Maddy, Amanda, and I have all been working together to keep Lucy in consistent work so that she doesn't go through another episode like she did after Christmas. Maddy has been riding a few nights a week and trying new (and IMO insane) things like letting Lucy trot around with the reins looped over the horn of the saddle. Brave girl!! Amazingly, Lucy really responded to this and Maddy reported that she trotted around with her head down just cruising along.
Amanda has been doing a ton of GREAT groundwork with Lucy and then switching it off with under saddle work. One thing she has done that I think has helped Lucy a lot is to start off with groundwork, then ride for 20 minutes, then get off and do some more groundwork, then get back on and ride some more. Without meaning to, I had Lucy conditioned to think that 30 minutes of work was the absolute MAX she could handle, and god forbid you stood in the middle of the ring with her to let someone jump a course or something; she thought she was done and if you tried to make her go back to work, she was very unhappy about it!
All of these issues are slowly resolving themselves and Lucy is a much happier horse when she has a consistent job so I am very grateful that Amanda and Maddy are both putting in so much time and effort to keep her going.
Last night Maddy organized a trail/versatility training night at the barn. She set up a whole bunch of different obstacles and everyone got to try them out. Lucy and Amanda did so well! Lucy had seen a lot of the same obstacles before, but not for a long time, so I was pleased she remembered them and behaved herself.
She even wore a hat!
Going over the tarp: no problem!
Going over the dark cloth rug caused all of the horses to take pause and Lucy was quite scared of it at first. Once she got to sniff it all over and look at it from every angle, she walked on it, and then Amanda was able to ride her over it.
Good GRIEF. I promise I will get my flu shot from now on because yikes does the flu suck. I have been absolutely out of commission since last Wednesday, which means that Lucy has sat and done nothing! Of course, the theme of Winter 2012-2013 is "Get Back Into Work, Then Take Another Long Break".
My lungs still can't handle the cold air really well, but I was going so crazy sitting at home that this afternoon I went and tried ground driving her for the very first time! I was really excited to try this. I have wanted to do it for a while and finally bought the long lines recently.
Lucy was so chill about the whole thing, I wondered for a split second if someone had done it with her before. But then I remembered the state she was in when I got her and realised that there was basically no way she had been exposed to this before I bought her.
Within ten minutes she was walking, trotting, turning in both directions, stopping, backing up, and starting to go around on the bit. We stopped at that point to end on a really good note! I was thrilled.
She's enjoyed her vacation. I know this because I could hardly get the surcingle done up. Fattie!
I had a great ride on Thursday. Lucy warmed up nice and long/low on a loose rein, but when I picked up some contact she got a bit self-righteous about it and gave me the mare face. Below is a video that shows the progression in just a few short minutes from "hell no" to "I'll consider it" to "ok that sounds good!" I think this video, which is unedited, shows her growing up big time. After working on the flat, we jumped around a bit and I was really pleased that she was able to keep it together to canter up the little step into the ring and then go straight to a jump just a few strides out. I like to keep her thinking about what is coming next so that she doesn't lose focus. You can see her wanting to get silly after the pile of logs, but I kept my leg on her and didn't let her pull the reins out of my hands (hence the head tossing), and looked forward to the next challenge (in this case the step). Once she realised it wasn't play time and she needed to pay attention, she was good to go!
Lucy might be used for a clinic in October that focuses a lot on groundwork, so before tomorrow's wedding I am going to tune her up a bit on the ground and we will incorporate some groundwork into each of our rides from now til then. Here's some video from today, first of her getting some energy out in the indoor and then of going through some basic groundwork:
Next weekend, we have a hunter pace on Sunday and then I signed up for Valinor Farm's fall schooling horse trials on Columbus Day (Monday Sept. 8). I can't wait! We are going to do Elementary again and I just hope we have a safe and solid day. I don't expect ribbons but I do expect to complete all three phases. We need to do some brushing up on our dressage test and the hunter pace will act as an XC school to get us in gear.
While we wait for Lucy's mouth to heal, I've been working with her a lot on the ground. Boring, right?
not boring :)
She has progressed enough that I can send her over jumps, through two obstacles (so between a tree and a rock or something similar), into water, and down the steps.
first I led her up and down the steps
and then I was able to send her down
jumping the log pile, and you can see here how I use my hand/arm
to show her where I want her to go.
after finishing up, I went for a walk with Cairo and Lucy on the trails
the trails go to a lake with a nice boat launch. I can't wait to take her swimming
once the weather warms up!
On Thursday, before I rode, I went through all of the groundwork lessons that Maddy had taught me earlier in the week. I tacked Lu up with her saddle but left the rope halter on instead of putting on her bridle, and we did a bit of lunging/space awareness work (my own term, not something I found on the internet) and I hoped that would set the tone for the whole ride.
Lucy was so quiet under saddle that I could not believe it! When we were warming up, I was up in my halfseat letting her canter along and it was the closest to a "relaxed hunter stride" I think we've ever had. She was rating herself with just the occasional half-halt on the outside rein from me (usually around the corner). Was she just in a good mood, or did she really learn something from the work on the ground? I don't know, but I wasn't arguing! Here are some videos:
Lucy was a HUGE brat during our ride on Monday. Long story short, there was another horse being ridden in the ring when I was in there. Lucy has made it quite clear she hates this particular horse. She pins her ears at him and gives him a nasty look whenever he's around. We were coexisting fine until she randomly flew backward at him from a standstill with the intent to kick him...WHILE I was riding!!!!
The long version:
Lucy is stalled next to a chestnut QH in the barn and she absolutely despises him. She barely missed kicking him when he got too close to her hind end while out on a trail ride, and since then she has had it out for him.
As I said, Lucy and this QH were giving each other the stink eye the entire time we were riding on Monday night. She reacted when he picked up the canter, and every time he would pass her, though he gave her a wide berth, she pinned her ears flat against her head and got visibly upset. Finally I just chose to stand in the middle of the ring while the girl riding him cantered. Well, everything was ok until she got around the far corner where we were standing. Lucy tracked him with her head/eyes as he rounded the corner, and when he got closer to her she pinned her ears and RAN backwards at him, legs flailing and everything. He responded by spinning around so his hindquarters were aiming right at her. I yelled "NO!" and yanked her head around in a one-rein stop hoping to get some control of her hindquarters so she couldn't kick him. It was really scary. They didn't make contact but I was so shaken up that I made Lucy do a few more minutes of work so she didn't think she could act like that and then be done, and then I took her back to the barn. I was really mad at her but I was completely at a loss as to how to show her that, short of beating the you-know-what out of her, which obviously wouldn't be constructive.
Her dinner was waiting in her stall and again, I didn't want to just put her away and let her think she could eat dinner after acting like that, so I made her stand in her stall with her dinner right there and I did ground work with her. She was so good and so quiet and obedient. The aggression had completely disappeared and she had a soft look in her eye.
I am lucky that my friend whom I board with is really excellent at working horses on the ground and establishing boundaries. She's an excellent rider, too, but I really admire her skills working with horses in hand.
Here's a video, showing my friend working with Lucy first, and then I give it a shot halfway through:
Just compare Lucy's body language in the beginning to the video to how she is acting when my friend's part ends. She's actually trying to do what my friend wants, instead of automatically tossing her the equine bird before my friend even finishes the request.
I hope this ground work will translate to having a better handle on Lucy's feet under saddle. I also hope she never tries to attack another horse with me on board again.
