Back To Work

Abner has been leased by the neighbor, who is in middle school.  Although she has fun with him (and he seems happy), I feel bad that he isn't being worked as much. (She mainly does trail riding, but Abner does dressage.)  I have been making the effort to come out and work with him a little bit, and he is doing great!

He has picked up a habit of trying to pull the reins out of his rider's hands, which I assume is coming from being ridden by a girl who weighs maybe 90 pounds.  We ruled out any "pain", so I know he's mainly doing it because she allows it.  I showed her how to keep her hands still, instead of pulling back or just letting go of the reins- now that Abner realizes she isn't going to allow it, he has gotten a lot better. 

Aby and I have been doing a lot of trot work to keep our joints moving freely; we also are not quite ready to do work at the canter yet.  I have been riding in the rope halter when we just play, and he seems to like it.  He has been extra responsive lately, too.  If I am short on time, I don't even tack up, just ride bareback, and he doesn't behave any differently than if he had a saddle on.

Just wanted to post a quick update! I'll try to grab some pictures of him soon.

An "unrelated to Abner" post

So I just needed somewhere to brag!

I have been trying to lose weight so that I can fit into most of my riding gear.  Well, I tried on my tall boots from about 3 years ago-  they ALMOST fit!  I could zip them a little more than halfway up, and if I lose another inch off my calves they will be a perfect fit!

I was so worried that I'd have to buy new boots or half-chaps, but now I don't have to worry!  Hopefully they will fit as soon as the weather is better so that Abner and I can really start working again.

the story of my day....

I think I'll let Abner tell this one, I'm sure he can give you a better perspective.

Today, the crazy lady who has been taking care of me came to the farm with a mission.  She had a camera around her neck, and she groomed me like we were going somewhere fancy, or like the vet was coming to do a checkup.  Obviously, I was a little nervous about this.  I let her know by pretending I was going to kick her when she sprayed some white touchup spray on my legs- but I could tell she has caught on to this trick, because she just told me to "cut it out".

She cleaned my bridle and put it on me- riding? in this snow?  I told you she was a crazy lady.  I got even more nervous when she took out the lunge line, has she never been outside before? 

Well, I think she figured out that it was too icy to lunge as soon as she walked into the pasture, so I thought I was done!  A perfect day's work, in my opinion- getting groomed, all my itchy spots scratched, then turned out.... but not even close.  She made me pose in the most embarrassing poses to get pictures of me, at one point she was sitting on the ground in front of me... doesn't she know I am a dangerous, wild animal?!  She should be more careful.  I let her know THAT by trotting away from her with my bridle on, to show her that we were DONE taking pictures.  Gosh, I always have to teach that human so many lessons- you'd THINK she would catch on by now, right?

Finally, after taking many pictures, she let me go.  I walked out and rolled, just to show her who is boss.  I know she was upset that I ruined my grooming, but at least I didn't pick the muddy spot in the pasture like I normally do.


Well, here are a couple of the pictures.  They didn't turn out TOO badly, but I made faces in some of them.

I am also growing a mohawk.  The crazy lady laughs and says it looks badass, but let's see who is laughing once I live up to it...

Awesome trot work today!

I went out to work Abner today, who was a total mess.  I spent about 30 minutes trying to clean him up, and finally got most of the mud/dirt off of him. I put him on the lunge line and he was AWESOME! He was very full of himself, but for good reason! He did an amazing extended trot, his headset was very nice.  (This extended trot was totally unasked for- he felt good enough to do it himself!)

Tried to take a video, but my phone was dying. :(  I'll try to take one when I see him tomorrow.

We also did a little bit of walk work, practicing going through "weird" things without running/jumping/becoming upset.  It took a couple tries to get him going over the tiny puddles (for all he knows, they could be neverending!) without panicking, but he quickly got over it.  We did a little bit of hill work too, but I didn't want to overdo it.

I was so proud of him today!  He got a good grooming after his workout as well. :) 

Seems the other blog got deleted... but we're back!

Since I recently got my driver's license, Abner has been put back into work.  He has been doing great!  He loves the grooming before and after our workouts, as well as the treats!

We started our workout yesterday with a little bit of walking on a loose rein.  I rode him yesterday because it was too cold for me to stand still and lunge him, and I was worried about him slipping and falling in the snow.

After a warm up, we did a bigger, more collected walk.  I actually saw a glimpse of the dressage horse he used to be!  He was a little stiff at first, but after a few minutes it went away.  We practiced turning, stopping, and listening to my leg telling him to move closer to the fence. 

At the end of the workout, we did a little bit of trotting, which seemed to loosen him up.  He wanted to run- even threw in a canter stride or 2. 

I have been riding him bareback because we're not doing too much work, and I need the exercise and practice of keeping my leg tight- I am determined to fit into my half chaps again!