Undemanding Time (well, mostly)

I've had a crazy week this past week, which means my poor horses got placed on the back burner. I've neglected them all week except to go out and say hello once in a while. And next week is going to be worse, I'm afraid. I did manage to spend about an hour at Ken's yesterday watching him work with Joe. This time he had the arena gate closed! He did many of the same things with Joe as before, but it took him a bit longer to get the saddle on. Joe managed to sidestep out from under it about 3 times before Ken managed to get the cinch tightened. There was a lot more bucking this time too after the saddle was on, but it didn't last long. Pretty soon the saddle wasn't an issue again as he was directed through his exercises. I didn't get to stay as long, so didn't get to see how it ended, but it's pretty clear that Joe is a much tougher nut to crack than Skittles was/is. WAY more repetition through simple challenges before he'll settle down.

Today, when I finally got done driving kids around, I went out and spent some non-demanding time with the horses. Just went out for a visit, lots of scratches and everyone came up for attention. I climbed up on the gate at one point since Jake was right next to it, just to see if he'd let me on his back, but he moved away. Oh well. I tugged on his mane to see if he'd come closer and he took a couple steps closer, but not close enough, then he decided to leave. So seeing as I was close, I decided to get his halter and try him out with the bareback pad. He's a lot like Gypsy when it comes to putting on a saddle (does everything to avoid it). With him I completely understand it: he's so big that I doubt he's ever had a saddle that fits him, so I'm sure he hates the sight of them!

Today was no different. He backed away and blocked me every time I approached him with the pad. So I started using it like a brush and rubbing him all over (this time of year with all the shedding, they're all so itchy). I guess I found some sweet spots because I got him stretching out his neck a couple times and enjoying it! So I swung it around on his back a few more times from both sides, walked away and approached him again until he just stood there and didn't back up. Then we did some driving game and yoyo, just to see if he was paying attention to me and I led him over to the tack box and climbed on. He had his own ideas about where we should go, so we did some circling and backing and changing direction just to get him to pay attention to me again. I only had the halter on him and so was trying to use my seat and leg primarily to guide him. Naturally as this was our first attempt, he wasn't getting the signals until I picked up the lead and put pressure on the nose band. But, like Gypsy, it was surprisingly less than it would have been with the bridle!

Holly went for a ride with me too after a while, then when we got off even Kev wanted a go. So Jake had a bit of excercise, but he did it all with a great attitude. Most times I ride him, he gets really annoyed when I direct him places he doesn't want to go (or he just stops and refuses to go). I had none of that attitude today, and I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that he didn't have a pinching saddle on his back?

Once Kev took over, I took my brushes into the pasture and started brushing the rest of the horses. This time of year is so disgusting with all the melting snow. The horse-sh-- is all over the place and mud everywhere, all my poor horses are covered in crusty crap and mud, so I spent about an hour going from horse to horse just trying to brush it all off. The problem was that once I left one to go work on another, the first one would be trying to get my attention again! Skittles was the worst (for being dirty), so I spent most of my time on her and I just about lulled her to sleep. She absolutely LOVES being brushed. Indy was all over me trying to get more attention. She was literally trying to get between Skittles and the brush! She couldn't get enough. And of course poor Yarrow (today's photo) -- always left out -- kept vying for attention too. So today he got some attention as well, and got his neck and upper lipped streched out so far (from enjoyment) I thought he was going to fall over! It feels good when I can make them feel good without expecting something in return. And since I've had such an exhausting week, it helped make my day a bit too.