Another Day, Another Set of Poles

Work: reverse poles, hither & yon, as Saturday.

Report: workmanlike & unexciting, which is the point. Although I was tempted to go for the third & farthest set of poles, I am learning from past mistakes [Doom, Nevermind]. The plan is to solidify what works before moving on [Boredom].

Ramblings for the Day: I’m not going to stop grooming. I’m going to stop yapping about it. Mainly because it ceases to be grooming after the first few minutes. He’s so fat and shiny that the dust just slides off. The rest of the time I am currying, brushing, toweling an already clean horse in an ongoing attempt to fill his bottomless need for affection. Let’s skip listing the grooming sessions from here on. Just assume massive amounts of attention are being being showered on the horse unless otherwise noted.

What is your horse’s favorite part of being groomed?

Retail Therapy

Work: PM1 groom & walk, 3 short loops with off-side leading for variety & the dog for distraction/PM2 groom.
Report: An easy day as a break from having to concentrate (him) & having to be patient (me). Given that, he was pushier than required. Pass but no star. The dog’s temporary barn reinstatement is hereby revoked.

Ramblings for the Day: I’ve never been one for shopping as a cure for what ails. I wait in the parking lot while hubby goes into the grocery store. If poke my nose inside, the checkout total goes up by $25 for snacks. (Yes, he cooks. Yes, I’m lucky. Very.) Clothes shopping is agony. I have friends who act as personal shoppers when I absolutely have to buy new clothes. Before the LEGO store opened, I’d go to the mega-mall once a year, maybe. Even tack stores aren’t a money sink. I’ll buy what I need, but don’t usually stray off-list. I’m talking about shopping for things when you already have way more than you could ever use. Shopping itself as a soothing activity. Nope. Not me. Can’t see it. Except for ….

I do NOT need more horse books

Books. I spend hours in bookstores. I buy books even though my to-read pile threatens to take over the house. More than one bookstore cashier knows me by sight. In any new town, I will head for the local bookstore. New project? New trip? Buy a book. While the ebook will never replace the codex in my heart. they do allow me to indulge in buying books NOW!

This year I gave up buying LEGO & books, specifically books as therapy, for Lent. This is the second year I have chosen a money-related Lenten discipline. One result is learning about my needs and weaknesses. The other result is that Easter Monday resembles a combination of Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Today’s post-Lenten splurge was on books for Rodney: horse agility, trick training, liberty work, Western trail. Anything to keep us occupied and entertained. If nothing else, a large stack of books will project a comforting illusion of progress.

Previous post on groundwork philosophy [SIT[uation]REP[ort] II],

What is your favorite horse how-to book?

Somewhat Happy Kid With a Kinda Happy Pony

Work: as yesterday, with 2 sets of weave cones.
Report: some binky (leadrope) chewing but overall pulled his socks up and went to work.

Ramblings for the Day: I had planned to complain. Even though we are making progress this spring, it is so far from what I had hoped to be doing that progress itself is often a source of despair. I even had a pun about me being a whine for all seasons.

I can’t. He did so well today. Simple, yes, but hard for him. After a good solid grooming to settle him down, I doused him thoroughly with fly spray & went out to the weave cones near the barn. We did it 4 times: starting left, starting right, swap ends and repeat. He managed to avoid both cones and fire ant hills, which put him one up on me.

Then we went way out past the far end of the ring to the second set of weave cones. I compromised and went around the ring instead of through it to avoid his reluctance to enter the ring. An issue for another day. We did another full set of weaves. A few longing gazes in the direction of the barn and one knocked-over cone but otherwise he listened and wove. I walk backwards and steer with his nose and neck as much as with his leadrope. Physical contact helps anchor him in this universe.

We only did one iteration instead of the two yesterday because a) the weave cones themselves take more concentration than the reverse poles and b) the second set are about twice as far from the barn. When we came back to the barn to repeat the first set of cones, they went so much more easily that I could feel how much more relaxed he was in this location versus working off in the far, far distance. (Okay, when I went to catch him, he was grazing even farther away. I believe that is termed Not a productive line of inquiry.)

I want to get upset and rage about all the shows we could be doing, but he tried so hard and he listened so well today. If I slow down and see things from his point of view, I can see the effort he puts into trying to understand and trying to do it right. How can I get mad at that?

What are your spring plans?

Going To The Dogs

Work: PM1 grooming, exercise [reverse poles – hither & yon]/PM2 grooming.
Report: one set of poles near the barn, another set in the middle of the field. The only variable was the distance from the barn. It was subtle but I think he walked more confidently the second time we headed out.

Ramblings for the Day: In an effort to find Basset Hound breeders in our area, we hauled ourselves out of bed this am in time make the first class of the day. Unfortunately, two Bassets were entered but none showed up. Before anyone asks, yes we have tried Basset Rescue. In two states. Many of the dogs are senior. Abby lived to be 17. We were hoping to put off replaying the special joys of a seriously senior dog for a few years. Another situation felt morally correct but legally dicey. We even offered to adopted a bonded pair. The sister was cool but the brother need a quiet, stress-free household. So not us.

Revved up animals. People in show clothes. Traffic jams at the ingate. Grooming areas that smell of shampoo. Announcers over the loudspeaker. Ring stewards looking for entries. Judges. Ribbons. Vendors. A dog show feels a lot like a horse show.

We are short of our arbitrarily imposed pet limits by one dog, two cats, and one horse. Stray cats have stopped coming up our driveway. I don’t begin to know how to start shopping for a third horse. And now we can’t even look at Bassets much less find one to adopt. Although I am an advertised cat person [Barn Dogs], I hoped that bringing in a dog might uncork whatever karmic blockage is keeping us from filling our household vacancies.

Do you speak cat &/or dog &/or horse?

Foto Friday: April Showers

Work: ? Plans big. Motivation low. Day not over.

Ramblings: One from the archives during a trip to Saratoga in 2008.

Bloggers are ever on the alert for what The Flirty Blog calls “bloggable moments”. Having generated trunkloads of text over the years, I adapted quickly to twisting bits of my life into posts [First Draft]. Seeing events as potential photographs comes less easily. Hence the trip down memory lane.

What is the most amusing barn decoration you have encountered?

More Tiny Rays of Hope?

Work: day off. Rain.

Ramblings for the Day: Three new exercises introduced this week.
Obstacle Course
On Saturday, hubby suggested that we break up the laps of our walk with the weave cones or the reverse poles as we passed them. This went so well that on Sunday we created a second set of exercises and sprinkled them around the edge of the pasture. The idea is that just walking along gives Rodney too much time to fret, so instead he has the exercises on which to focus. You could see him getting to the weave cones or reverse poles and thinking, Ah yes, I know what to do here. He ended his walk on Sunday more relaxed than he ended the day before. Which of course was the whole point of teaching him such terribly simple exercises in the first place. It’s nice when a plan comes together.

Jog In Hand (jih)
If we ever event, we will both need to get fit. I’d like to have the option of doing trots sets on foot to mix up the routine. Plus, it’s new and weird and different without involving a saddle or bridle.

Cloverleaf Circles (clcr)
As part of the obstacle course, we (me, hubby & tractor) set four standards a square. We (me & horse) walk in through the middle, turn left, circle around a standard, walk through, turn left, circle, proceed until done, repeat to the right. As with the weave cones, the idea is to get him used to shifting his bulk. He got the idea after the first trip through, although there was a definite barnward bulge to the circles.

Three simple exercises may not seem like much to us, but that’s a lot for an herbivore. Swift processing of new ideas is not a required skill when your survival imperatives are Eat Grass & Run Away. Granted I have met clever horses but Rodney’s virtues lie in other directions. In general, Thoroughbreds were not genetically selected to maximize their problem-solving abilities. In specific, we have found that Rodney gets his knickers in a twist if too much comes at him too fast. Using his definition of what constitutes too much and how much is too fast.

Your horse: Clever Hans or otherwise gifted?