I had planned on posting the photos and videos I had accumulated over the last few weeks of the horses, but work was extra exciting today and I have a limited time at the computer.
It was exciting because I got to drive the new BMW 7 series, which has recently been remodelled and isn't available until the fall. It also isn't even in production yet, so this is literally the only one of these cars in all of North America. Ok well I didn't really drive it much, just through the restricted section from our gate to our hangar, and was so nervous I couldn't enjoy it as much as I should have. But still. This is a very nice car, and has a lot of cool technology associated with it.
I cant share photos with you yet until the official launch. Rest assured, I did take a picture and I will post it July 22nd.
:)
That is all.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Monday, July 9, 2012
And now, the positives of our schooling show
Although there was a lot that went wrong for our team at the show, there were a lot of things that went right.
1) Bentley was great about being groomed for the show. He has been afraid of wet sponges in the past, so we didn't traumatize him by giving him a real bath. However, he did let us go over his whole body scrubbing at his stains with a damp sponge and a lot of cowboy magic. He did get nervous once or twice, but seemed to settle pretty quickly. He was also generally very quiet while we braided his mane. He doesn't like to stand still... ever... but somehow he must have known this was a special occasion.
We put him in a fly sheet to try and keep the stains off overnight, and for the most part he kept it on. He did manage to find something sharp(ish) in the stall to tear a hole in the side of it, and get a nice long scrape on his side too (but didn't go through skin, just raised with some missing fur) He also decided since he couldn't give us something to do in the morning by cleaning poo stains off his body, he would treat us to an extra icky face. His whole face was covered in poo (even in the creases of his eyelids) resulting in a nice dark brown head and a light gray body.
Doesn't he look pretty in his fly sheet?
2) Even though Heathers hands were blistered from trying to hold him in during practise, they did very well at the walk-trot class. In fact, they placed 4th out of 9. This was when he was first showing the slightest hint of possibly being lame again, so although that part sucked, he is a pretty enough mover to place well even though he isn't 100%. Gets me excited to see how he will do when hes on top of his game, hes such a pretty mover.
3) We didn't do so well in the jumping (2nd or 3rd to last) as he was starting to show it more noticeably. I hopped on him since heather's hands were too sore and took him around the 2 18" courses. I was happy with how he did, he was not in very good form and wanted to go fast, BUT I was able to bring him back to the trot or collected canter between most of the fences which was the goal. I cant blame him for being excited, he loves to jump and hasn't been allowed to in the last 2 months. Besides, he doesn't have to be slow and huntery for eventing or endurance! Fast is fine by me! Poor guy though wont be jumping for quite some time with leg soreness :( Sorry boy, we will have to find other fun things to do in the meantime.
4) I was happy with how I did in the jumping, I think my equitation has improved as captured in this photo Michelle took of us.
5) The show ended up being FREE! My favourite word.
More pictures and video will come, they havent been uploaded yet from my camera.
1) Bentley was great about being groomed for the show. He has been afraid of wet sponges in the past, so we didn't traumatize him by giving him a real bath. However, he did let us go over his whole body scrubbing at his stains with a damp sponge and a lot of cowboy magic. He did get nervous once or twice, but seemed to settle pretty quickly. He was also generally very quiet while we braided his mane. He doesn't like to stand still... ever... but somehow he must have known this was a special occasion.
We put him in a fly sheet to try and keep the stains off overnight, and for the most part he kept it on. He did manage to find something sharp(ish) in the stall to tear a hole in the side of it, and get a nice long scrape on his side too (but didn't go through skin, just raised with some missing fur) He also decided since he couldn't give us something to do in the morning by cleaning poo stains off his body, he would treat us to an extra icky face. His whole face was covered in poo (even in the creases of his eyelids) resulting in a nice dark brown head and a light gray body.
Doesn't he look pretty in his fly sheet?
2) Even though Heathers hands were blistered from trying to hold him in during practise, they did very well at the walk-trot class. In fact, they placed 4th out of 9. This was when he was first showing the slightest hint of possibly being lame again, so although that part sucked, he is a pretty enough mover to place well even though he isn't 100%. Gets me excited to see how he will do when hes on top of his game, hes such a pretty mover.
3) We didn't do so well in the jumping (2nd or 3rd to last) as he was starting to show it more noticeably. I hopped on him since heather's hands were too sore and took him around the 2 18" courses. I was happy with how he did, he was not in very good form and wanted to go fast, BUT I was able to bring him back to the trot or collected canter between most of the fences which was the goal. I cant blame him for being excited, he loves to jump and hasn't been allowed to in the last 2 months. Besides, he doesn't have to be slow and huntery for eventing or endurance! Fast is fine by me! Poor guy though wont be jumping for quite some time with leg soreness :( Sorry boy, we will have to find other fun things to do in the meantime.
4) I was happy with how I did in the jumping, I think my equitation has improved as captured in this photo Michelle took of us.
5) The show ended up being FREE! My favourite word.
More pictures and video will come, they havent been uploaded yet from my camera.
Unintentional sports of Horseback riding
Trying to keep a positive spin on a rough weekend here. Let me give you a bit of background: my sister was set in to ride Bentley in his first on-property schooling show. Here's a fun way to say all the things that didn't go our way. Other sports you can add to your resume are:
Rowing - The strength you get in your upper body down to your hips when your horse doesn't want to stop and can't seem to hear you yelling "woah" through the wind in his ears. Also, the blisters you get on your hands if they are not properly calloused (or gloved). This was Heather's sport.
Diving - When you catch enough air to complete at least one beautiful somersault headfirst in the air above your horse`s ears and stick the landing to your butt several metres in front of your horse. This was my sport.
Soccer - The sport you go back to when your horse decides he isn't done being lame yet. This is Bentley`s sport.
Golf - What Lee would much rather see me do.
Rowing - The strength you get in your upper body down to your hips when your horse doesn't want to stop and can't seem to hear you yelling "woah" through the wind in his ears. Also, the blisters you get on your hands if they are not properly calloused (or gloved). This was Heather's sport.
Diving - When you catch enough air to complete at least one beautiful somersault headfirst in the air above your horse`s ears and stick the landing to your butt several metres in front of your horse. This was my sport.
Soccer - The sport you go back to when your horse decides he isn't done being lame yet. This is Bentley`s sport.
Golf - What Lee would much rather see me do.
Friday, July 6, 2012
Galloping off into the sunset
First off, let me start with my regular Wednesday lesson. It went as usual, except when we finished, Margie pointed out that Bentley looks like he has some bowing in his back tendons. She said that it looked like it was caused from trauma, there were 2 little scuffs on his legs about the same height that looked like he hit them on something. Apparently these types of injuries are common with steeplechasers who catch their legs on the down part of the jump... but we haven't exactly been steeplechasing recently!
I do remember seeing these scuffs for the last month when he was lame, but didn't think much of them as there was no heat and they didn't look fresh. Plus it looked like all the lameness was coming from his front. Marg assured me that it clearly isn't bothering him (although its hard and a bit swollen in front) and it reduces once we have warmed up. So we don't have to stop riding, even got the go-ahead to do small jumps.
Right now we are sweating them out by applying goo on it daily, and wrapping it in plastic. I have to admit, it worked really well, noticed a difference just after one night! I know its not a problem for him as hes moving great, but we don't want to get to our first OCTRA ride and have the vet say "OMG BOWED TENDON" and prevent us from starting. The hardness is breaking up and the legs are almost back to straight form.
But this curious clue may have led us to a closer idea of what exactly happened to him a little over a month ago. As I said, something had to have happened out in the field as one day he was his beautiful dressage-y self, the next dead lame at the trot. At that time, he was in a field with the bullies, one of which had abscess which led us to believe pulled muscle or also abscess. The field also has some junk and stumps in it including an old bath tub and unusable water trough (ok let those groans out now). So I am guessing he may have got chased away from the food by bullies, and either tried to jump the tub/trough and caught legs, or somehow managed to get stuck in one of these? The front may have been lame from compensating, or maybe pulled something funny when he was doing this to his back legs. Horses provide such interesting puzzles to decode!
Long and the short of it, hes back in great form, we are fixing up some cosmetic problems, and we are training for Bentley's debut ride at Coate's Creek.
Last night, for the first time, I allowed and encouraged a gallop out of him. I know I know I know... I shouldn't do this until we have mastered the canter, but I honestly think it really helped our canter training. Here is my reasoning:
He gets so excited when we canter, it starts as a gallop anyway. So what I did was ask him to canter, and gently after that got into my 2-point and gave another kick for the gallop (even though he was already doing it) just so he would know what that meant. I was trying to work with what he gave me. After we had galloped the once, I worked on refining it and ended up with great transitions between canter and gallop and back down, in fact our canter was much better once I had clearly defined the lines. After that, even our trot to canter transitions were much improved as he wouldn't take off, I stayed relaxed (since I knew he wasn't going to be a wild maniac) and we had some beautiful gaits around the plateau, including a very nice speed of gallop, easy to control and maintain (did 1/2 mile easily after having trotted and cantered a lot before)
After our lesson on Wednesday, Linda had made a comment as to what great shape he was in (less the ugly legs) and that in her opinion he was more than ready for 2 x 15 mile rides, and may already be in better shape than a lot of the horses that do far more in distance and speed. I kind of shrugged it off because we haven't been working on him long enough to think hes superhero fit, but our ride last night proved me wrong and her right.
After our gallops and walks and happy canters, I was so pleased with his behaviour that I let him pick what gait he wanted to do. I said "Bentley, at 8:15 we are cooling out, what do you want to do?" And he led me through a beautiful series of trots and canters for about 4 miles straight. I don't think he wanted to stop at 8:15 either, he was ready to keep going between the 2 gaits, but we still had lots to do that night and the ever-suffering Lee was getting bored of watching us from his camping chair.
Still unsure what his heartrates are, we need to get a monitor for him, but I think we will be aiming for the faster speeds and a grade 1 on our set speeds next month with this kind of energy!
Here is the GPS of our ride (i must have hit the stop button and missed at least 1 mile however) including our cool out - which put us at over 7mph.
http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/196333729
So what I learned last night (which I have learned several times over now but still manage to forget) is that I just have to trust him and let him do his thing. If I let him do the things that I think are crazy but he's begging to do, hes actually more sane than trying to hold him back. What a great guy! I can't wait to see what he wants to try next!
I do remember seeing these scuffs for the last month when he was lame, but didn't think much of them as there was no heat and they didn't look fresh. Plus it looked like all the lameness was coming from his front. Marg assured me that it clearly isn't bothering him (although its hard and a bit swollen in front) and it reduces once we have warmed up. So we don't have to stop riding, even got the go-ahead to do small jumps.
Right now we are sweating them out by applying goo on it daily, and wrapping it in plastic. I have to admit, it worked really well, noticed a difference just after one night! I know its not a problem for him as hes moving great, but we don't want to get to our first OCTRA ride and have the vet say "OMG BOWED TENDON" and prevent us from starting. The hardness is breaking up and the legs are almost back to straight form.
But this curious clue may have led us to a closer idea of what exactly happened to him a little over a month ago. As I said, something had to have happened out in the field as one day he was his beautiful dressage-y self, the next dead lame at the trot. At that time, he was in a field with the bullies, one of which had abscess which led us to believe pulled muscle or also abscess. The field also has some junk and stumps in it including an old bath tub and unusable water trough (ok let those groans out now). So I am guessing he may have got chased away from the food by bullies, and either tried to jump the tub/trough and caught legs, or somehow managed to get stuck in one of these? The front may have been lame from compensating, or maybe pulled something funny when he was doing this to his back legs. Horses provide such interesting puzzles to decode!
Long and the short of it, hes back in great form, we are fixing up some cosmetic problems, and we are training for Bentley's debut ride at Coate's Creek.
Last night, for the first time, I allowed and encouraged a gallop out of him. I know I know I know... I shouldn't do this until we have mastered the canter, but I honestly think it really helped our canter training. Here is my reasoning:
He gets so excited when we canter, it starts as a gallop anyway. So what I did was ask him to canter, and gently after that got into my 2-point and gave another kick for the gallop (even though he was already doing it) just so he would know what that meant. I was trying to work with what he gave me. After we had galloped the once, I worked on refining it and ended up with great transitions between canter and gallop and back down, in fact our canter was much better once I had clearly defined the lines. After that, even our trot to canter transitions were much improved as he wouldn't take off, I stayed relaxed (since I knew he wasn't going to be a wild maniac) and we had some beautiful gaits around the plateau, including a very nice speed of gallop, easy to control and maintain (did 1/2 mile easily after having trotted and cantered a lot before)
After our lesson on Wednesday, Linda had made a comment as to what great shape he was in (less the ugly legs) and that in her opinion he was more than ready for 2 x 15 mile rides, and may already be in better shape than a lot of the horses that do far more in distance and speed. I kind of shrugged it off because we haven't been working on him long enough to think hes superhero fit, but our ride last night proved me wrong and her right.
After our gallops and walks and happy canters, I was so pleased with his behaviour that I let him pick what gait he wanted to do. I said "Bentley, at 8:15 we are cooling out, what do you want to do?" And he led me through a beautiful series of trots and canters for about 4 miles straight. I don't think he wanted to stop at 8:15 either, he was ready to keep going between the 2 gaits, but we still had lots to do that night and the ever-suffering Lee was getting bored of watching us from his camping chair.
Still unsure what his heartrates are, we need to get a monitor for him, but I think we will be aiming for the faster speeds and a grade 1 on our set speeds next month with this kind of energy!
Here is the GPS of our ride (i must have hit the stop button and missed at least 1 mile however) including our cool out - which put us at over 7mph.
http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/196333729
So what I learned last night (which I have learned several times over now but still manage to forget) is that I just have to trust him and let him do his thing. If I let him do the things that I think are crazy but he's begging to do, hes actually more sane than trying to hold him back. What a great guy! I can't wait to see what he wants to try next!
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Busy busy!
Sorry for not posting recently. That is sort of a summer thing, if I am not working, I am out riding. Wow has the weather ever been good for riding these last 2 weeks. Hot, but that's better than thunderstorms (although by this point, I am ready for a good night of rain... just please keep it at night so I can still take advantage of all the days!)
Bentley has been doing well. We had our first lesson with Marg since he was lame (back to last Wednesday now) and he was good... mostly. Of course he was fresh and excited to be back in work, he threw in a lot of happy hops and speedy flat canters when we got to the canter stage, but considering he had almost a month off and hes just young, he was good. The prescription from Marg is lots of canter work, and to intersperse it throughout our rider rather than doing our usual walk for 15 mins, trot for 15 minutes, canter both directions, ok we are done. He just is so darn happy to go fast, I need to make it less of a big deal to canter, so frequent short canters have been on the menu since. We did this last night and after a few wild runs around the plateau, we settled into a not so terrifying canter and he seemed happy to do it. Getting through those first runs however was tough, hes like juggernaut from X-Men, just puts his head down and can crash through anything, picking up speed the whole way.
This past (very hot) weekend was spent in Ganaraska, I was crewing for Linda at the Cayuse Canter ride. Saturday seemed to be a very rough day for everyone. The heat seemed especially bad and pulses were pretty high. Linda got a grade 2 because she was one beat off grade one. That's one of the better results of the day, several riders fell off including Michelle off Leena who took the ambulance out of the ride and returned with a broken arm. Very disappointing since it was her first ride back on Leena since their accident at Aprilfest. Also, 2 horses got thumps which according to the vets, they hadn't seen this in at least 4-5 years (so 2 to happen at one ride is a BIG deal) Lots of pulls from metabolic and lameness. Carol also voluntarily pulled from the 50 although they had passed vetting as Star was not eating. Saturday I also ended up crewing for an extra person, Carmen, who had come with 2 horses on her own, and her mare wouldn't pulse down in camp unless her gelding buddy was right beside her. Too much separation anxiety! So I felt about just as worn as the riders by the end of the day.
Sunday was a lot better ride for most. Some of the people who weren't able to ride or complete on Saturday went back out for the 12 mile. Carol did this too and said Star was such a pleasure to ride, a short relaxed ride got everyones spirits back up! I also think it was cooler, and pulses were lower, no falls, overall just better luck. We know Linda got a Grade 1, but we didn't stick around for the awards in favour of getting home for dinner. Camp looked pretty quiet as we left and suspect that everyone else was ready to call it a weekend too.
Monday I went to wonderland with Joe and his friends, along with Lee and our friend Steve. Joe's friends had went ahead and committed us to fast passes ($50 each) which kind of irked us that they would presume we had an extra $50 lying around on top of the entry costs to wonderland. This soon faded as we waltzed to the front of all the lines, jealous kids looking on from the long lines that come from hot long weekends. We went on pretty much everything immediately, but after 8 or so rides, I wasn't feeling so well. I had been drinking water but my body temperature kept rising. I was feeling nauseous on the rides, and on Behemoth I actually worried I would be sick. The ride felt fine with the air, but when we were sitting in the sun waiting to pull back in the station, I could barely keep my eyes open and my (very unhealthy) breakfast down and literally had to lay my head down on the lap restraints. Joe's friend Andrew had passed on the last few rides and had found a shady spot to lay, so I joined him while the rest went on Behemoth again. At that point, Lee joined us (forgot to mention, he doesn't like rollercoasters so he separated from us at the beginning of the day and went to the water park). Also about that time I started feeling cold. Really really cold.
I knew I needed food, but we couldn't make it out of the park. Steve thankfully got me a $15 wonderland sub. Perhaps that was the worst part of having heat stroke.... the prices! After about an hour and a half of nibbling, napping in the shade, and kicking geese, I was feeling better enough to get a poutine and replenish some of the salts I clearly needed. Yes, I said kicking geese. They kept getting way too close to us, kicking distance from being seated really, and nothing was scaring them away. To be honest, it was a lot of fun, felt like kicking a pillow (don't worry, no goose or human was hurt as a result). Steve tried his hand at kicking a goose and accidentally kicked it right into a lady who screamed and ran away. So funny!
Anyway, after I was feeling a bit better, I was more diligent about keeping myself safe. We went and got splashed by timberwolf falls, went to the water park, and then had an early trip home. I felt great and wanted to go on more rides, but I think Steve and Lee had enough of the heat, looking tired and my understanding of what happened earlier in the day, I accepted this decision (although it was hard to pass up more rides!)
Bentley has been doing well. We had our first lesson with Marg since he was lame (back to last Wednesday now) and he was good... mostly. Of course he was fresh and excited to be back in work, he threw in a lot of happy hops and speedy flat canters when we got to the canter stage, but considering he had almost a month off and hes just young, he was good. The prescription from Marg is lots of canter work, and to intersperse it throughout our rider rather than doing our usual walk for 15 mins, trot for 15 minutes, canter both directions, ok we are done. He just is so darn happy to go fast, I need to make it less of a big deal to canter, so frequent short canters have been on the menu since. We did this last night and after a few wild runs around the plateau, we settled into a not so terrifying canter and he seemed happy to do it. Getting through those first runs however was tough, hes like juggernaut from X-Men, just puts his head down and can crash through anything, picking up speed the whole way.
This past (very hot) weekend was spent in Ganaraska, I was crewing for Linda at the Cayuse Canter ride. Saturday seemed to be a very rough day for everyone. The heat seemed especially bad and pulses were pretty high. Linda got a grade 2 because she was one beat off grade one. That's one of the better results of the day, several riders fell off including Michelle off Leena who took the ambulance out of the ride and returned with a broken arm. Very disappointing since it was her first ride back on Leena since their accident at Aprilfest. Also, 2 horses got thumps which according to the vets, they hadn't seen this in at least 4-5 years (so 2 to happen at one ride is a BIG deal) Lots of pulls from metabolic and lameness. Carol also voluntarily pulled from the 50 although they had passed vetting as Star was not eating. Saturday I also ended up crewing for an extra person, Carmen, who had come with 2 horses on her own, and her mare wouldn't pulse down in camp unless her gelding buddy was right beside her. Too much separation anxiety! So I felt about just as worn as the riders by the end of the day.
Sunday was a lot better ride for most. Some of the people who weren't able to ride or complete on Saturday went back out for the 12 mile. Carol did this too and said Star was such a pleasure to ride, a short relaxed ride got everyones spirits back up! I also think it was cooler, and pulses were lower, no falls, overall just better luck. We know Linda got a Grade 1, but we didn't stick around for the awards in favour of getting home for dinner. Camp looked pretty quiet as we left and suspect that everyone else was ready to call it a weekend too.
Monday I went to wonderland with Joe and his friends, along with Lee and our friend Steve. Joe's friends had went ahead and committed us to fast passes ($50 each) which kind of irked us that they would presume we had an extra $50 lying around on top of the entry costs to wonderland. This soon faded as we waltzed to the front of all the lines, jealous kids looking on from the long lines that come from hot long weekends. We went on pretty much everything immediately, but after 8 or so rides, I wasn't feeling so well. I had been drinking water but my body temperature kept rising. I was feeling nauseous on the rides, and on Behemoth I actually worried I would be sick. The ride felt fine with the air, but when we were sitting in the sun waiting to pull back in the station, I could barely keep my eyes open and my (very unhealthy) breakfast down and literally had to lay my head down on the lap restraints. Joe's friend Andrew had passed on the last few rides and had found a shady spot to lay, so I joined him while the rest went on Behemoth again. At that point, Lee joined us (forgot to mention, he doesn't like rollercoasters so he separated from us at the beginning of the day and went to the water park). Also about that time I started feeling cold. Really really cold.
I knew I needed food, but we couldn't make it out of the park. Steve thankfully got me a $15 wonderland sub. Perhaps that was the worst part of having heat stroke.... the prices! After about an hour and a half of nibbling, napping in the shade, and kicking geese, I was feeling better enough to get a poutine and replenish some of the salts I clearly needed. Yes, I said kicking geese. They kept getting way too close to us, kicking distance from being seated really, and nothing was scaring them away. To be honest, it was a lot of fun, felt like kicking a pillow (don't worry, no goose or human was hurt as a result). Steve tried his hand at kicking a goose and accidentally kicked it right into a lady who screamed and ran away. So funny!
Anyway, after I was feeling a bit better, I was more diligent about keeping myself safe. We went and got splashed by timberwolf falls, went to the water park, and then had an early trip home. I felt great and wanted to go on more rides, but I think Steve and Lee had enough of the heat, looking tired and my understanding of what happened earlier in the day, I accepted this decision (although it was hard to pass up more rides!)
Monday, June 25, 2012
Back on trail
Bentley had his first real ride in weeks yesterday. We trotted for about a half a mile in the ring at first. He was still bobbing a bit but eager to be doing anything other than walking.
We went down to the valley next for a walk since I didn't want to push him too hard. We were having a nice walk around until the 2 mares which seem to ALWAYS be in heat started grunting at us and approaching Bentley. Lee was walking alongside us, and managed to keep them away mostly, but Bentley did start acting up. He burst into a trot, which I let him do because I figure, if he wants to trot, I will let him, but it soon turned into what I call the "Happy Hop."
He doesn't so much buck, but he does put his head down and pops up in a little skip fashion which isn't so much fun for me. He was doing it in his ring antics the few days before, but rarely tries it under saddle. He certainly is fresh!
Crossed the creek and separated ourselves from the herd and I let him trot again. Didn't ask, but did allow. However, he got fresh again and we ended up galloping down one of the smaller hills. Brought him back to the place of explosion and trotted figure 8s for what seemed like an eternity although I am sure it was only a few minutes of frustration. By the end of it, we were calm at least, but form wasn't too stellar, with him motorcycling into each turn with his shoulders.
On the plus side, when we worked on the grass, he was much better injury-wise. Bobbing only was apparent on tight circles, and still, barely.
We walked for another 2 miles and ended up our ride at a total of 5 miles. I think only about a mile to a mile and a half of that was trotting, but I am happy with that. It will be a slow comeback to make sure we don't do anything to re-injure him before his debut in August.
We went down to the valley next for a walk since I didn't want to push him too hard. We were having a nice walk around until the 2 mares which seem to ALWAYS be in heat started grunting at us and approaching Bentley. Lee was walking alongside us, and managed to keep them away mostly, but Bentley did start acting up. He burst into a trot, which I let him do because I figure, if he wants to trot, I will let him, but it soon turned into what I call the "Happy Hop."
He doesn't so much buck, but he does put his head down and pops up in a little skip fashion which isn't so much fun for me. He was doing it in his ring antics the few days before, but rarely tries it under saddle. He certainly is fresh!
Crossed the creek and separated ourselves from the herd and I let him trot again. Didn't ask, but did allow. However, he got fresh again and we ended up galloping down one of the smaller hills. Brought him back to the place of explosion and trotted figure 8s for what seemed like an eternity although I am sure it was only a few minutes of frustration. By the end of it, we were calm at least, but form wasn't too stellar, with him motorcycling into each turn with his shoulders.
On the plus side, when we worked on the grass, he was much better injury-wise. Bobbing only was apparent on tight circles, and still, barely.
We walked for another 2 miles and ended up our ride at a total of 5 miles. I think only about a mile to a mile and a half of that was trotting, but I am happy with that. It will be a slow comeback to make sure we don't do anything to re-injure him before his debut in August.
Friday, June 22, 2012
Epic Horseplay
A few weeks ago in the lunchroom at work, I was talking about jollyballs for horses. Much like I do when they talk about babies, my coworkers patiently waited for me to get the horse chat out of my my system. One woman was certainly listening however because she commented that she never knew that horses liked to play or thought of them as a playful animal.
This doesnt surprise me, most people dont get to see horses the way us true horsey folk do. They just see them standing around munching hay when they drive past a farm, or working hard when they do whatever they do. To me, horseplay is the best play and to see a giant animal get downright silly is probably the best experience ever.
My first experience playing with Bentley was a while back, where we somehow managed to play tag in the field. Not really sure how I taught him that, but I would chase him, he would let me catch him, then I would run off and he would chase after me. Adoreable right?
Last night as I drove home from work, I experienced some of the scariest lightning, rain and hail I had ever seen. Frantically I called everyone I knew trying to find someone to bring my horse in. No such luck. In fact, most of them thought I was crazy because it was clear skies at home. So in my beautiful red dress I went straight from work to the barn, and started running horses into their stalls. Lightning is where I draw the line, I really dont like my horse to be out in that stuff. All the girls thought I was crazy (however this isnt the first time I came to the barn in a nice dress straight from work) but followed my lead to start bringing in the horses. All but one got in before the sky let loose. Poor Shannon led Chloe through the doors, drenched to the core. They all immediately stopped calling me crazy. It was fun however, trotting all the horses from the field in my finest, I felt like I was doing the trotout at Rolex (and totally would have made the best dressed list!)
While the storm hung overhead, I decided to do some chores and feed my horse. Linda had made it into the barn before the rain started (as one of the people I frantically called) and in the downpour my dad also arrived to save the horses (as another who i had frantically called) We had free entertainment through the storm watching Sable go after the hanging treat ball I had bought for B when he was on stall rest.
So with the horses fed and happy and dry in their stalls, I ventured home to feed my other animals. Lee was very grateful. Haha.
We were out running errands, and the storm warning was called off, so we figured we would go put Bentley out in the field. No need to keep him in anymore! Lee hadnt seen him in a while (since the limping at the trot was really bad) so I brought him into the arena to show him Bentley's improvement. Bentley is very close to being back to normal, and was particularly frisky from lack of work this last month. It had started to rain again, so we just decided to close the arena doors and let him blow off some steam.
Well he sure must be feeling better. WOW what energy. Trotted around snorting with his neck all arched, cantering tight turns and spinning on his haunches like a reiner, bucking and leaping and farting like a maniac. All unprovoked. Just so darn happy to be given a place to play. Lee was amazed, he had never seen bentley act this way (I hadnt either with the exception of when he played with Sterling) and it was such a blast to watch him.
Then we discovered the Jollyball at one side of the arena and decided to do some desensitizing. So I threw the ball to his side, he was clearly interested but not scared at all. Lee thought it would be a good idea to start tossing the ball onto Bentley's back, and although I was adamant that it was a horrible idea, Bentley didnt seem to mind at all. Thinking that was enough of the ball to thoroughly have him hate it, I kicked the ball to the outside of the ring where it's evils (all in my mind I assure you) would not bother us anymore.
Well wouldnt you know it, but Bentley does his arced neck, extended play trot right up to the ball and touches it with his nose. What??? He likes the ball? So I run over, and toss the ball back to the other end again, and there he goes, chasing it across the ring, plafully tossing his head and stopping to inspect it again. Lee and I started tossing and kicking the ball back and forth with this fetch game continuing for a good 10 minutes.
By that point, we were drawing a crowd of girls, watching through the windows of the arena. So I invite them in to get a better look, especially since I see Emily trying to videotape through the dirty windows. First time, he followed the ball but got distracted by his audience, and went over to greet them instead. Hes so charming, and a kid magnet too.
He then remembered the game, and performed wonderfully for everyone and the cameras. Fetching the ball and acting all cute.
You would think that would be enough for him, but he had to outdo himself with this next move which I am still having trouble grasping the reality of. He had learned in the game that a good strategy to catch the ball, was to go ahead of the ball and intercept it on course. So in one particular instance, he comes up beside and slightly ahead of the ball, shifts his hindquartes towards the ball and kicks out on a diagonal with his hind leg, getting the ball square in the sweet spot and propelling the ball down the arena. Squeals of delight and misbelief came from about 8 young girls (and Lee and I) at this. best of all, Emily caught it on video. Rest assured, I will post it as soon as she uploads it.
I could understand if he tripped and accidentally kicked it, but this was clearly no accident. This horse kicked that ball with intention!
I have no idea what brought him to think of this, and it amazes me at the depth of his mind. I have always known horses are brilliant animals, but the level of consciousness he displayed was far more than I ever could have imagined or learned through scientific studies. Perhaps he saw us kicking it and wanted to mimic it? Perhaps he just wanted to try it for fun? Either way, there were a whole lot of thoughts in his head for this to happen. What a new respect I have for him.
So a couple of fun quotes we can use for the video:
There was once a football match between two small village teams. The visitors were surprised to see that the home team's goalkeeper was a horse.
The horse played extremely well and it was mainly due to him that the home team won. After the match the visiting captain said to the home captain,
'How on earth did a horse ever learn to keep goal like that'
'How does anyone learn' answered the home captain. 'Practice, practice, practice!'
Any thoughts on more good ones?
EDIT: Here is the video :)
Link to share: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20O0UVhPS64&feature=youtu.be
This doesnt surprise me, most people dont get to see horses the way us true horsey folk do. They just see them standing around munching hay when they drive past a farm, or working hard when they do whatever they do. To me, horseplay is the best play and to see a giant animal get downright silly is probably the best experience ever.
My first experience playing with Bentley was a while back, where we somehow managed to play tag in the field. Not really sure how I taught him that, but I would chase him, he would let me catch him, then I would run off and he would chase after me. Adoreable right?
Last night as I drove home from work, I experienced some of the scariest lightning, rain and hail I had ever seen. Frantically I called everyone I knew trying to find someone to bring my horse in. No such luck. In fact, most of them thought I was crazy because it was clear skies at home. So in my beautiful red dress I went straight from work to the barn, and started running horses into their stalls. Lightning is where I draw the line, I really dont like my horse to be out in that stuff. All the girls thought I was crazy (however this isnt the first time I came to the barn in a nice dress straight from work) but followed my lead to start bringing in the horses. All but one got in before the sky let loose. Poor Shannon led Chloe through the doors, drenched to the core. They all immediately stopped calling me crazy. It was fun however, trotting all the horses from the field in my finest, I felt like I was doing the trotout at Rolex (and totally would have made the best dressed list!)
While the storm hung overhead, I decided to do some chores and feed my horse. Linda had made it into the barn before the rain started (as one of the people I frantically called) and in the downpour my dad also arrived to save the horses (as another who i had frantically called) We had free entertainment through the storm watching Sable go after the hanging treat ball I had bought for B when he was on stall rest.
There is a tasty treat ball behind them somewhere, or maybe the horses are just making out. Lovebirds!
Sharing their treat. Funny how Bentley wasnt interested in it until Sable was chowing down. I am just happy that the horses are eating it and not the raccoons (anymore)
Sable is the prettiest horse in the barn, cant you tell from this photo?
So with the horses fed and happy and dry in their stalls, I ventured home to feed my other animals. Lee was very grateful. Haha.
We were out running errands, and the storm warning was called off, so we figured we would go put Bentley out in the field. No need to keep him in anymore! Lee hadnt seen him in a while (since the limping at the trot was really bad) so I brought him into the arena to show him Bentley's improvement. Bentley is very close to being back to normal, and was particularly frisky from lack of work this last month. It had started to rain again, so we just decided to close the arena doors and let him blow off some steam.
Well he sure must be feeling better. WOW what energy. Trotted around snorting with his neck all arched, cantering tight turns and spinning on his haunches like a reiner, bucking and leaping and farting like a maniac. All unprovoked. Just so darn happy to be given a place to play. Lee was amazed, he had never seen bentley act this way (I hadnt either with the exception of when he played with Sterling) and it was such a blast to watch him.
Then we discovered the Jollyball at one side of the arena and decided to do some desensitizing. So I threw the ball to his side, he was clearly interested but not scared at all. Lee thought it would be a good idea to start tossing the ball onto Bentley's back, and although I was adamant that it was a horrible idea, Bentley didnt seem to mind at all. Thinking that was enough of the ball to thoroughly have him hate it, I kicked the ball to the outside of the ring where it's evils (all in my mind I assure you) would not bother us anymore.
Well wouldnt you know it, but Bentley does his arced neck, extended play trot right up to the ball and touches it with his nose. What??? He likes the ball? So I run over, and toss the ball back to the other end again, and there he goes, chasing it across the ring, plafully tossing his head and stopping to inspect it again. Lee and I started tossing and kicking the ball back and forth with this fetch game continuing for a good 10 minutes.
By that point, we were drawing a crowd of girls, watching through the windows of the arena. So I invite them in to get a better look, especially since I see Emily trying to videotape through the dirty windows. First time, he followed the ball but got distracted by his audience, and went over to greet them instead. Hes so charming, and a kid magnet too.
He then remembered the game, and performed wonderfully for everyone and the cameras. Fetching the ball and acting all cute.
You would think that would be enough for him, but he had to outdo himself with this next move which I am still having trouble grasping the reality of. He had learned in the game that a good strategy to catch the ball, was to go ahead of the ball and intercept it on course. So in one particular instance, he comes up beside and slightly ahead of the ball, shifts his hindquartes towards the ball and kicks out on a diagonal with his hind leg, getting the ball square in the sweet spot and propelling the ball down the arena. Squeals of delight and misbelief came from about 8 young girls (and Lee and I) at this. best of all, Emily caught it on video. Rest assured, I will post it as soon as she uploads it.
I could understand if he tripped and accidentally kicked it, but this was clearly no accident. This horse kicked that ball with intention!
I have no idea what brought him to think of this, and it amazes me at the depth of his mind. I have always known horses are brilliant animals, but the level of consciousness he displayed was far more than I ever could have imagined or learned through scientific studies. Perhaps he saw us kicking it and wanted to mimic it? Perhaps he just wanted to try it for fun? Either way, there were a whole lot of thoughts in his head for this to happen. What a new respect I have for him.
So a couple of fun quotes we can use for the video:
- World cup fever is so contagious, even my horse has caught it
- If the riding thing doesnt work out, Bentley can always fall back on his blossoming soccer career
- Who needs a mallet for polo when you have a horse like this?
- Bentley looked so different from the other kids on the soccer field, but boy could he ever play!
There was once a football match between two small village teams. The visitors were surprised to see that the home team's goalkeeper was a horse.
The horse played extremely well and it was mainly due to him that the home team won. After the match the visiting captain said to the home captain,
'How on earth did a horse ever learn to keep goal like that'
'How does anyone learn' answered the home captain. 'Practice, practice, practice!'
Any thoughts on more good ones?
EDIT: Here is the video :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)