Riding in the Brush = Torn Clothes or Wow it was HOT at the Show.

Tabooli: Rides 18 and 19. 6/5 and 6/7.
Time to start seeing the neighborhood!  He is so calm in my arena, (except when some random thing scares him and he skedaddles, but we will ignore that...) I decided to take him out.  Both days he got tense as we left familiar surroundings and our rides progressed like this.  Tabooli:  I can't go any further.  Me:  Ok, let's stop and take a look.  Tabooli:  I can't stand still any longer! Me: Ok, let's move along. We'd go a little ways and he'd  see some new thing-- and we have the same conversation all over again, with variations such as: I cannot go in a straight line from here to there because there is a THING over there.  Me:  Listen to my leg and move over.  Tabooli.  Ok........No. I cannot do that right now.  Me:  I think you can.  Tabooli.  Oh...well, maybe....not.....maybe...so.  Ok I 'll try.  Me: Good job!  Tabooli:  There is a THING over there!  Repeat!  To give him credit, he got better!

With my hands, I kept asking him for lightness in his face.  Two hands and wait for a flexion following by immediate release.  Then a little lateral flexion, sometimes with a little leg to ask for a sideways movement, with immediate release.  These both work to refocus, but generally are not very hard for the horse.  Sometimes, I got no response from Tabooli so more pressure was needed, followed my an immediate release when I got a try. 

Key:  Don't nag, but don't give up until getting a try and then RELEASE.  Easier said than done, and if not done the result is heaviness.  If done right, you can get light without having to argue with the horse's face.  Let me just say, I try, but I don't always get light right away, and then I have to go back and figure out how to fix it.  A bigger bit is the easiest, to be honest.  And sometimes that will create a permanent solution.  Plenty of training articles talk about bit progression when the horse gets heavy on the current bit....hmmm.  I feel that when my horses are heavy...um Penny right now....it was a training fault.  My solution for Penny?  Bigger bit.  Why?  because I know it will work and it is pretty easy.  I am totally happy with this?  Nope.

Over grown trail = torn clothes.
Took Risa down to the little canyon the other day, where she walked over water....I honestly think she may not have noticed it because it was in a little dtich and there was a lot of grass.  Plus, she didn't really hesitate, and she is the Queen of Hesitate.  Tabooli has got nothing on her.  I walked some because the trail was too overgrown for a rider on horseback.  The cienega by the old cotton wood has changed since I went there last, years ago.  It has silted up and  the standing water has moved up stream a little.  The boggy spot is no longer boggy, but there was lush grass!

I mounted up and we began to climb out of the canyon.  I ducked under junipers and broke old pinon branches. I sort of waded through the live branches and leaned away from others.  In some places the tree trunks were crowding the trail and I had to be careful of my legs.....and then, the outside of my pants at the  ankle area snagged on something...Risa was pushing up an incline.  My foot was still snagged and was gettng left behind.  Hmm--this could be interesting...I may just end up coming off the over the back of the saddle while Risa heads on up the trail.  My leg was pretty far back toward her hip, when RIIIIP, my pants tore and my foot came loose.  Much easier than dismounting over her butt!

This latest rip goes with the missing buttons on my long (sun protection) sleeve riding blouses--don't jump in a western saddle unless your shirt is tucked in because otherwise, the shirt hooks over the horn and when you land, the buttons rip off. I also have shoulder rips from ducking around trees on those over grown trails.  I think I destroyed any hope my daughter had of becoming a horse person because when she was little I used to take her riding on the trails and invariably, we'd end up going through something and she'd get scratched....She didn't cry or complain, but she stopped wanting to ride with me....Bad mom card...

100 in the shade.
That describes the show on 6/6. In the shade, with a breeze, it was quite bearable, but when I left the shade for the arena, it felt like stepping into a spot-lighted oven.  "Blazing" actually describes the situation quite well!  Penny handled it with aplomb except for getting duller as the day progressed.  She did very well in English, all first or seconds, but in western, with a different snaffle, she was dull and flat.  In trail, she could not quite make one turn and pick up the correct lead, and for this I don't harbour any ill will.  It was a tough maneuver and she is not quite there yet. Faster response time and a lighter feel in the face would have surely helped though, so will work on that....bet I have been nagging her somewhere.....

How to make Risa rideable at a show:
1. Double her vitamin B the night before and the day of. (she is the only one that gets Vit. B and it really does help her stay more focussed)
2. Lunge her when you get there until she settles down (30 minutes)
3.  Tie her to the trailer and let her bake (actually she was in deep shade with food and water, but it was still hot no matter how you look at it.)
4.  Lunge her again.

I did all that and went to talk to my friends Liz and Chance.  Risa stood there a sweet as could be.  But when I went to leave, we had to walk off the grass onto the dirt.....Oh heavens no!  You'd think I was asking her to step off a cliff into an abyss

Made it to the warm up arena and I had to keep remindng her to PAY ATTENTION!  (flex your neck, go sideways, turn, stop, back etc). At this point in her training I don't care that much where her head is, so long as when I use the reins, she responds and she looks where she is going.  She is naturally pretty light, so despite her extreme looky-looness, she responds.  Here is waht I was albe to do:  Lope large medium speed circles in both directions, perform flying lead changes (she is a natural), slide 8 feet form a lope, and get some energetic tries at spinning and nice free backing.  Wow!. So, I want to rein on her, and was aiming at State fair in September for a first run.  Can I order the extreme heat ahead of time? Or maybe I can bring a heat lamp.  Ok that is just scary because PEOPLE ACTUALLY DO THAT to their horses.  Ugh.

Have any torn clothes or extreme heat stories? Love to hear them!!!