ponies and other things

[quietann]

So I got to ride Minnie the Crazy Mare again today. She was a good girl and only did one uncontrolled crazy thing (not standing still to be mounted, and it took a couple of tries to get her positioned right at goddessfarmer's picnic table cum mounting block. She was minorly fussy about being bridled but this time the stall guard was up so she couldn't go anywhere, and I did give her a shove when she was being cranky. Part of the reason she doesn't like being bridled is that she needs to wear a standing martingale (a leather strip going from underneath the noseband of the bridle to the girth) or she tries to bop her rider in the nose by tossing her head.

We had a good, short ride as I am still a bit sore from Monday, and I suspect that Minnie was still tired, too. I still need a lot of practice (and lessons) but things are going well. Minnie is one of those horses who pays attention to *everything*. She has to check everything out; she hasn't spooked on me, but I can tell when she's thinking that something might be scary enough to spook over.

We found Trump's lost shoe on one of the trails; it was interestingly torqued, as if it had caught on something, and it's very good that it came off his hoof when it did.

I think Minnie's getting to know me, and knowing that if I show up she and Trumpie get to go out. Apparently it's a good thing; I didn't expect to fall into a free riding arrangement, but goddessfarmer, her mother (who actually owns Minnie but hardly ever rides her), and her daughter (who'd been assigned to exercise Minnie but thinks she's boring) are all happy that I'm riding her.

Odd note not related to ponies: sports bras seem to have "reverse vanity sizing" just like juniors clothing does. I have *never* needed a D-cup bra before! eep. (In my head, I am smaller/thinner than in reality and still think of myself as fairly flat chested.)

Comments

[unclebooboo.livejournal.com]

There are lots of horses in need of exercise. Most horses that are ridden for recreation get only a few hours of work a week, which isn't nearly enough to keep any kind of edge on their training. If you fall in with the crowd at a stable with such horses and you can convince people that you're a competent rider and responsible in handling other peoples' horses it's not hard to get a standing invitation to exercise their horse.

It's generally OK to stop and let your horse examine scary stuff, in hopes of desensitizing the horse. However, it's also good to get to the point with a horse that you can direct its attention to you by asking it to do something (e.g. give the horse a bit of leg and just make it walk on.) If the horse is busy accepting cues from you it can be distracted from the scary thing. Sometimes, doing this can be the best way to avoid a spooking incident.

On the other hand, you don't want to force your horse to go closer to something scary- if he spooks and you can't handle it immediately, you've just taught him that he's in charge in scary situations. (Not to mention that bad things might happen to you in the process.)

Another important bit of advice is to not tense up in response to your horse going on the muscle. The horse will sense this in return, and it might be enough to set the horse off. Besides, tense muscles won't really help you if the horse does something stupid. Rather, make sure that you're balanced and have a good deep seat. Then walk on.

If you haven't already done so, you should review your strategies for what to do should the horse ever bolt, buck, rear, or try to lay down with you- these are all things that can happen very fast and are likely to result in a bad wreck if you aren't prepared. Even if you are prepared they can cause a bad wreck if you're unlucky.