Today I rode Rags again, since his hooves are now trimmed and in good shape. Rags was not thrilled by the honor (!) and Tigger thought he should supervise the whole thing and had to be gently chased away from time to time. Here’s Tigger’s expression while I’m haltering Rags. Rags has the posture I’d like him to have while I’m riding, with his neck showing a little curve and rising from his withers, but he’s not yet strong enough to do that with weight on his back. He can flex at the poll with his neck coming out level.
I’m hoping my friend/trainer/coach Laci can come over more, to correct my seat while I’m riding. A combination of old injuries makes it hard to “feel” when I’m straight and balanced until I’m riding a lot and have relearned the position. Our riding has included riding over ground poles and raised poles, doing standard schooling exercises, and riding out on the land. His chest is very narrow–so later work to open up his shoulders is coming, but first just a lot of “wet saddle blankets….and rides out to gain experience.
First two photos taken 11/16; last photo taken in early October. Rags enjoyed being out on the land.
Today, 11/17/2020, rode Rags out in the near meadow (around the west section three times, with R- telling me from time to time that the right leg was “longer” again.) His photos show I was able to maintain “level” for part of a round, not the whole thing, and while concentrating on “legs even” I would lose the shoulders (mine, not Ragtime’s) and slump…and then straighten…and then the shoulder would go forward again. And so on. Was sore this morning but able to get on and ride. Getting off was a considerable struggle but not the worst I’ve had. Gorgeous day, good ride in terms of pleasure and some progress. It was 38F overnight, but had warmed up to be pleasant (even too warm) with the lighter clothes I had on.
Today was beautiful here too. It’s lovely to see you and Rags out and about. I wonder if Tigger wants to go out too; or if he is thinking ‘Poor Rags, has to wear that halter and saddle.’ Today I wish my border collie could talk, she had a very interesting expression on her face and sat right in front of me as if to say “Why don’t you do what I’m telling you to do?”
We were scheduled to have one more week of the semester but we have lots of students who are either ill, family members have tested positive for Covid-19, or they want to go home to keep from getting ill. The decision was made last Friday to move finals up a week and send them home this week. Following the words of I Thessalonians 5:18, I’m thankful that at least we made it this far through the semester before we had a serious outbreak on campus.
Tigger wants very much to go out on the “big open,” but it’s not safe for him (fenced with 7 strands of barbed wire, has a constructed rock causeway near the south fence where the old ditch exits–easy for a horse to fall off of and get trapped/injured in the tumbled rocks below or roll into the fence–and also contains native vegetation that is toxic to horses but useful for the wildlife we want on the place. Only a very phlegmatic and lazy horse (not even Rags) would be sorta safe in that 80 acres, preferably one that grew up on a local ranch with a mare who taught it not to eat lantana, locoweed, or fail to check for rattlesnakes before putting its nose down in the grass. He can go out only with me, which means a lot more ground work before I trust him not to panic and bolt and try to jump a fence too high for him (how he was injured last year.)
Yesterday’s ride, in which I was trying to make my feet level, resulted in leg cramps last night and the worst stiffness & soreness I’ve had so far, esp. on the “short leg” side. A cramp in that leg woke me in the night, and walking for a half hour didn’t loosen it much. Been crooked too long, I guess. It’ll come right in the end, but meantime…it’s tempting on this cold morning to just crawl back under the covers and bake there.
Glad for you (and anyone on any campus) who can escape the heavy-exposure zone.
Hope the stiffness and soreness is better at the end of the day; Keeping horses and dogs away from things that they don’t understand aren’t good for them is a full time job. My two dogs don’t understand why I won’t let them run free over the entire acre when we go home now. We are away four days a week and they want to run and play like they used to, but I keep finding dead birds on the property and until I am home long enough to figure out if someone is putting out poison or what is happening to kill the birds, they don’t get to be free to find those birds and try to eat them! We had no rain this summer at all, so I don’t know if it’s drought or what is going on. Last weekend, I noticed a couple of sprinkler heads are leaking and the honey bees are after the water. I let them drip, we have a well, so we aren’t having to pay for city water. The bees need the water.