Work: AM heat therapy/walk [reverse of Tues], PM groom/ground exercises [weave cones, turn-around box, reverse poles, plank] Grade: [spookier than strictly necessary during grooming but redeemed himself in the ring, which alone is worth a star.] In their infinite wisdom, Horse Illustrated has published my story of shopping for Rodney as “Horse Tales: TheContinue reading “In the Beginning”
Category Archives: Groundwork
Ground Exercise 4: Plank
Work: PM heat therapy/walk, 1/4 of pasture Grade: Set up: 24″ x 30″ plywood board. Exercise: Stand on with both front feet. Saturday was our first day with this. As I suspected, he came right over to chew and paw. With a modicum of convincing, he put one foot on & then both feet. Sunday,Continue reading “Ground Exercise 4: Plank”
Ground Exercise 3: Weave Cones
Work: AM heat therapy only, rider [a courtesy title] on disabled list. Cough. Sniffle. Grade: n/a Set up: 4 orange highway cones in a row, approximately 5′ apart. Exercise: serpentine around cones. If we ever get into the jumper ring or out on cross country, Rodney will have many winning virtues: stride, power, boldness. However,Continue reading “Ground Exercise 3: Weave Cones”
Gentlemen …
Work: AM heat therapy/walk, PM groom/ground exercises [box, plank, weave cones, reverse poles] Grade: Engaging in what is becoming an annual tradition (BTR Jan 2011, final paragraph) of renaming my horse. Rodney as a stable name is here to stay. His show name is now Start Your Engine. Getting rid of previous show name becauseContinue reading “Gentlemen …”
Fear! Fire! Foes! Nevermind.
Work: AM easy walk (even for us), PM ground exercises Grade: Rodney and I are back to work, making progress at the speed of stalactite formation. In rereading the blog, I realized that last Tuesday was only his fourth afternoon session since our restart. It doesn’t matter how inexplicable I find his fears. The gremlinsContinue reading “Fear! Fire! Foes! Nevermind.”
Resuming the doom spiral.
Work: 1/2x heat therapy only Grade: n/a Our pattern is to groom before the afternoon session. On Tuesday, he was grazing next to the ring. It seemed silly to bring him into the barn just to turn around and come back. So I haltered & went directly to what passes for work. Mistake. Despite theContinue reading “Resuming the doom spiral.”
Boredom & Temptation
It is hard not to want to push the envelope, particularly when we are doing SO little. I think that in the past, people have seen a big horse and assumed a tough horse. In truth, he’s a cupcake. I find that he gets nervous & upset if he thinks that the work is goingContinue reading “Boredom & Temptation”
Virtual Brush Box 