Today was the first time I have gotten launched since moving to my current barn, which was back in January. I think that's a pretty good stretch of time! Best part was that it was in the field, and we were having a nice gallop when she got a little excited, and started hopping through the air, and it was like riding a trampoline. I more or less got bounced right out of the tack and I landed on my FEET! I think that's only happened once or twice before. It was totally awesome. I felt very ninja like! The not so awesome part was that she spun around and galloped away from me, toward home, throwing in MASSIVE bucks as she hauled a** back to the barn. Kenny had come out to take photos for me and he was closer to the front of the field, so I called him to let him know that Lucy was heading in that direction. Unfortunately she had already gotten past him and was heading out to the road. She galloped down the main road toward the barn (WHY didn't she go down the trail?!? she has never even been ridden on that road!!) and of course it caused a huge ruckus with traffic. The police were called and someone managed to corral her into a large parking lot on the side of the road, by blocking the road with his car. Kenny was right behind the horse (he took the motorcycle to the field) and caught her and held her for me since I was on foot walking to the parking lot where she was.
Anyway, long story short, she's fine, I'm fine, a cop showed up and we explained what happened. Never a dull moment!
When I got back to the barn, I tied Lucy to the barn while I cleaned her stall and fed the other horses, then I worked with her on the ground for about 25 minutes. I didn't want her to think she could be naughty and then come home and get fed.
At least before I got tossed, we had a great ride. I spent about an hour and a half out in the field yesterday building some new jumps, and today we tried them all out.
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| mini tantrum after the first jump. she was just really excited! |
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| "I love you despite your craziness" |
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I had to get off to fix a part of the jump - she was very good about
standing there quietly while I worked. |
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these two jumps worked out to be a perfect two strides apart. we had a
lot of fun jumping them as a line! |
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she was unsure about this jump, just a pile of rocks with a thick branch
over the top. |
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| with a nice, confident ride to the base, however, she jumped it fine. |
Ok - not going to lie, the cop thing made me smile but I'm glad everyone is ok. Love the pics - you guys look like you're having tons of fun!
ReplyDeletethe best part was when I was standing talking to the cop, and holding Lucy. She was being pushy, wanting to go home. She gave me a good shove with her head and caught me right in the face, so I turned around and smacked her...right in front of the cop. He stopped talking and looked at me with a shocked look on his face! Leave it up to me to smack my horse in front of a cop!
DeleteLove how rustic the jumps are. They are like real life cross country jumps. What a brave mare.
ReplyDeletethanks - I hauled all of the wood out of the forest by myself, so they are about as rustic as you can get!
DeleteI love how she gapes at the jump between her knees. Those ones are my favorite pics.
ReplyDeleteshe is really silly :)
DeleteAnd the cops? What a day!
ReplyDeleteno good Lucy story is complete without the cops being involved.
DeleteGirl you are brave!!!
ReplyDeleteSo glad everyone was ok and that maybe you got a little chuckle...
I do tend to laugh about these things. if I didn't, I'd have a meltdown!
DeleteWow, I've never managed to land on my feet from a fall. Consider me impressed!
ReplyDeleteOMG! I get scared just reading about your adventures with Lucy!!!
ReplyDeleteJeez! What a crazy incident-so glad no one was hurt! Lucy keeps people on their toes, that is for sure :)
ReplyDeleteNice looking natural jumps, love the rock/branch one
Hi! I stumbled upon your blog while doing a Google search. What a great blog - your horse is beautiful, and you seem like a very conscientious horse owner.
ReplyDeleteI was doing a search on Gastrogard, as we just started my mare on it a little over a week ago. So far she seems quieter in the pasture, but she still has a big spook under saddle. I saw that you also treated your horse and saw a change in demeanor, but it took a little longer to see a result under saddle. How long would you say it took? After the full treatment (did you do four weeks?), did you see a big difference? Do you keep your horse on any type of ulcer maintenance now?
Thanks and good luck with your horse! :)
Hi Spooky Pony,
DeleteIt's hard to say how long it took GG to actually have an effect under saddle, because I was unknowingly riding in a saddle that didn't fit Lucy well. So some of her issues probably stemmed from the ulcers, but others may have come from pain associated with saddle fit. Once I got a new saddle for her and had it professionally fitted, I saw a HUGE difference. I did the full 4 weeks of GG treatment and by the end of it, she was feeling much better. I went from getting thrown about once a week to only once a month, which sadly I was thrilled with! haha. She didn't turn into a miracle angel horse overnight - she was still a young, fit TB mare with an attitude problem, but she seemed a lot happier.
She has been on TractGard ever since finishing the treatment, and she gets free choice hay. If she goes anywhere (show, event, anywhere involving trailering, etc), she gets a tube of UlcerGard as a preventative measure.
Thanks for replying! Yes, it's so hard to know with these animals what exactly is bothering them. Glad your mare improved on the GastroGard, and I've heard some other good reviews on TractGard. I'm really hoping the GG will help my mare's spooking problem. Thanks again!
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