Bubba, Daisy, and Western

Helllooooo....

I've been meaning to post but of course haven't had the time.
Daisy is completely fine; i took her out the day after I posted last time and she was fine; jumping a bit and galloping a lot. She felt amazing.
I also rode Bubba. Normally Bubba is a very tank-y ride; very strong, and my biceps KILL after a ride. Now that he's retired, Jean is trying to ride him long and low; sort of westerny/hunter horse, so that he'll do well in pleasure shows. Because she's used to him, he does great at it with her. But our last few rides together were awkward because I was trying to ride long and low, but I'm not used to him enough and it was hard to get him to do it and I ended up using a lot of contact anyway. Last ride on him on Friday was like riding on clouds though :). He felt incredible. We just clicked riding together with the new technique. My arms weren't sore at all, and he did everything amazingly. He stayed at a nice controlled, same speed trot and canter in both directions. I had to do nothing but balance; he controlled his speed and kept it slow himself. He felt amazing, best ride on him ever! So I'm quite excited to ride him again. I'm finally completely convinced that I can ride him successfully in county fair; we'll kick butt ;) (Unless we have some sort of unplanned disqualification again :P)

Anyhow, I rode Daisy western on Saturday. Note to self upon seeing the photos: I REALLY need to buckle down and get a new pad! I wanted to go western to test run my new boots :) like 'em?

And I rode her in the rain, bareback, with the western bridle on Monday evening. That's where I took the fourth picture. She was so great; at the end, with just very slight wiggling of my fingers to "run" the bit, she went down on the bit...with a loose rein and no contact. Very cool. :) I'm yet undecided about which bit to be using...her Tom Thumb or the curb...For various reasons, I can't decide. I may try the curb again; it's not as harsh, correct?

The trimmer came today and Daisy has no bruising and relatively hard hooves, and they look great :) they make me smile.

Question is, do you guys trim the feather-like things on their fetlocks? I never have, but lately I've noticed them...I can't decide.

That 'tis all for now. On Thursday I will indeed to go to witness the gelding operation :) should be cool.

And after looking at old posts, I want to point out that she never stands like this anymore:
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3ISgC_pFR932DRkxk3gqJ_j0Z90blRb4oN3-X07Qzk-qYwJlzCD1nTBBQk_vdILUR7tHjHK72OEkU9QDs9hrKc5J94fBix8nkxr2CH-hnwMyeltvLyjEAsbXNM4GUNgsqoHOYgIXdkLU/s1600-h/groomed.JPG
Not sure why...better trimming...really because of more selenium? idk. But it's awesome. :)
Until my next post,

Super Sunday.... :D

I had an absolutely wonderful Sunday, pretty much, so I just had to share about it.
Daisy was trailered to board at Jean's on Thursday afternoon. I rode on Thursday and Friday, Saturday I didn't make it to the barn, and then I went today after church.

I ordered the above cooler from horseloverz.com (AWESOME site; lots and lots of sales alllll the time) for $34 about a week ago, and it finally arrived Saturday and I tried it out today...I apologize for the picture quality, I took it with my phone. :) It looks sorta silly like that, but it's contoured and I'm glad I have it, because Daisy sweats a ton in winter, and it helps to get the sweat off. They didn't have it in red, so I had to settle for blue. :)

I got to the barn, unblanketed her, tried the cooler on, and then finished grooming and got on to ride. Daisy was very agreeable during grooming already; she leaned into the brush like she was loving it and she wasn't really girth-y today during saddling, either.

I headed out to the arena and was alone for the first half hour. I got on, and warmed up slowly, first walking and having her get on the bit at the walk, then slowly the trot. With the new Kimberwicke, she's on the bit a LOT more often, but she's not necessarily stepping through, which stinks...I'm hoping to take dressage lesson soon to see what I can do about that. I got her going and some nice trots in both directions while on the bit the majority of the time, and practiced getting nice round circles. Then I got a nice trot on a small circle going left, and asked for her left lead. She got it and after a little bit actually got on the bit for one of the first times cantering; yey! It didn't last for long periods, she'd get on the bit only for a few strides at a time, but it's improvement! I had her collecting her canter, and then I changed directions and trotted, then cantered right. She's generally really speedy going right because no matter what, it's still not her favorite side. I was really happy today, though, because she collected herself at the right lead much better then usual.

After that, I kinda made up a dressage test for myself :P and ran through it, changing directions and diagonals and canter leads and circling and even tried a free walk and such...she was sooo good!

Eventually Oliver (Jean's son) and Sarah (a 4H-er) came in on their ponies, and I rode with them a bit, got off to do some groundwork, and ended up quitting that and just walking around with Daisy following me. Generally, if I walk around without holding Daisy, she doesn't follow me. Even if we've just done a join-up, she'll only follow me for a little while before stopping or heading for the gate. Today, I did NO join up and she followed me everywhere! I used a lot of body language and had her pivoting on the ground just by stepping toward her, and turned circles and walked one direction, walked another, and she always followed! At the end, I walked toward the door, but stopped in the middle of the ring, said "whoa" and she stopped, too! If I'd been her I woulda kept goin' for the door :P.

So I had a wonderful ride :)

Just wanted to ask, does anyone know of specific problems a horse could have in a leg that's NOT hoof related that could throw off their leads (like Daisy's right lead) or make them stumble a bit while turning? I just know that if I take a dressage lesson, the trainer will jam on me that Daisy's hooves are making her "off" when she makes a tight turn to the right, but that can't be possible because her hooves are wonderful right now; no bruising whatsoever. She's had that funny stumbling turn problem since last winter at least, which is why I know the trainer will bring it up. Daisy's canter to the right is also "funny"; to me it just seems speedy, but another rider told me that she looks like she's throwing her front right out really far, like it looks stiff, when she canters on it. Frankly, it ticks me off that said trainer right away assumes it's her hooves simply because she's barefoot, because it could equally be any other part of her leg/body. Can she just have some sort of leg abnormality? I have no idea what it would be...this is probably silly, but could she have a shorter right leg or something? :P Or is it beginning arthritis (She's only 11, though)? Should I try joint supplement?

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On another note, I dissected a horse leg at a vet clinic yesterday (Saturday)! It was quite an experience, but very very cool...sad, but cool. I learned a lot about the leg, and it was really interesting to see everything underneath the skin and hair :P. Some say that's gross; to a point, it is, but I thought it was a great learning experience that isn't offered often and I'm glad I went.