The show Sunday and too much drama today

4/26/2010.  Ride 10. Too much drama.
Ok, so all is not sweetness and light in horse training.  I would rather just not tell the real story, but this is supposed to be the real story--the one you never hear about -good and bad, so here goes:

Tabooli the stud colt (he is a looker--pictures eventually) came on Saturday.  May is quite enamored of Risa and I separated them last night. Result:  May is unhappy. Tabooli seems to make her nervous and she is pacing in her pen as she wants to get out to be with Risa.

First Mistake. Tied May to tie rack.  Tabooli's pen is close to the tie racks and he came right to the fence and started talking and running up and down.  May started pawing, moving and tossing her head.  I had to move her and go tie Tabooli in his pen (to a tree).  He was obviously also excited so he was pawing and wandering around and complaining loudly. 

Second problem: Brought May back to the tie rack, but she just could not relax, so I hobbled her.  She was hobbled yesterday at the trailer (see below) and did great.  Not this time.  She panicked, sank back, reared, rammed the tie rack, repeat.  That's the kind of thing that cannot be stopped and you just have to wait it out.  I talked to her the whole time, and really was just hoping some of the hardware would break, but it all held and she stopped 5 plunges later.  I stood with her, decided to leave the hobbles on for a bit longer, but untied her so if there was a repeat, she could move some.  No repeat.  Sigh.

Took May to the arena and mentally she was quiet--the physical restraint of the hobbles seems to affect her like swaddling does a baby.  We did the usual ground work and then we rode--walk, trot, turning, move hip, give shoulder, go sideways, bend to a halt, two rein stops.  She had some moments of tenseness, but it was VERY good!

Rode out of the arena and all around the property.  She wanted to sneak up on the world--one step at a time, so that's what we did. We spent about 10 minutes riding "out" and she was willing but did have some moments when she was very tight.

Bridge and gate and third error: Over the bridge, both directions!  The bridge is getting over-grown with grass--here in the desert!  This makes it trickier, but she was game!  Approached the gate and stood nice and quietly. Opened and walked through it.  Very wll done (but I should have gone slower).  Got through and then she had the need to back away from the gate (i cant o it!).  It took a while to get her back to it and close it (probably because she felt my annoyance).  I should have just stopped there, but NO!  I thought she should be a bit better at the closing by now (three?  tries and 10 rides total...um who is a dope?), so I pushed her, upset her and then had to go back and fix it by opening, going through, coming back to close it and accepting that.

Fourth drama. We don't need our teeth.  Got Tabooli, tied him in the barn area to a telephone pole that holds up the barn roof.  It is bolted with angle iron to the barn.  It is sturdy. Really sturdy it turns out.  I walked 10 feet to the tack room to get something and Tabooli wrapped himself around the pole (he had about one foot of rope--go figure), got himself snubbed, panicked and pulled back, and kept on.  The pole shook!  The barn creaked!  The roof shimmied!  I started talking calmly, waiting to be killed as the barn collapsed....

The rope halter stretched and got into his mouth, and either he just gave it up or my calm (ha! inside I was saying lots of bad words) helped him out.  And the barn is still standing!!!! He let me help him with the halter and oh look there is a loose tooth...Nope not loose.  Out.  Oh great!  Well, it was a baby tooth....but it wasn't quite ready to come out.  Broke out.  There is a fun call to make to his owner, who took the news calmly, while I blabbered on.  Clue I am not comfortable:  fast blabbering. 

Tabooli is a good boy though!  I did a little ground work in the round pen and I think he is going to be a real quick study, if I can keep his teeth in his head.....

Last little drama. Brought Tabooli back and let him go.  D##n!  May (standing nice right now) and Risa (I relented and brought her out to keep May company) are tied at the rack and a tree.  Tabooli headed right there and started getting a little excited (just a little, if you know what I mean).  Oh big suprise. Double DOH! I ran over there and got him away from the fence with my lunge whip.  He tried to go around me about 3 times and then stood and faced me, waiting most politely for me to come get him.  Nice!

Tied him up (so I could move the girls).  He started talking.  I tossed a plum sized dirt clod at him (underhanded, with arc, lest you think I am a true brute) and it bonked him on the side.  He shut up immediately and never said another word until much later when I got everyone put away, untied him and let him go! 

So, despite my Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad  training Day (thank-you Judith Viorst who wrote the kid's book from which I stole the phrase), the only casualties:  my pride and a tooth.

4/25/2010.  The appy show. Gave up a back country work project for the show, but it was still fun!  Risa and May were tied to the trailer for the day and May was upset and nervous at first so got to wear the hobbles for about 20 minutes.  Took them off and she was really mellow as long as Risa was "in her place".  Any moving of Risa, to get water for example, created anxiety for May!  Poor baby.

Penny had to work. Penny showed in 3 hunter under saddle classes and did best in her first one--walk trot (second place!).  Her head got a little too low in the next two classes but she was very quiet and had some really good steps, especially at the trot--just not enough of them!

Her western pleasure classes involved laziness, heaviness on the bit and breaking (THREE times) from the lope to the trot.  The last time I used my spur to goose her.  Naturally, this really blew the class, but that's ok.  She is still learning.

Trail was the best--she is a natural at it and she only had a bit of a glitch in the lope off after the turn-around box.  My favorite: her trot overs into the box--super nice, followed by a really smooth 360 turn.  She did two trail classes and won one and got second in other--earning some national Appy points (a half point I think...but still!)