Little green bucket

Head down. It works. Really.

Lynda reminded me at Aprilfest how important it is to be able to bring your horse's head right down.  Engage the parasympathetic system. No more flight response. Breathe. Focus. Be still.

Sonja reminded me of this again today at our early morning lesson.  She set up a bunch of little green buckets in the sand ring. The same buckets we use for therapy lessons, when we try to drop toys in the buckets as we walk by.

The buckets were upside down this time, masquerading as cones. Luba was very reactive this morning. I think she needs some body work. Very tight in her poll and her usual C3. Managed to get tacked and mounted up without too much drama, but boy the sand ring was a scary place. Especially the far end of the ring that borders on the grove. Horses magically teleport from the pasture to the grove just to freak us out. Sonja says Luba sees all the gnomes and fairy folk in the grove.

So Sonja asks us to work at the scary end of the ring. Is she crazy? Maybe, but there is always a method to her madness. 

So I oblige. After a couple of minutes, she directs us back to the safe end of the ring, that is even safer now that we have forced ourselves to gaze into the depths of the grove.

My instructions are to walk patterns and when we come to a green bucket, stop. We do this, and I also ask Luba to put her head down (from the saddle). Before long this has become a game. Walk to the bucket and touch it with her nose. Nibble it. Push it over. 

We calmly walk around.  We trot around. We stop and stand quietly by the bucket.  

Even at the end of the ring by the grove.

Safe by the bucket. 

Safe in a circle. 

Click to see the video from the Spiderwick Chronicles "Safe in a circle".

I think I will pack a little green bucket for our trip to Cayuse Canter this weekend. Maybe even two :)

Alone and Unafraid - the Sequel

After riding with my Fairy Godmother and Yellowhead in the 12 mile Bronze Set Speed on Saturday, Luba and I set out to ride as fast as we could in the 25 on Sunday.

Alone and Unfraid on the trail.

Quick stop to enjoy the view.

Luba and I are much bolder alone together than we were last year at the Stormont 75. We cantered as much as we could, slowing down for the up and down hills. On the second loop, Luba started dogging it a bit. On the advice of Fairy Godmother, I used the HRM. If she was dogging it at 109 bpm, I urged her on. If she was dogging it at 165, we slowed down to a trot to recover.

Smiling our way to the finish line of the 25
photo: wendywebbphotography.com

We finished strong, and Luba's heart rate 30 minutes after finishing was 38. Even though our average speed was only 7.5 mph, her great recovery earned us a Grade 1 in the Gold level Set Speed event.

Luba after over 8 hours of trailering and over 40 miles of deep sandy hilly trail. 

Luba settled quite well into the rhythm of the new ride season. I was able to point her on the trailer to travel to Lynda's.  She happily loaded onto her big stock trailer for the 7 hour trip to ridecamp. She was a bit tucked up when we arrived, but ate and drank well after a little 5 mile stretch out ride on Friday.

She was a bit excited about initial vetting on Saturday, so Lynda reminded me to ask her to bring her head down every time she started to get wound up. It works!!

I was agressive with the Perform and Win and used Equisel-Lyte, which has more magnesium, calcium, potassium than PnW and also has BCAAs. She ate and drank like a champ all weekend.

Can you spot Mama bird on her nest at the base of the tree? I think it is a Wilson's Snipe. She was alone and unafraid, even though the paddocks for the horses were set up close by. Well camouflaged with 4 eggs to keep warm.
 Are you my mother?

We arrived back at Lynda's before the horse trailer turned into a pumpkin on Sunday. I opted to stay the night and load up early next morning. Luba likes it at Fairy Godmother's farm, and did not point and load the first try. I was on my own, so I just kept asking her to put her head down and walk on.  I reminded her that we had all day to get on the trailer. After about 20 minutes she got on. So I asked her off, and loaded a couple more times before putting up the butt bar and closing the door.

Alone and Unafraid on the trailer

Happy to be at home with the herd on Monday morning.