Calm to Crazy

That pretty much sums up my past two rides on The MAre.  Sunday Cadence's old owner came down to see her baby, and we had a lovely visit.  Cadence was calm, relaxed, and light in the contact.  Yippee!  I took the clammer out about half way through the ride, and Cadence carried on as if nothing had changed... just as light and soft (and calm!) as before.  Just the results we were hoping for.  Our rehab schedule said 20 minutes of w/t in frame, no collection.  She seemed to handle everything well, and the back still seems to be in good shape.

Today was a different story.  We were aiming for 30 minutes of w/t today, heavy on the walk.  It was gorgeous and warm out, and there was a lesson going on in the arena (with a horse that Cadence doesn't get on well with) so we decided to ride outside.  Seems like a good decision, but just before I hopped on the hay truck pulled in.  The hay truck is a big pickup (loaded up with hay) towing a big (HUGE) red trailer... also loaded up with hay.  The mare thought this was terrifying, and spent 10 minutes trying to trample me & perfecting her piaffe spooking.  Then when we'd regained some semblance of control we went out & circled the rig.  She happily munched hay straight from the trailer, but was still strong & jumpy.  We headed back into the ring & mounted up.  The first 10 minutes were spent attempting to walk (and failing miserably...) then when we'd gotten 10 steps in a row, we tried the trot.  Essentially, the whole ride was spent trying to calm her down and get her head 'back in the game'.  Unfortunately, when trying to wind down a hot headed energetic youngster while staying with in the confines of your rehab schedule, it rarely works.  She was evading me by curling up (which she has only done once or twice before... ) tossing her head, grabbing the bit (I was glad I had the clammer) and barging off into the trot or canter.  It was frustrating to go from having such good productive rides on Saturday and Sunday to this, but I know that this was not my mare & this was just one of those days.  Hopefully tomorrow I'll have my calm, light, sensitive, relaxed mare back.

Unfortunately, after Sunday's superb ride I decided to bring out the video camera.  I'll post the footage tomorrow probably, and you can judge for yourself.