We Meet Again...

....the ground and I.

It's been awhile, the last fall I had I believe was Fall 2002 (fall as in, the season that comes after Summer, before Winter....not..."the fall of 2002"). Although, that one was a doozy - a spook over a trail map dumped me off and resulted in a compression fracture in my spine.

This time we were trotting out very nicely, a nice ground eating, yet relaxed trot, and up ahead was a fallen tree. I notice my horse is eyeing said tree, but figure if we give it a nice berth, no problem. Well, that is, until a SPARROW or some other small bird made the bushes nearby rustle. Horse leaps to the right, I come reeling left but I almost pulled it together, and then she did another little leap which put me really off balance, and I try one last valiant time to hitch myself back up to the center, using my right leg...when I [accidentally] kick her (hard) in the rear end in the process of trying to get back on. This puts her into a sprinting gait I've never experienced in the saddle, let alone off to the left of the saddle! I try to holler "whoa!" but it did me no good, and I just decided to bail (or the decision was made for me, it's not exactly clear at this point). Of course, this all happened quickly, maybe 5 or 6 strides; it took way longer to write it and read it than for it to actually take place.

So as I am falling to the ground I decide I'm going to hang on to the reins, so she doesn't run away. Sure....everyone says not to do that because your horse will drag you and it's dangerous....but MY horse is DIFFERENT. ha. So I land on my left hip/back/butt/side area, then am quickly dragged over and ended up with dirt and grass stains all over my back, and right hip. I hung on to the reins for probably 3-4 strides before I realized "she's not stopping" and let go. THANK GOD I did, because as I let go of the reins I turn to look and Arabee had just fallen down as well. In retrospect, I realize she probably fell because as she was dragging me she had to pull pretty hard, then when I suddenly let go, she lost her footing. So essentially, I probably caused my horse to fall, and while at the time I felt somewhat vindicated "haha, I fall, you fall TOO" I quickly realized that she could've fallen ON TOP OF ME....and I felt badly that I likely caused her wreck, even if it was accidentally, which probably just scared her all the more of fallen trees and little birdies that make rustling noises, and she likely didn't learn anything other than that from the episode. But anyway - she quickly stood up and proceeded to gallop off towards the river. Uh oh.

I sit up after somewhat checking myself over (I'd fallen and been dragged across corn stubble....which really isn't the best stuff to get dragged across...although better than pavement!) and holler "Arabee!" and she stops and whinnies. She's confused and scared and lonely....I am her herd!!! So I get on my feet, call for her again, and whistle like I usually do when I'm calling her in from the pasture, and she begins to trot towards me. YAY! So she trots up to where I am and stands still, like she usually does, solid as a rock, almost as if nothing had ever happened. I check her over, no damage apparant...aside from some mud on her right side where she'd landed in the dirt. I put my foot in the stirrup to get on, and she jumped forward....I said whoa, then got back on, she was a little more jumpy than I first realized. And wow...I was stiff, and sore already, this wasn't going to be good!

So, we practiced "whoa" means WHOA, and then walked back home. I had a JUMPY horse! We were probably feeding off of each other, we both were uptight after the incident, she'd jump at a rustly noise, I'd get tense.....and so on. But we made it home. I never did work up the nerve to have her trot much, but we made it back and even in the barn lot she was still jumpy. So I walked her around, and turned and flexed her until she was calm, then got off and headed back to the house.

I'm not injured, at all. Maybe a little embarrassed to tell the story...but I figure it happens to everyone eventually if you ride long enough. I will say that those corn stalks were mighty hard on me....and I am pretty sure I have chunks embedded in my skin to prove it. My right thumb STINGS where the thumbnail was bent backwards, and the rest of my hand where I foolishly tried to hold my horse. And it wasn't really too much fun to ride home with dirt sandwiched between my butt and my breeches.....but no serious harm done. I'm glad I DID ride home instead of lead her in.

The thing of it is.....I'd have had a totally different story for you all had the fall not occurred. It was a GREAT ride (other than that one little blip that ruined the last portion...). I had awaken early to get a daylight ride start. Saddled up in the dark. Had a nice route planned out. Took her across territory she'd NEVER seen before, she braved things that she really, really was unsure about, and until that point I'd have said this was a really really good ride that was a good partnership building thing. Maybe it still was, I just hope that this one fall wasn't enough to shatter my confidence enough to make her lose her confidence in me.

Anyway, yesterday I'd posted about Arabee being off on one trotting diagonal pair. I was very cautious about tacking her up this morning, checking her over carefully. All 4 legs were somewhat stocked up from standing still over night, not hot...just stocked up. That went away after I walked her in her circles before mounting....but something wasn't right still....so I trimmed that little chunk off her frog so there wasn't a pressure point (on her left hind) and that seemed to take the ouchiness away. The route I'd planned had minimal road/gravel - it was mostly dirt riding so I opted against booting since I hadn't had the chance to try them on her yesterday. But I will have her booted at least in front next ride, just to get her used to them if nothing else. Anyway, she showed no signs of that switching diagonal thing from yesterday and didn't seem off at all this morning during the ride, so maybe it was just a weird one-time thing. Anyway, I'm still keeping a close watch on her.

Regardless....I'm sending myself to boot camp, which I'd declared before I even left the house this morning..... It is a TIGHT squeeze to pour myself into these breeches.....here's hoping if I run/jog/walk every day from now until my first LD that I'll be able to comfortably zip my pants, besides the added fitness benefits.

So....I feel it is necessary to recap the most important lesson learned from my ride today:


If you fall, never try to hold onto the reins! No matter how good, loyal, well-trained, devoted, or (insert your adjective here_____) you think your horse is.

I'm just glad no serious damage was done, although it easily could have been!

New Stuff/Hobbled Grazing

UPS left Arabee's new girth on my front porch today. Can't wait to try it out.

I hope riding tonight won't push her too fast. There are little tiny hairs beginning to grow back on her bare patches, and the skin looks pretty normal. It doesn't look like it's "peeling" anymore, like a sunburn the way it used to - now it looks just sort of flaky, but mostly normal. I'll at least go out and try the saddle and girth on to see how it looks, adjust the breastcollar since the girth doesn't have a D-ring, and what have you. Whether I actually ride or not will depend on both the mare's skin and the weather - rain is forecasted.

Those of you who've dealt with girth chafing problems before - how do you know when it's safe to try riding again??

I also ordered a helmet - a Tipperary. The helmet I'd been wearing was near 10 years old, and had never been very comfortable. It always dug into my forehead, and had started to give me headaches if I wore it for very long (like more than 2 hours). I decided that if distance is the sport of choice, then a comfier helmet was necessary. I really like the Tipperary - I wore it while making macaroni and cheese right after it arrived! Hopefully I get to ride in it today. I had my husband try it on - and he said it didn't feel like he was wearing a helmet, more like wearing a hat. Pretty accurate. But then, my old helmet may have just been that poor of a fit!

_____

Yesterday, 29 year old Jack (my first horse) learned a new trick. I taught him how to stand hobbled, and he acted as if he'd done it all his life. First I used the lead rope around one foreleg at a time to move it around, then used the rope as hobbles, and when he'd proven that didn't phase him and that he understood giving to the pressure - I hobbled him up in the grassy yard. He GREATLY enjoyed this, and will likely begin having grazing sessions like this much more frequently.

Arabee is sure she got the raw end of that deal. Not only did she have to stay in the paddock by herself, but she also had to endure watching that gelding eat grass and get groomed while she whinnied and bucked and snorted to no avail! After Jack had proven he was comfortable with the hobbles, she got some exercise. What I'd hoped was to sort of free-longe her in the paddock, what I got was a tail-over-the-back prancey trot, occassional leaps over muddy spots, and a way way too out-of-breath horse. I should have known better since she was so indignant that Jack got priveledges she didn't, but I think she quite enjoyed herself (and I enjoyed watching her!).

Tuesday's Ride

So it's confirmed: Arabee hates slippery, muddy footing. Hates it!

I rode yesterday after having given her both Sunday and Monday off due to me being a wimp and not wanting to ride her in high winds Sunday, or below freezing temps Monday with warmer weather forecasted this week! Monday the ground was partially frozen in the shady spots (North sides of hills) and partially thawed and SLICK in other places, and in some places had hoof-sucking mud.

She's not a fan!

Therefore, she was essentially refusing to put her focus on me, and instead her ears and mind were back at the barn, where she would have much rather been. She spent a lot of time traveling with her body curved, but going straight - now that's awkward to ride - and since she was ignoring me, rarely listened to my aids to straighten her.

She was okay at the walk, but once when I asked her to trot up a hill, she veered off towards the left, when I wanted her to trot right, which meant her path went into a big rut (formed from a tractor tire) that was super slippery. She began to scramble to keep her feet, jumped forward and a little to the right to get back out of the rut, and then when she got out threw in a buck because she was MAD. THAT nearly unseated me......and if she wouldn't have stopped when I said WHOA, I would've gone off.

So I highly recommend teaching your horse WHOA. Only use WHOA when you actually want the horse to stop RIGHT NOW. Use "stand" when you want the horse to stand still, but only use WHOA when you need them to stop moving their feet. Continually practice this, and it will pay off sometime. Yes, it will. Reserve "whoa" for you-have-to-stop-right-now, and use "stand" (or something else) when you just want them to "keep" stopping. Don't wear out the "whoa" command - it's real handy having emergency brakes! It saved me from coming off twice yesterday, another 2 or 3 wild strides and I would've been off.

We were able to trot enough on the flat parts to get her breathing up and the beginning of a good sweat, but with the unique part frozen part thawed slickness, we called it quits after 45 minutes after making sure to end on a good note. Since it was so slick, after regaining control and composure, we did a good bit of practicing walking on a long rein, practicing around the creek, practicing across ditches, logs, up and down hills, and staying at a walk and not breaking into a trot. I also practiced walk-halt transitions.

Hopefully tonight I will be able to gain her focus and attention. I've got a longer ride planned, since I won't be able to ride Thursday, and a short easy ride for Friday since I really want to haul out for another training ride on Saturday.

Hobble Training Arabee

For Christmas I had received a gift of a set of hobbles. It was one of the things on my list, and I was very happy to get them.

Living on a 100++ year old farm like we do, you really never know for sure where there might be old fence wire half buried underground, or where a stray strand of barbed cattle wire may have long ago been knocked off the fence by a fallen tree, then left to be slowly buried by the tree as it decomposed. You never know. I mean, I know today we do the best we can to keep things neat and put up, but every now and then we find old buried junk, and what's to say there wouldn't be wire buried somewhere, as well?

So, I have been wanting to hobble-train Arabee, so that if she ever does find herself entangled in something, she will know not to fight it, just relax and wait for help. I would hate to have ignored this relatively easy task and have it haunt me later. It was also VERY WINDY today, and I am also pretty sore and tired from the ride we did yesterday, so I decided to take the day off from riding and work on the hobbles.

For several weeks now I have been working with her in her stall with a thick cotton lead rope around one leg at time, pulling on it, moving it, picking it up; basically teaching her it was okay to have that feeling on her legs. Eventually I wrapped the rope around one leg, then loosely around the other, "hobbling" her with the rope, but it would have easily come undone if she panicked. No big deal.

Today I took her out where I normally groom and tack up, in a familiar place, and tested her first with the cotton rope, then when she was ho-hum (right away, basically) with that, I strapped the hobbles on.

I put them on the cannon bone, just above her fetlock. I've seen them put there, and on the pastern, but this spot seems sturdier, plus less likely to get muddy, so I strapped them there. I left her halter and lead rope on, and since she basically stands like a statue when I'm grooming her anyway (she ground ties VERY well) she didn't test the hobbles.

So I decided to test her. I gave her a dose of wormer (and Jack too, March 1st), which she typically doesn't enjoy, but tolerates after practicing her best giraffe impression, and dancing a bit. This time, she DIDN'T move a bit. Yeah!

Then I unbuckled one of the hobbles, and led her to the grass, and rebuckled them. You can see a picture here:
She didn't bother the hobbles much, just stretched her neck to get as much as possible. So I hopped the fence and wormed Jack (he hates it too, but being so old he doesn't put up a big fuss, especially if I keep him from seeing it!) which he backed up after I gave it to him and moved out of Arabee's sight. This she didn't like, and came bounding about. I said, Whoa! and she stopped, and didn't move her feet a bit after that, but kept grazing.

So I tested her some more. I found a piece of plastic, about 6"x12" - noisy enough to be startling, small enough to not be overwhelming. I sacked her out with this, which she picked up her feet, but didn't move beyond the constraint of the hobbles.

I will consider this a success. She needs more practice, but I think a great start. I also want to do this same training with the hobbles on her rear legs, but we'll keep the hobble sessions short and sweet.

I pray she never, ever has a run in with wire here or anywhere else, but if she does, I hope the hobble training will prevent a big wreck.

New Saddle, and other stuff

So this is bound to be a long one......sorry. It's just that so many things have happened this weekend that I want to be thorough!

1) My new saddle came! After MUCH deliberation and research and prayer, we decided to purchase a used Thorowgood Broadback saddle. I happened to find one in the seat size I need. It is a dressage saddle.

It was EXHILARATING to drive home on Friday and find the big cardboard box on the porch. I couldn't get in the house fast enough, and if I cared, I would've been pretty embarrassed for doing the happy dance in front of my husband and daughter!! :-)

I tried it out, and Arabee seems to love it. I really am happy with the way it positions me as well. So far, so good! It is a lot easier to position the saddle properly, and it seems like the breastcollar is in a better position. I haven't ridden in it with the crupper - I will see how it goes without.

2) I've ridden in the Renegade's two different times now. Friday was great, today not so much.... I must not have gotten them on just right, they were bothering Arabee today. I need to go back and re-read the fitting portion of their site. At first I was VERY worried that the saddle was bothering her, as she kept lowering and stretching her neck out and down, and occassionally tossing her head at a trot. She also wasn't walking out very well. Friday I didn't have these problems at all.

I feel I can safely eliminate the problem beign in the saddle though (huge sigh of relief!!), because after the ride I took the saddle off and lunged her a little to see what I could find, and she was doing the same weird head/neck thing and not wanting to move forward very well. So, to check out the Renegade site again, here I go...

3) I just want to say - if you find yourself working with a hoof knife....PLEASE wear LEATHER gloves! Even if you are very careful, it is amazing how fast that blade can slice through a canvas glove and right into the side of your thumb and even into your thumbnail a bit. Now, while a hoof knife is sharp enough to cut through even leather (duh....it is designed for trimming hooves and frogs....) my husband and I decided a pair of leather gloves would have slowed the knife down significantly more than the pair I was wearing..... I'll need to double check on when was the last tetanus shot I had. What a drag! Why is it that little stuff like this hurts so much!?

4) On a good, "spring is coming" note - Arabee is starting to lose some of her winter coat! Hooray for spring and warmer weather ahead!