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Jun. 20th, 2011 09:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
which_chickDay with Whimsy went OK. I called in the big field and *everybody* came running down. Oops. I just called for Whimsy, I got everybody. Oh, well. Fed horse. She's a sloppy eater. I groomed her all over (not touchy about her body, except a little flinchy on the elbows). I picked up her feet, picked them out, moved them into all the appropriate farrier-ready positions, tapped on them. That all went well. (We are practicing for a coming-this-weekend foot trimming session. No, I do not want to talk about how the horse got to be this old without decent foot skillz.)
Saddled horse from wrong side (multiple times) because she didn't like it. Saddled horse from correct side. Slapped stirrups around, flopped bits of leather, wiggled saddle from side to side, put foot in stirrup (both sides) but no real weight. Horse didn't mind any of that. (I need a bucket to stand on for tomorrow -- at 14.3 she is really too tall for me to lean over unless I have a bucket.) We reviewed ground work (circles, backing up, standing still, turning out of a rope), all boring. Went for a walk up over the hill, re-did all skillz in a new location. That was fine. Practiced walking and trotting in-hand. She's sticky picking up the trot from my left hand, leads noticibly better from my right hand. (Mental note: more work for horse out of my left hand.)
Got bridle, adjusted it as big as it went. (It's Nick's bridle, was Meatly's before. Size says "Cob". It does not go all that large.) Put bridle on horse, with bit. I'm reasonably sure she's not had a bit in her mouth before, as she kept trying to spit it out. Lots. Fit wasn't horrible but I'd like a larger headstall -- I usually opt for one wrinkle, not two. On the rare instances that she wasn't spitting the bit, it looked like a two wrinkle fit. Took bridle off, waited a minute or two. Put back on. (Horse not resistant. I am pretty good at being gentle/smooth with bridle on-and-offing.) More spit-the-bit. Off again. On and off a third time, and that was it for the day. Untacked, brushed off, put away. Tomorrow is another day.
On the hat-for-Sam front (I am again very interested in yarn and fiber for the time being, have been washing up fleeces and examining swatches of hand-spun brown sheep yarn), he has selected a hat pattern. I kind of knew that there would be no chance at an interesting hat like this one and I suspected that I'd be stuck with eight inches of K3P2 ribbing. I was right. The yarn I have is kind of fine. I'm considering using it doubled. Swatching has ensued.
Saddled horse from wrong side (multiple times) because she didn't like it. Saddled horse from correct side. Slapped stirrups around, flopped bits of leather, wiggled saddle from side to side, put foot in stirrup (both sides) but no real weight. Horse didn't mind any of that. (I need a bucket to stand on for tomorrow -- at 14.3 she is really too tall for me to lean over unless I have a bucket.) We reviewed ground work (circles, backing up, standing still, turning out of a rope), all boring. Went for a walk up over the hill, re-did all skillz in a new location. That was fine. Practiced walking and trotting in-hand. She's sticky picking up the trot from my left hand, leads noticibly better from my right hand. (Mental note: more work for horse out of my left hand.)
Got bridle, adjusted it as big as it went. (It's Nick's bridle, was Meatly's before. Size says "Cob". It does not go all that large.) Put bridle on horse, with bit. I'm reasonably sure she's not had a bit in her mouth before, as she kept trying to spit it out. Lots. Fit wasn't horrible but I'd like a larger headstall -- I usually opt for one wrinkle, not two. On the rare instances that she wasn't spitting the bit, it looked like a two wrinkle fit. Took bridle off, waited a minute or two. Put back on. (Horse not resistant. I am pretty good at being gentle/smooth with bridle on-and-offing.) More spit-the-bit. Off again. On and off a third time, and that was it for the day. Untacked, brushed off, put away. Tomorrow is another day.
On the hat-for-Sam front (I am again very interested in yarn and fiber for the time being, have been washing up fleeces and examining swatches of hand-spun brown sheep yarn), he has selected a hat pattern. I kind of knew that there would be no chance at an interesting hat like this one and I suspected that I'd be stuck with eight inches of K3P2 ribbing. I was right. The yarn I have is kind of fine. I'm considering using it doubled. Swatching has ensued.
