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May. 24th, 2007 07:47 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
which_chickHorse outing last night went well. Horse is again getting more difficult to catch, which means I need to spend more time doing nice things for her. Maybe tonight we'll go stand on tall grass again. She seems to like that. (The field grass is short and nibbled-over. The roadside grass is hay-length.)
I lost a bootie, which was annoying. The booties cost forty-five dollars each. I'm hoping we can recover it on another ride since it was along paths that we use a lot.
Howie (one of the summer people) was driving by and the IRH blew up, which is par for the course, so instead of obeying my "Keep going, please" shouted instructions, he just sits there. Eventually he turns the engine off. This is not really helpful. If he'd slow down to about ten mph and just drive on by whether or not it looked like I was dying, things would be fine. So I got off the horse and led her stupid arse up to the car and said to Howie that he could go on and that actually, no matter what it looks like, he should just drive by at about ten miles an hour. He allowed as how he didn't think I was in control. Meh. Y'know, you can tell for sure when I'm not in control because that's when I'm not on top of the horse anymore and she's running into the next county, tail flying and bucking as she goes. (I didn't say that part.)
I think I'm coming down with something -- either that or it's allergies. Head is all tight and stuffy and I cadnt breave fru by doze. Cass inquired as to what she should do if I was too sick to ride the horse. I said I would not get that sick.
But in all, it was still a nice horse outing. Trailer driving is getting easier or at least less terrifying. The weather was nice. We got a stethoscope (fifteen bucks in hot pink at Walnut Medical) and tried to hear heartbeats on horses. This is not as easy as it looks but it is a LOT easier after you trot said horses up Ray's Hill and try again at the summit. Then you can hear the heartbeat standing five feet away. (Not really, but almost.) I'm still working on hearing at-rest heatbeats. Also, we need an expendable watch with a second hand. (Note to self.)
Coming back from the second out-and-back along the hill, we hit the gorgeous grassy stretch, some of the best footing we have. (The bootie was long gone by this point and I'd taken the other off so that she would match.) We were trotting, which is mostly what we do. Normally the IRH trots with her head up and her back sort of hollowed. This is not, I should note for the non-horsey in the audience, a very balanced or comfortable way to travel. If she'd settle down and put her head more level and round up her back a bit, she would be able to work WAY more efficiently and comfortably and faster. We're working on it -- along with "do not buck" and "please have adjustable speeds in each gait" and "try not to eyeball everything in God's creation because, yo, that's a lot of stuff". (Our issues are legion. Perhaps if I were a better trainer/rider we would have fewer issues.) Anyway, on the good footing, suddenly and without warning, the craptastic trot went away and it was like we were flying. It is difficult to communicate in words the difference between the jackhammer stride of a head-up-hollow-back trot and the floaty amazing power of the head-down-rounded-back trot. It brought tears to my eyes. It was *that* different. Last night, on a grassy logging trail with the green-gold sunlight filtering through the leaves, Nick's head went down, just above level, and she picked up speed and smoothed out and trucked on down the road like it was nothing. It was like she hit a gear I didn't even know she HAD. Damn. I want me some more of that. For real.
I lost a bootie, which was annoying. The booties cost forty-five dollars each. I'm hoping we can recover it on another ride since it was along paths that we use a lot.
Howie (one of the summer people) was driving by and the IRH blew up, which is par for the course, so instead of obeying my "Keep going, please" shouted instructions, he just sits there. Eventually he turns the engine off. This is not really helpful. If he'd slow down to about ten mph and just drive on by whether or not it looked like I was dying, things would be fine. So I got off the horse and led her stupid arse up to the car and said to Howie that he could go on and that actually, no matter what it looks like, he should just drive by at about ten miles an hour. He allowed as how he didn't think I was in control. Meh. Y'know, you can tell for sure when I'm not in control because that's when I'm not on top of the horse anymore and she's running into the next county, tail flying and bucking as she goes. (I didn't say that part.)
I think I'm coming down with something -- either that or it's allergies. Head is all tight and stuffy and I cadnt breave fru by doze. Cass inquired as to what she should do if I was too sick to ride the horse. I said I would not get that sick.
But in all, it was still a nice horse outing. Trailer driving is getting easier or at least less terrifying. The weather was nice. We got a stethoscope (fifteen bucks in hot pink at Walnut Medical) and tried to hear heartbeats on horses. This is not as easy as it looks but it is a LOT easier after you trot said horses up Ray's Hill and try again at the summit. Then you can hear the heartbeat standing five feet away. (Not really, but almost.) I'm still working on hearing at-rest heatbeats. Also, we need an expendable watch with a second hand. (Note to self.)
Coming back from the second out-and-back along the hill, we hit the gorgeous grassy stretch, some of the best footing we have. (The bootie was long gone by this point and I'd taken the other off so that she would match.) We were trotting, which is mostly what we do. Normally the IRH trots with her head up and her back sort of hollowed. This is not, I should note for the non-horsey in the audience, a very balanced or comfortable way to travel. If she'd settle down and put her head more level and round up her back a bit, she would be able to work WAY more efficiently and comfortably and faster. We're working on it -- along with "do not buck" and "please have adjustable speeds in each gait" and "try not to eyeball everything in God's creation because, yo, that's a lot of stuff". (Our issues are legion. Perhaps if I were a better trainer/rider we would have fewer issues.) Anyway, on the good footing, suddenly and without warning, the craptastic trot went away and it was like we were flying. It is difficult to communicate in words the difference between the jackhammer stride of a head-up-hollow-back trot and the floaty amazing power of the head-down-rounded-back trot. It brought tears to my eyes. It was *that* different. Last night, on a grassy logging trail with the green-gold sunlight filtering through the leaves, Nick's head went down, just above level, and she picked up speed and smoothed out and trucked on down the road like it was nothing. It was like she hit a gear I didn't even know she HAD. Damn. I want me some more of that. For real.
