Kicking into Week 2, with Bonus Horse Neep
Mar. 3rd, 2012 03:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dancinghorseAnd so the Kickstarter adventure rolls into week number two--over 80% funded. Less than $750 to go. And if it goes to $4000, I'm writing "Ponies in Space." We're talking about it on the Update blog.
It's been an experience. And being a marathon, that means it has weeks and weeks to go. Eeeeeeeeee. Also, EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.
I've been maintaining such calm as I can by working on Other Stuff. And yesterday there was a lesson with S. It was supposed to be about getting Ephiny back to her saddle training, but a fierce cold front and strong winds had even Pooka non-hormonally off his head--he nearly pulled me off my feet as I was moving him before the lesson. Not the best conditions for riding a very (very very) green horse who likes to courbette.
So we went to Plan B. Ephiny got all her tack on and I got into all my riding gear, just to be casual about the whiole thing, and then we did groundwork. Working on that issue of hers with being in her body and using all of it without wigging over stray segments, notably the right rear.
She was exemplary. Quite calm considering the weather. Willing to focus and be attentive. Very simple exercises--flex jaw, relax neck, loosen withers, and the hardest one: engage hindquarters. Relax, soften, repeat. Both sides.
With S she finally had her standard spook, which was clear evasion, and not nearly as dramatic as it's been known to be. By the time S handed her over to me, that had been discussed and she was entertaining the notion of Not Spooking when asked to go a little out of her comfort zone. And while we did our whole-body walk and circle, she thought about blowing again, and quite deliberately chose to relax and soften instead.
Cheers! Kudos! Gold stars!
And she did it again. Then again. At which point I felt the tumblers click over and the pieces fall into place. And there was the Lipizzan brain she's been skittering away from in favor of being a normal reactive greenie mare. Clear, quiet, focused. With Zen calm.
I am very, very proud of her. I didn't try to ride at that point--she needed to stop and think and process--but I booked another lesson in two weeks.
There is homework. Keep the bodywork going. Recognize that when she gets mouthy and starts eating reins, leadrope, longeline, whip, fingers..., she's evading. Keep the volume turned down low and the patience turned up high. Make sure she gets the cross-body thing--inside shoulder to outside hip. Keep everything moving from back to front even with the saddle in the middle. And if she gets stuck, she's probably stuck in the base of the neck--apply pressure to the points there, very lightly, and she'll get it.
Next time, the weather gods permitting, I'll be back in the saddle.
Then Pooka got a turn, because Pooka had to have a turn--some massage and encouragement to unlock the muscles he pulled in October. He's improving, slowly. His PT is on the right track, weary Yay. He's been dinging his right fore pastern with the injured right hind, so he's in bell boots. S says there's no reason for him to be that crooked, or that evasive; he's guarding, but there's no permanent damage. He just needs to realize he can move without getting stuck.
Word on that street is that he's taken himself offline (as one friend wisely said) to give me room to work the others. I being a bear of little brain have taken a long time to realize this. Maybe now I have, he'll finally stop messing himself up and get back to being ridable.
It's been an experience. And being a marathon, that means it has weeks and weeks to go. Eeeeeeeeee. Also, EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.
I've been maintaining such calm as I can by working on Other Stuff. And yesterday there was a lesson with S. It was supposed to be about getting Ephiny back to her saddle training, but a fierce cold front and strong winds had even Pooka non-hormonally off his head--he nearly pulled me off my feet as I was moving him before the lesson. Not the best conditions for riding a very (very very) green horse who likes to courbette.
So we went to Plan B. Ephiny got all her tack on and I got into all my riding gear, just to be casual about the whiole thing, and then we did groundwork. Working on that issue of hers with being in her body and using all of it without wigging over stray segments, notably the right rear.
She was exemplary. Quite calm considering the weather. Willing to focus and be attentive. Very simple exercises--flex jaw, relax neck, loosen withers, and the hardest one: engage hindquarters. Relax, soften, repeat. Both sides.
With S she finally had her standard spook, which was clear evasion, and not nearly as dramatic as it's been known to be. By the time S handed her over to me, that had been discussed and she was entertaining the notion of Not Spooking when asked to go a little out of her comfort zone. And while we did our whole-body walk and circle, she thought about blowing again, and quite deliberately chose to relax and soften instead.
Cheers! Kudos! Gold stars!
And she did it again. Then again. At which point I felt the tumblers click over and the pieces fall into place. And there was the Lipizzan brain she's been skittering away from in favor of being a normal reactive greenie mare. Clear, quiet, focused. With Zen calm.
I am very, very proud of her. I didn't try to ride at that point--she needed to stop and think and process--but I booked another lesson in two weeks.
There is homework. Keep the bodywork going. Recognize that when she gets mouthy and starts eating reins, leadrope, longeline, whip, fingers..., she's evading. Keep the volume turned down low and the patience turned up high. Make sure she gets the cross-body thing--inside shoulder to outside hip. Keep everything moving from back to front even with the saddle in the middle. And if she gets stuck, she's probably stuck in the base of the neck--apply pressure to the points there, very lightly, and she'll get it.
Next time, the weather gods permitting, I'll be back in the saddle.
Then Pooka got a turn, because Pooka had to have a turn--some massage and encouragement to unlock the muscles he pulled in October. He's improving, slowly. His PT is on the right track, weary Yay. He's been dinging his right fore pastern with the injured right hind, so he's in bell boots. S says there's no reason for him to be that crooked, or that evasive; he's guarding, but there's no permanent damage. He just needs to realize he can move without getting stuck.
Word on that street is that he's taken himself offline (as one friend wisely said) to give me room to work the others. I being a bear of little brain have taken a long time to realize this. Maybe now I have, he'll finally stop messing himself up and get back to being ridable.
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Re: Thinking about Kickstarter - I knew I forgot something
Date: 2012-03-04 02:37 pm (UTC)I wish Scalzi would link to your Kickstarter campaign...
Re: Thinking about Kickstarter - I knew I forgot something
Date: 2012-03-04 04:47 pm (UTC)Scalzi? Hmmm. I don't know him, but I know people who do.
Re: Thinking about Kickstarter - I knew I forgot something
Date: 2012-03-04 06:00 pm (UTC)