Tuesday, July 7, 2009

4th of July got a little crazy!


John and I dropped Charley off at his sister's in Jenks and we headed out to Lake Tenkiller for the 4th. I learned a lot about myself. I am fully capable of drinking until 4 am, waking at 8, and starting over at noon. For three days in a row. We had a blast though. Two of our friends who were there were also from out of state, so it was nice to see them. On the first night, someone drunkenly decided to unhitch their boat so that they could drive in to town and buy an air mattress. Here is what happened:



The following morning we all had to get up at 8 am to hitch up my truck, which was more powerful than the SUV it had been unhitched from, and start pulling. It didn't budge. There were a number of degreed engineers there and John was the only one with the idea to jack up the axel and put stuff under the wheel. It didn't take very long, but I was nervous about the three tree stumps stacked up to 'hold' the boat. I floored it and made some ruts, but pulled the thing up. We were all just really glad it didn't hit the deck at any point.

John had his first golfing experience, which he really enjoyed, and I had my first experience leaning that 'golf time' is not the same as real time. I'm pretty sure it doesn't take Tiger Woods nearly seven hours to shoot 18 holes!

After all of the adventures and fun, we were glad to be home. We went straight out to the horse and he was fine. Charley was happy to be home and happy to play with his Jolly Ball while we scooped poop.
I did ride the horse yesterday and considering he hadn't been worked in four days, he was very good. He was thinking about bucking a little at the canter, but got over that. His main issue now is that he just wants to go so fast. I am trying to let him have a loose rein and figure out how to rate himself, which works well in the round pen but in the arena he just gets so speedy on the long sides. At one point he went down to his knees and I was on his neck, that wasn't fun. Somehow in that tangle I got the zipper on the front of my paddock boots caught in the top of my stirrup between the leather and the iron. It wasn't until we were cantering again that I noticed my foot wasn't sitting right. I got him stopped and was trying to not think of being dragged by a crazed horse. I had to lean over and use both hands to get it loose. He was a good boy for that. I have been working on opening gates with him and he did well at that again today too. I got him to open and go through it. We haven't figured out sticking around to close it though. I rode him up around the hill between the barns and the house and he did well. He hesitated a few times, but I stayed totally calm and didn't push him until he relaxed and he never refused. We walked past a scary pile of hay, a hay baler, and a junk pile with no real issues! I also walked him down to the hitching post and up to the hill a few times. This is one of the places he has given me trouble before,but he was good. I think I will start trying to take him out again either by myself or with Belinda once it dries out a little. I think I just need to stay more calm and relaxed and not let him escalate to the point where he refuses to go forward.


2 comments:

Shanster said...

O.k. thinking of all those brainiacs being shnockered all weekend made me laugh - and the truck and the boat? Good times!

You are SO brave with your boy! Mine is being a complete shit again. Intentionally dumped me twice. I thought the first time maybe was an accident or mistake. Nope. I got right back on, rode hard and ended on a good note but it ain't fun to come off. So much for having confidence going down the road!

If I come off, it's not so much me I'm worried about but horses and cars or Rosso running through a barb wire fence... etc.

I don't generally come off... it's been years. Now my ass is bruised along with my ego.

My trainer and I have a plan. Rosso needs to respect me and I need to get fierce. I'm not used to that but I'll learn. She'll help me. And it has to come from me because if he doesn't respect me, it won't matter how many trainers work with him... he'll be good for them and bad for me.

At least I'm more pissed than scared but it's still not a good feeling. I want to enjoy him and not prepare for battle when I go out to ride! :)

Heather said...

Yeah I hear you on that, I don't mind coming off so much- I just don't want my horse running down the road...
At first I was convinced that I had to send Boomer to a trainer to ride, that I couldn't handle it. The more I thought about it and calmed down, the more I started to think that it really does have to be me to fix it. For me, when I have a problem, it helps to give it a real name and recognize that other people have to deal with it too. Like when we first got Boomer, he reared when he was tied and I learned that is a bad habit also known as 'pulling back'. Saying he had a pulling back problem rather than a rearing problem made it easier for me to handle. Same goes for him being an asshole. I am now toying with the idea that perhaps he is barn sour. Makes it easier for me to handle when I don't think his problem is trying to kill me.

Still, I hear you on wanting to enjoy him. I don't even feel like I can take him for a trail rider with other people around for fear of ruining their ride, much less knowing that it will be a battle at some point.

So, I am looking at it like a barn sour problem and taking it slowly. You can't push Boomer or get harsh with him or he shuts down mentally and starts trying to get me off his back. So, slowly we go. So far so good with working through things slowly alone, I have not taken him back out to the roads though.

Seems like we are having similar problems, let me know what is working for you :)