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Happy Easter!

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Hope everyone has enjoyed their bank holiday weekend, and  taken full advantage of the chocolate and sweets that tend to be associated with holidays like this!

I lied...

...I said I would post a video of Cadence being a wingnut, and I just haven't had the chance.  She's doing wll though, and on Friday we cantered again.  Her canter was good (though she bucked when we cantered left.  I REALLY hope she hasn't realized she can buck- I want to keep her using that nice short back of hers for good, not evil) but she was a little frazzled... or as some may refer to it: insane... after the canter.

Today's ride was a little more challenging, because whilst we were having our lesson (in the outdoor) the people who own the farm were taking their pool down.  Oh, and there was a horse eating death machine wood chipper parked near the ring.  Which was naturally tantrum worthy.  The lesson went well though, and allowed us to put some meaningful corrections in place.  Afterward, Cadence got bathed, trimmed, clipped, and shined within an inch of her life.  After shampooing, brushing, show-sheening, and braiding her tail, I turned the mare back out.  HOPEFULLY I'll return to a happy, healthy, not sore mare with a gorgeous tail on Monday.  In reality, she'll probably be sore and have rubbed her tail into smithereens.  Chances are I'll probably give in to temptation and go take her tail out tomorrow when our Easter company leaves.

In other news, I managed to break my foot Thursday night.  I broke my 5th metatarsal on my right foot getting into a fight wit the door-frame.  My foot came out a lot worse than the door-frame, unfortunately!  I thought I'd just burst a blood vessel, but when I mentioned this to my dad (who is an emerge doc) and asked him to take a look at it, he informed me I'd broken the bone.  Apparently its pretty easy to do.  It didn't hurt that badly... and was fine with only a wee tiny bit of pain when I walked on it.  However, over the past 2 days I've ridden 5 times & spent a lot of time on my feet.  Apparently, the bone doesn't like that and is now much more sore.  Ah well, it has tomorrow to heal, & I only have one horse Monday.

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.

Stages of Procrastination

Sometimes it feels like this is the story of my life...

P.s. if anyone has a degree in music history, want to help me write about the influences of the church in baroque versus classical music?  I'd sure appreciate it...