India and I went to visit Jim in Dooly County today and although it didn't turn out like I hoped, it turned out better than I feared it might. You see, we didn't take much of a ride because she lost her brain. However, no one got hurt, I didn't get thrown, India didn't run away with me, she loaded in the trailer decently well (but still with room for improvement) and there were no flat tires going or coming back. So, yeah, in the WIN category, but I didn't get the ride I wanted.
I took Babe along with us to give India a steady presence in the trailer and that she did, but I forgot that Babe tends to freak out herself in a new place if she's put in a pen and left to her own devices and that's what happened. The flake of hay that Jim tossed her distracted her momentarily, but then she'd remember that she was OMG!Allalone! and whinny, calling for India. India took this pretty well, but occasionally would whinny back. So, when I take her to JoAnna's this coming Saturday, I will leave Babe behind.
I put India in Jim's round pen when we first got there and she was fascinated with the old horse poop that was on the ground, sniffing it to see who had been there. After a few minutes, I put the rope halter on and asked her to do some ground work and she did pretty well. I still don't do it as well as Jenny does it, but India did work on flexing and backing without stiffness and after a few minutes, I checked her spine for softness by grabbing her tail and seeing how loose it was and how easy it was to move it around and it was pretty soft, so I tacked her up. She was being very good about it as I slowly eased up her girth, even when Babe would cry out.
We rode in the round pen for about 10 minutes while Jim was tacking up Danny. She immediately picked up a trot and I concentrated on softness, contact, leg yielding, and my breathing and sitting up tall. I was rewarded with a lovely, forward trot where she reached through the bridle and used her back end. She also responded to my weight shifts and gave me several downward transitions where she slowed just by my sitting deeper and back with no rein needed. We serpentined and constantly changed direction, which is inevitable in a small round pen. We finished with a lovely turn on the forehand and then I got off, opened the gate of the round pen (unlike Katie's which can easily be opened while on horseback, this one can't; different latch system) and led India over to Jim's gorgeous, humongous mounting block. We'd already walked over and sniffed it after first unloading, so India walked calmly up and let me get on.
While Jim finished tacking up, I asked India to walk around the mounting block and she did so calmly and then stopped and stood nicely. When Jim was ready to head out, we went down the drive towards the road. My intention was to ride past the pecan orchard and if lucky, all the way to the dirt road several acres away.
My luck ran out before we made it out of the front yard as Prince and Spats (The Horse Formally Known as Finn S ;) came tearing around their barn at full speed and India was so startled that she jumped sideways and spun. Thankfully, I had no trouble sitting it, but India was now on HIGH ALERT and was not going to walk forward calmly at all. Jim and Danny were already crossing the road and India began to have a small melt down. Thankfully, Jim heard me call out to him and he turned Danny around and brought him back. India gave Spats and Prince the hairy eyeball and with Danny as security, continued down the drive. All good as we crossed the road, but then we got just past the pecan orchard and the field opened up and India stared at all that wide open space covered with dirt and refused to walk forward. She wanted to go back to the trailer. Meanwhile, Danny was giving Jim fits about heading out and started to jig, so I asked that we call time out and just stand for a bit, regroup and try forward movement again.
Success, if forward movement is counted as walking a serpentine, but not success if forward means tracking straight. India was having none of tracking forward and was getting increasingly upset.
I pick my battles carefully. So far all she'd done was spin and leap sideways; there had been no offering to take her front feet off the ground and she never felt like she was coiling up for a buck, so that's all for the good. I decided that if I could get India to move forward just a stride or two, we'd call it a win and head back to the trailer and it's as though she read my mind. India walked forward, albeit with a bit of a bend, I asked her to halt, she did, we stood still for 5 seconds and then I turned her around. She was happy to head back and so was Danny, who was being inexplicably squirrely.
So, back across the road and Danny stayed near as we walked past Spats and Prince, who were still acting like silly gits, which means acting like the young horses that they are, and back to the mounting block. While Jim rode over to the large field with small logs to jump and trotted Danny around, I asked India to stand at a distance and watch, which she did just beautifully. After about five minutes, Jim came back over and I had him take the picture above (double click on it to open it larger) and he did and then I dismounted and took POTU back to the round pen, where I untacked her. She was a good sport about that.
Heading home, she decided that she did not want to get in the trailer again, but I made her move her feet and on about the third try, she loaded. I had Babe tied to the side of the trailer so I quickly put her in and off we went, back to Jones County. They both were very good horses for the trailer ride and also stood quietly in it when I stopped at Old Clinton BBQ on the way home. I was so hungry as I'd not had anything other than a bag of Chex mix at Jim's since I'd eaten my oatmeal at 7:30 a.m., so I was starving.
When I got them back to Wayside Farm, all the other horses were standing at the gate watching us unload. After taking Babe off first, I tied her to the side of the trailer while I got India off. She went directly into the field and Filena and Windy walked right up to her and you could see them asking her where the heck she'd been and what she'd been doing. When I put Babe in, she found Asia and told her about her big adventure and then Filena noticed them and had to chase them around the barn at a trot to prove that she's in charge. The circled once and then Filena was satisfied.
Do I wish it had been different? Yeah, of course. I wish India had been a rock star and headed confidently through the field, but hey, realistically, I'm not too surprised and even pleased with a number of things she did well. She may look like a pretty bay, but if you had your x-ray glasses on, you'd see that she's really GREEN. But she didn't completely lose her brain, she didn't buck, she didn't rear, she stood quietly and observed Danny trot around the jumps, she trailered really well. That's all good. As for the ride itself, well, she's not very experienced and I've learned with horses that patience is the key. Give them enough time and you can get what you want. India just needs more time.
Stay tuned as we've got more rides to come. :0)
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