A little jump!
I was so ready to get to the barn tonight. I don’t know why, but it seemed like a really long time since I had seen Lola.
Sarah was feeding when I got to the barn, so I hung out in Lola’s stall with her and rubbed and scratched her while she ate. She didn’t seem to mind until I tried to clean out her feet. She was more interested in her dinner than paying attention to me. No big surprise there! I waited a bit and cleaned her feet out while she was just searching for crumbs. It took me a couple of minutes to get her attention, but eventually I succeeded.
I brushed her quickly and took her out to the ring. She was really wonderful with everything I asked of her. She and I are definitely starting to communicate. I brought up a saddle pad tonight and played the friendly game with it. She couldn’t have cared less. I rubbed it all over her head, ears, legs, neck, back, tummy, tail, etc. She was fine. I left the pad draped over her for most of the time I worked with her tonight. I kept putting it in different spots over her neck, rump, back, etc.
The only downside tonight was her obsession with the grass. The ring is sand, but there are definitely plenty of spots with grass poking through and Lola wanted to clear every last blade.
Friendly game with the carrot stick and savvy string all over, and of course my hands. I think she is actually starting to enjoy when I rub her belly, and she is definitely enjoying scratches on her rump! She let me touch her nostrils tonight, which she hadn’t done at all before, and she let me get my fingers just inside her mouth. Those have been her two worst spots, so that was big progress. I did a lot of friendly game whipping the savvy string around and really trying to make some noise with it. She trotted around me a little bit, realized nothing was really going on, and went back to trying to eat some grass. She’s basically pretty lazy.
Instead of walking her over a little cross rail tonight like I had been, I walked her over a tiny vertical, maybe a foot.high. She did her usual and hit is with three of her four feet the first couple of times. I was having her follow me around the ring at a trot and brought her back over the little jump, and she actually jumped it! It was the first time I had seen her actually jump something instead of just stumbling over it. She looked great!
I was talking to a horse trainer today, and some how I mentioned how clumsy Lola seemed over little obstacles. The trainer suggested that she isn’t really clumsy, but more lazy, and I think she is totally right. When Lola put out the effort to jump the little jump, she looked great! I think next time I go to the barn I’ll set up three of four ground poles to try her over.
Sarah gave me a fly mask to try on Lola tonight. It was a really fancy one, with ear nets, and a long, mesh part that came down over the nose. I was pretty sure there was no way she was going to let me put it on her. I played the friendly game with it, rubbing it all over her for a few minutes. I started at her face, then backed off and rubbed it all over her body, let her sniff it, then rubbed it on her legs, belly, face again, body, face again, tail, face again, etc. Finally, I rubbed her face with it and just slid it up over her ears and into position. She tossed her head a little and that was that. I actually ended up taking it off of her again because it seemed a little too big, but at least I know if I bother to go buy her one now that she’ll actually wear it, at least until she figures out how to rub it off.
My board situation is great right now. I feel very confident that Lola is getting great care, she’s looking good, acting very relaxed, and getting along with the other horses at the barn. I did start looking around at some barns this week. Not knowing the area is making me feel just a little vulnerable. I’m not planning to move anytime soon, but it would be nice to eventually have Lola closer, and I don’t think Sarah is going to want to have a boarder forever.
Yesterday I went to look at a barn about 10-15 minutes from home. It was gorgeous! There is an 8 stall main barn and two small four stall barns. The farm is on 80 acres with trails and jumps all around the property. The turnout is great. The horses get turned out together in huge pastures. There’s a jump ring and a dressage arena. Not very kid-friendly and a little expensive, but otherwise, wow! It was so pretty there. I requested to be put on the waiting list, but there are already four people ahead of me.
Today I went to see another barn. It is very close to home, maybe 10 minutes away, but probably not even. It’s a very small little place with only 7 stalls. Beautiful property with a big, grassy field to ride in, access to lots and lots of trails, a big park across the road with access to Great Bay, a nice jump arena with plenty of jumps, and board isn’t too bad. It is definitely more than I’m paying now, but not horrible. It seemed like a tight little community. In talking to the owner, she talked about going out together as a group to trail ride, hunter pace, etc. She also mentioned how everyone kind of pitches in. If she needs to be out of town for a show or clinic, there is usually a boarder to help out with stalls or feeding and in exchange she gives them a discount on board. She said she also lets boarders help out in exchange for lessons. If the people there could be tolerant of my natural horsemanship practices, we might have something! She doesn’t have any stalls available either. She does have a boarder that will be graduating from UNH and moving out at some point, but maybe not until next spring. She also has a 36 year old, blind pony.
I’m going to look at another barn tomorrow, and one more next week. I think that is all I’ll do for now, but I will keep my eyes and ears open for boarding info. It makes me feel better to know that if something happened and Sarah asked me to move out next month, at least I’d have some ideas of what was out there.
I know that some day my horse will finally stop shedding, right???
Sarah was feeding when I got to the barn, so I hung out in Lola’s stall with her and rubbed and scratched her while she ate. She didn’t seem to mind until I tried to clean out her feet. She was more interested in her dinner than paying attention to me. No big surprise there! I waited a bit and cleaned her feet out while she was just searching for crumbs. It took me a couple of minutes to get her attention, but eventually I succeeded.
I brushed her quickly and took her out to the ring. She was really wonderful with everything I asked of her. She and I are definitely starting to communicate. I brought up a saddle pad tonight and played the friendly game with it. She couldn’t have cared less. I rubbed it all over her head, ears, legs, neck, back, tummy, tail, etc. She was fine. I left the pad draped over her for most of the time I worked with her tonight. I kept putting it in different spots over her neck, rump, back, etc.
The only downside tonight was her obsession with the grass. The ring is sand, but there are definitely plenty of spots with grass poking through and Lola wanted to clear every last blade.
Friendly game with the carrot stick and savvy string all over, and of course my hands. I think she is actually starting to enjoy when I rub her belly, and she is definitely enjoying scratches on her rump! She let me touch her nostrils tonight, which she hadn’t done at all before, and she let me get my fingers just inside her mouth. Those have been her two worst spots, so that was big progress. I did a lot of friendly game whipping the savvy string around and really trying to make some noise with it. She trotted around me a little bit, realized nothing was really going on, and went back to trying to eat some grass. She’s basically pretty lazy.
Instead of walking her over a little cross rail tonight like I had been, I walked her over a tiny vertical, maybe a foot.high. She did her usual and hit is with three of her four feet the first couple of times. I was having her follow me around the ring at a trot and brought her back over the little jump, and she actually jumped it! It was the first time I had seen her actually jump something instead of just stumbling over it. She looked great!
I was talking to a horse trainer today, and some how I mentioned how clumsy Lola seemed over little obstacles. The trainer suggested that she isn’t really clumsy, but more lazy, and I think she is totally right. When Lola put out the effort to jump the little jump, she looked great! I think next time I go to the barn I’ll set up three of four ground poles to try her over.
Sarah gave me a fly mask to try on Lola tonight. It was a really fancy one, with ear nets, and a long, mesh part that came down over the nose. I was pretty sure there was no way she was going to let me put it on her. I played the friendly game with it, rubbing it all over her for a few minutes. I started at her face, then backed off and rubbed it all over her body, let her sniff it, then rubbed it on her legs, belly, face again, body, face again, tail, face again, etc. Finally, I rubbed her face with it and just slid it up over her ears and into position. She tossed her head a little and that was that. I actually ended up taking it off of her again because it seemed a little too big, but at least I know if I bother to go buy her one now that she’ll actually wear it, at least until she figures out how to rub it off.
My board situation is great right now. I feel very confident that Lola is getting great care, she’s looking good, acting very relaxed, and getting along with the other horses at the barn. I did start looking around at some barns this week. Not knowing the area is making me feel just a little vulnerable. I’m not planning to move anytime soon, but it would be nice to eventually have Lola closer, and I don’t think Sarah is going to want to have a boarder forever.
Yesterday I went to look at a barn about 10-15 minutes from home. It was gorgeous! There is an 8 stall main barn and two small four stall barns. The farm is on 80 acres with trails and jumps all around the property. The turnout is great. The horses get turned out together in huge pastures. There’s a jump ring and a dressage arena. Not very kid-friendly and a little expensive, but otherwise, wow! It was so pretty there. I requested to be put on the waiting list, but there are already four people ahead of me.
Today I went to see another barn. It is very close to home, maybe 10 minutes away, but probably not even. It’s a very small little place with only 7 stalls. Beautiful property with a big, grassy field to ride in, access to lots and lots of trails, a big park across the road with access to Great Bay, a nice jump arena with plenty of jumps, and board isn’t too bad. It is definitely more than I’m paying now, but not horrible. It seemed like a tight little community. In talking to the owner, she talked about going out together as a group to trail ride, hunter pace, etc. She also mentioned how everyone kind of pitches in. If she needs to be out of town for a show or clinic, there is usually a boarder to help out with stalls or feeding and in exchange she gives them a discount on board. She said she also lets boarders help out in exchange for lessons. If the people there could be tolerant of my natural horsemanship practices, we might have something! She doesn’t have any stalls available either. She does have a boarder that will be graduating from UNH and moving out at some point, but maybe not until next spring. She also has a 36 year old, blind pony.
I’m going to look at another barn tomorrow, and one more next week. I think that is all I’ll do for now, but I will keep my eyes and ears open for boarding info. It makes me feel better to know that if something happened and Sarah asked me to move out next month, at least I’d have some ideas of what was out there.
I know that some day my horse will finally stop shedding, right???
posted by Lisa @ 11:44 PM
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