I have been riding Gypsy a bit these past few days. Once I scrape off some mud and hair we venture out to the driveway to work on our first lesson, standing while I mount. She's never been very good at this. She gets impatient and starts to walk off while I'm half in the saddle. After a few tries with circles and off and ons on my part she gets the idea and stands. Once I'm ready then I ask her to walk. We've ridden to the big field next door and around it at a walk. She likes to pretend that she's never walked on grass before and it's scary. I'm guessing it's more of the soggy ground under the grass that's freaking her out. Gypsy can be a pill sometimes and it's sometimes a challenge to get her to move forward. She is getting better and I am getting the idea of what I need to do to keep her moving. She has a few "temper tantrums" here and there but it never amounts to more then a really small hop and I can deal with that. She's not one to explode like Doodles. I've been able to ride her around the neighborhood at a slow walk. I'm going to keep it to a walk and maybe a small trot for now. I want to build both her and my confidence up and also build her up slowly to actually having to *gasp* work. So far I haven't noticed any lameness or pain markers in her. I'm hoping that this keeps up and we can keep working. Of course this now means I have two horses to ride and train this year. Last year I only had Doodles to ride since I was giving Gypsy the time off to recover from her abscesses and lamenititis. Now with Gypsy sound, that means I need to spread my time out between the both of them.
One big problem that I am having is that when I take Gypsy out Doodles is then all alone and starts calling for Gypsy and running around like a crazy horse. I'm worried she'll go through the fence. The first few times I took Gypsy out I locked Doodles in her stall but today I tossed some hay out for her and left her out. I'm hoping that Doodles will calm down and get used to Gypsy not being there all the time and of course, vice versa for when I ride Doodles. I'm thinking I should get a mini to keep the lonely horse company when I ride but that's just one mouth to feed and four more feet to trim. I'm hoping this problem will work itself out once they get used to being worked again. It is nice to finally be able to ride again. I'm hoping to go to some clinics this summer and maybe, just maybe a show.
2 comments:
Ah yes, herd buddies being herd bound. If you are lucky, then consistent periods of separation will help. It's not so much about the time, either. Even if you just bring one of them in the barn for grooming, say, there are ways to work on separating them and helping them grow used to it. It's the staying on top of it that can be hard work. Little rides out of sight over and over again, etc., can help. I'm so glad you got to ride. Rain, wind and hail have made it impossible for over two weeks in my area.
I've been trying to separate them for short periods of time and it does seem to be helping. Today Doodes seemed better about being left behind but then it was so windy I don't know if she was calling or not, I couldn't hear anything over the wind! Thanks for the tip! It's good to know I'm on the right track with this!
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