I was out working with the new excercising prospect "Cowboy" yesterday. After lunging him, the daughter (Natalie) got on him in a western saddle.
hmmm.
He looked like he was limping on his front inside leg...
yup. he was giving to it.
"alright, Nat. he's lame. we should probably call it quits."
She jumped off, and I suggested to her not to turn him out the next day.
I'm not sure if her horse lame before, (she's so cute) because of the way she acted when I told her...(but then again, she HAS to know.)
Then her mom came into the barn and I told her that Cowboy was lame, right away she asked: "should I call the vet?"
I told her a little about what it is, and how important it was that he doesn't get turned out in the mud because he can really hurt himself, to check him at a walk today to see if it was any better, or if it was worse.
Did he go lame because he didn't want to be ridden? he was looking fine on the lunge...beside being stiff
or did he go lame because of me lunging him? The areana area of their barn is only a little bigger than a 20m circle, could it be the bending?
I wish I had a good trainer to ask for advice. Beside getting food for thought about this kind of stuff, I want to ask questions about hunter/jumper stuff, it's different than the dressage, and I don't want to have Natalie's trainer who she talks lessons from once a week, telling them that something I said is bull. I was going to sit in on her lesson, but I have to work. ugh.
I think I'm going to try and find a place to take a hunter lesson once a week. Maybe that would be the easiest thing to do.
however, FINDING a good hunter coach around HERE is another story...
Thursday, May 05, 2005
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I have been thinking about suppling all day and thinking about Cowboy... I read recently that people are supposed to warm up the muscles before stretching because it is safer and more beneficil to the muscles so this must be true also for horses. I have been getting much better strecthing and bending from Oakley recently by bending from the seat. Maybe this is elementary but it was a real AHA for me. My teacher said, "Bend him!!! Use your seat!" and I just was not able to do it so she explained it as starting in the seatbone. Move the seatbone closer to the center of the saddle and then close the leg from the hip downwards so the last thing you need is the ankle. So I have been walking around the arena in serpentines, little itty bitty ones and changing the bend on straight lines, say, at every letter. This is hard for a green stiff horse to GET. They try to steer and move their feet to follow the bend so you have to hold them on your track. This will be hard for him so go slowly and reward him. I apologize if this is not quite what you are looking for in suppling him. I don't know any other exercises really, just establish a good rhythm and then ask him to bend a little on curving lines and on straight.
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