pastures. It'll be worth the increase in board expenses....

Curly gets to play

Actually, the title should be "R gets to play and Curly gets to work!"

Twice this week little sister R has asked to come out the barn with us so that she could learn to round pen Curly. And she's not doing too badly for an eight year old! She tells him what gait she wants, twirls the lead rope and does a decent job keeping it up until he complies. And to Curly's credit, he seems to be giving it an honest effort as well. It's not always easy to figure out just what exactly she's asking for. :-)

She has also been leading him around the barn and trail course, making him go through, over and around various obstacles. This is all very good practice for both of them.

Little sister R, showing off her new cowboy boots!
(Don't you just love the outfit??)

I asked her if she wanted to take a ride on the big boy, but she's afraid. I don't blame her, but I also think he would behave just fine. Anyway, it's nice to see her enjoying herself out at the barn and it's nice to see Curly with a job, even if it's an easy one.

Friend A showed Curly to a young woman looking for a horse yesterday. The potential buyer seemed to really like him and told A she would call me about purchase terms (leasing? payments?). R heard me talking on the phone about all of this and got REALLY upset. She's fallen for Curly now and wants to keep him. It's so hard to break your little girl's heart.....

I told her that we would find a better horse for us and that she could work with Monte until we did get that new one. She wasn't appeased with this answer; her loyalty is definitely with Curly.

But he's not sold yet...the young woman hasn't called - and quite possibly never will.

E rode Monte with a larger group of riders (her 4-H club) on Tuesday. It's been months since she's done this - and they both need to do more of it before fair! Her control of Monte slipped in this situation. She admitted to being distracted by all the other riders (it was a bit crazy at times!) and consequently, Monte had a tough time doing his job. Ruben was there and noted the things she needs to work on. This Friday's lesson might be a tough one!

Show clothes update: New jeans have been bought - 38" inseam! Also, borrowed English riding boots couldn't be found so we ended up buying some. They are nice but oh-so-expensive. Uhg! Grandma has offered to sew a riding jacket for E. She's modifying a regular pattern to look as much like a traditional jacket as she can. Yeah for grandmas who can sew! Also, we found some Western boots at Goodwill yesterday that are in almost-new condition and only slightly too large for E - and they are reddish in color, which will look so much better than her brown boots with her Western outfit (black pants, white shirt with a tiny bit of red stitching). I think she might be ready....

Riding strong

E had her third lesson with Ruben last night.

It has been raining recently, so when we went to pick up Monte we found a horse who was more brown than white. After 45 minutes of brushing he sort of resembled the horse we bought - with a gray tinge to that white body of his, though.

The lesson started with E showing Ruben how she's doing with the tasks he gave her last time - softness in her hands, getting Monte to keep his head tucked and gaits collected, etc. Ruben was amazed with her progress; E was able to do most of what was asked, showing more confidence in her riding than I think I've ever seen.

I couldn't manage a decent picture - kept cutting body parts off!

Because of her success, Ruben added the canter to their lessons. It was quickly obvious that Monte is still testing E; he pulled his nose out, playing with her and the bit but was sneaky so that it was difficult for her to feel. Monte managed to time his head-bobbing with her hand movements. After being shown what the horse should be doing, E was able to begin asking for the correct form. They aren't able to keep the nice frame at this gait all the time yet, but with practice both horse and rider will do wonderfully.

Ruben sat with me for a few minutes as E practiced in the round pen; he was pleasantly surprised by the progress she had made since her last lesson. And was even more surprised when I mentioned that they hadn't ridden since last Saturday. He was also happy to see that E is not letting the horse get away with anything, either. She has learned to be more consistent and intentional in her requests, and knows to keep at him until he complies. And she's figured out that he's not going to purposefully dump her on the ground, even if he is throwing a temper tantrum. Her fear while riding is decreasing.

If they keep up the hard work, winning a ribbon or two at fair might actually be a possibility!

Show clothes update: Second try at getting an English riding jacket arrived yesterday - this time too big! We'll take it over to grandma's to see if it can be altered and made to work. Also, E has gotten taller this summer and the jeans she was planning on wearing for herdsmanship are too short. (sigh)