Saddles and Smart Fillies

On Wednesday I had another wonderful evening session working and riding Sheza filly. 

"trail riding" in our big pasture

Something I have to be very conscious of with bringing Sheza along is to avoid falling heavily into habit patterns early on. That is, some routines and patterns are great to establish comfort and consistency, but Sheza is on the smart, manipulative end of the brain spectrum and it takes doing the same thing in the same order and time frame approximately twice for her to think she knows what needs to be done, at what speed, and especially when we're finished and ready to do something else. This means I need to keep nagging myself to switch up my own habits of doing everything in the same order, finishing up and putting the horse away immediately, etc. As much as she needs to go out in the world and experience ride camps and spooky social situations of all kinds, she also needs to spend plenty of time tied various places, learning that standing around quietly is old hat. She the sensitive type that let's the world know that to be tied in a new spot is DIFFERENT, or when things are moved it's DIFFERENT. Sheza so far in her riding horse incarnation is much as she was before--super smart but undeniably *dramatic,* and so similar to her mother at times that it's almost like transposition in time. Still she has absolutely found a lot more of her brain after those 2 months at training, and I just can't wait for all our adventures ahead!

looking down at momma Desire and little step -sister Rushcreek Aurora. Time flies!!

<3

Below is a fine example of how Sheza has mellowed out! After about an hour session of round pen work and a short "trail ride" around the big pasture, I parked her at some alfalfa scraps and had her stand there for untacking, not tied. She obliged completely, didn't move a muscle but to clean up the hay, then stood there quite happily for a hosing off. Pretty mature of my spazzy girl! :)

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My much anticipated Skito saddle pad arrived yesterday and this morning I saddled up Scrappy with it and the Sensation and worked him in the round pen for about 30 minutes, refreshing our session the other day about giving to bit pressure. He was really getting the picture today, both in the round pen *and* out on a 13 mile cruise through the neighborhood. A mile of that was us having a turn-around-and-canter back the other way discussion about not rushing home, but otherwise we had a really nice ride.

his front Rennys were a little tight so we rocked the Renegade Vipers today, so far so good

 Oh, this happened:

Yeah, apparently there are tarantulas around here?! We were merrily heading for home when I saw this big dark shape in the road. When I saw what it was I immediately pulled up to take a picture so I could stare in proper zoomed in disgust later when I wasn't on a horse. It rared back and waved seemingly hostile body parts at us, for all the world as if it wasn't intimidated by us stopped and staring so near. I got my picture and was sufficiently squicked out and we went on our way; not even a minute later a truck sped by us on the road and I'm nearly certain the spider met it's demise, but wow, I won't forget it!

So we had a lovely, spider-sighting ride. BUT. When I hosed him off back at home I could just see the pink skin starting to show through at those spots behind his shoulders again! Not badly, but visibly pink where it wasn't before. Since I wanted to test it straight first I didn't use the crupper or goop his back, but we only did one hill of any real gradient and I haven't seen the pink since I stopped using the Frank Baines and regrew the hair there.

***@#(&$!! And also, WHY!***

What do I do? My husband says goop Scrap's back at those spots, use the crupper, and go to the ride next weekend. My cautious side says that's going in with an issue already there (though he isn't back sore and there aren't any actual sores or rubs currently). That pink showing again though says something is brewing again to me, yes?

Sigh.

Round Pen a la Scrappy

 WEE! okay that was enough wasted effort entirely..

look at me human, look at me trot so pretty.

She keeps comparing me to a giraffe, it must be my spots! 

 *grumble* giraffes have high heads. I am learning not to. 

Seems like if lower my head the pressure goes away. Hmm..

Oh yeah, this is much more my speed..

Sheza At Work: First Ride at Home

Sheza had a week off when she got home from training, time well spent eating, sleeping, eating, and mooning at the geldings over the fence line. Meanwhile, the (clearly well used *cough*) round pen needed mowing if we didn't want to wade through knee high thistles, and a sprinkler line put in if we didn't want to expire in a 40 ft circle of dust. 

round pen getting some love

It's certainly gratifying to come inside the pasture gate with a halter, call your filly, and have her head right over. <3  You may detect Scrappy the Bathorse's suspicious body language even from a distance in the photo below. 

Really? You're going TO the halter? you know you have to like WORK, right? I guess there might be food involved too but I dunno..seems like a lot of effort...

Since this was our first session at home as well as first solo effort, I hauled my tack and helmet down to the round pen but started working her just at liberty, tackless. Might as well start from the ground up and give her and I the best chance at succeeding together. Sheza essentially worked herself, in that I made her stay out on the circle and changed directions and speeds, but she moved her busy little feet around and around, burning off steam. She spent maybe 15 minutes with her head pointedly turned away from me on the circle, working herself, and then as some steam burned off and the direction changes started to get more polite, on one of the circles she finally checked in with me. 

Ahh, hello filly!

She started to slow and wanted to stop so I made sure to keep her going a few more circuits until it was *my* idea to stop. Which she did quite nicely, and for her good work Sheza earned herself thinking time tied in the round pen while I went to get a drink. ;-) Impatience is in the bloodline with an extra sprinkle for Sheza and time spent tied which is clearly not her idea, is a great thing for her! 

Look at those ears.."BUT MOM! Come back and pay attention to me and HMmPH!" 

When I found myself sufficiently re-hydrated, and more importantly Sheza had clicked over her brain and found herself standing tied at the Rail of Boredom, I saddled and bridled her, for which she stood like a rock! Sigh, swoon, hallelujah! Then it was time for her to move her feet again with the gear on.

Sheza's particular go-to move is the right ear spazz/head shake, inherited somehow from her mother Desire. Desire legitimately has a small scar on her right ear and her TMJ is often out so she may have pain there, but how her daughter managed to pick up her exact habit without pain or apparent reason I'm not sure! (Sheza has been chiro checked clear before going to training and will be checked again soon). April spent a lot of time working her with ropes and reins and junk tied over her ear so she just had to get over it but as we expected it's her go-to spazz expressing move. 

So with the tack on, a little bit of hinky filly came out, and she exhibits that by again keeping her head turned away from me but also tilting her head to the right, head shaking a bit, always reverting to that "ERmahGawdMYEAR!." It's quite amusingly predictable I must say!

myearrrr!!!

 little back hump but no bucks, just her head spazz in each direction til she mellowed

starting to work a little calmer

It only took maybe 5 minutes of moving her feet and a few direction changes to have a quiet licking and chewing filly working at a nice trot and not shaking her head. When I saw that we were done and I tighted my girth and got up in that saddle! Just as she had at April's Sheza stood like a rock, even dropping her head, turning side to side to snuff each of my shoes. We opened the gate from the saddle--ah thank you April for those lovely leg aides installed--and rode out of the round pen and out around the big pasture on a "trail ride" around the little track in the lower acreage my husband scraped in with the tractor. 

First Sheza tried pretending she didn't know what walking out and cues meant, sort of faltering uncertainly between my legs but I bridled her up a bit and moved her out and she was over that. Next she tried rushing forward a little, shaking her head BUTMYEAR!, but bending her side to side and a few circles curbed that. She is incredibly light in the bit and I already notice that the lighter I am, the lighter she is, as only makes sense. We did 2 or 3 good balks riding away down into the "terrifying" pasture she grew up in, including one good sideways sproing that tested my seat in the treeless, but I sat quietly and made her look at each scary thing, then collect on the bit a little and move on. Her responses transitioned then to a quiver in her skin and stop and stare, but much calmer. We circled a spare round pen panel laying the grass that had her snorting and staring, then when she was dropping her head to graze at various places we rode up towards the gate out. 

Sheza has always been a gate rusher and she's the first one to clue into things like "gate means OUT!" whether under saddle or not. As we approached the gate she tried to brace against the bit and rush toward it but I bent her the other way with rein and leg and circled at the trot and walk until we were standing, bored, grazing, again. The big gate isn't doable from the saddle so I dismounted at a mellow moment and hunted out my husband to take a few more photos! 

Sheza good girl!

wearing her momma's bridle <3

Nothing like a nice cool bath after a workout on a 100 degree evening, and a sloppy mash to boot! Sheza super model when the mash comes out. 

 Not bad for a three year old! :-D

In other horsey news, Scrappy's Skito pad for the treeless saddle should be here Wednesday and I have notions of getting a 25 mile ride in on him when it arrives to see if we have any business going to the Gold Country ride in a few weeks. Before that though he is heading to the round pen for some ground work and collection brush-ups.

 Hope you all had a wonderful and safe fourth of July, stay tuned and stay cool!