Another sunny autumn day had the darned bot flies out in force; Chapsi has BIG problems with them and whilst I was poo-picking he had a massive tantrum and high tailed it round the field for ten minutes! It's pointless trying to catch him when this happens as he is so unconcerned for his own safety that it is pretty dangerous. Eventually he came to me for help and in trying to swot the damn thing for him he caught my hand with his hoof while trying to do the same! No lasting damage but I got him up to the stables pretty pronto for a shower off and a snooze; didn't work him as he had already had plenty and in case we found more bots.
Moo on the other hand doesn't care about the flies, good job as he's a bit of a magnet for them. I had a good session with Moo, after starting in the same 'up' slow trot as yesterday I then let the reins out and sat it out :-o lots of turning, circles, rein changes etc resulted in a quite stretchy trot, still fast and at times unbalanced but I gritted my teeth and stuck with it for 25 mins; boy do my legs ache tonight! He is so wide that sitting for so long in a fast trot is a real killer BUT I think this is my way forward. To finish we went for more canters down the field and this time I came up the steepest part and he flew and that's after an hour in the school!
7 comments:
Poor Chapsi, bet he was glad of the shower!
You can see an improvement in Moo, even from the last vid :) He is really taking a loose stretch over his own back. I'm very jealous of how still you are!
There was a bit in your subtitles about him having seized up. May I ask about his history, was he poorly in the past? Feel free to tell me to bog off, am just always interested in the stories of the 'older' rehabs :)
You say Moo at times unbalanced and a bit fast. But looked to me as tho the 'fast' was consistent. Or was it just the vid. A lot to work with now and 'onwards and upwards'!
Next lesson with Flight tomorrow and weather forecast is for wet and windy! Always the same!! But Flight is an honest mare and she does listen and she does try hard - inspite of her 'mother'.
Just wish you were here to see her. Have to admit, Penny H was right in that she is the better dressage person! Oh well, c'est la vie!
Sxx
ps check my FB page for a giggle!
Ouch to the hand and the legs!! You're going to get FIT trotting like that for 25min. Good stuff.
Thanks Danni, it's weird because I look at myself and think how bouncy I look...guess I'm my own worst critic and does anyone like watching themselves ride?
He had a seize up last year just as Claire came to house sit!! Di came over to meet Claire and we got him in from the field on three legs and a prayer. Tbh it had been coming a while but I hadn't put the evidence together in the right way, I kept thinking lami, bad trimming etc as he was just not right sometimes at the front but the vet couldn't find anything mechanical. To cut a long story (physio/osteo) it turned out it was the pelvic area that had 'tweaked' and then slowly seized up and taken the shoulder and withers with it :-( basically the sort of injury often picked up in vehicule accidents, kind of horsey whiplash. I felt awful that I'd not picked it up earlier and even though he stopped being 'lame' pretty quickly afterwards he's remained tight, hard to transition into canter and tight in his stretching exercises. We have made lots of progress but there's loads to go, I'll just be happy if I can keep him sound and healthy.
Sheila, hehehe yep the fast is consistent, bit like riding a pneumatic drill!
I would LOVE to see Flight, pics would be nice! Hope the lesson went well.
Trudi, I know what you mean about seeing yourself ride, but you really look very 'with' Moo rather than bouncing!
I had no idea he'd been so poorly, I'd never have guessed he'd had such an issue, he looks fab. I had the guilt thing about not knowing about lameness but the important thing is to look forwards. 9 times out of 10, with the best will in the world, we don't spot these issues until the horse is quite sore with it, they are stoic beasties!
Sometimes I think we have certain horses to teach us more than the others would. Moo's setting you up for smooth sailing with Chapsi :)
Thanks Danni, I really appreciate your thoughtful input. I was just very lucky that when it all blew up Claire was here to sit for holidays, she'd been here before but it felt awful leaving her with such hassle (of course she coped brilliantly).
You're right, I always thought Fidget was my horse of a lifetime but now I realise it's probably Moo, he has taught me so much about horses but more about myself...hopefully Chapsi will benefit from Moo's pain, LOL
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