Hooray for autumn

Things have been going well with Drifter and she has been so much fun to ride. Even when she has a week off of work- she comes right back and tries hard. She is such a great horse. Can't wait to keep moving her forward.

Lunging did the trick

I lunged on Sunday. I was perfect for Drifter to break up the riding boredom. It was great to work on cantering on the right lead on the lunge. Having to canter over a pole helped her to change to an keep her right lead. It was very successful break in our normal routine.

I skipped riding today, due to the heavy rain- we do have an indoor, but Drifter is outside and in her fly sheet and probably very wet today. I am aiming for Friday.

Confidence

Last night Drifter went out with the pasture board horses to start integrating into the new herd. She was suitably nervous coming in this morning as she is very submissive and on the bottom of the new herd. She has no confidence and it really shows in situations like these. I was going to long line her, but with her already being on edge I felt she need to get away from me and move. So we lunged in the indoor. I was able to walk a big circle and use half of the indoor for her at the trot. This really helps to balance her and gets her moving out nicely. I think it was the right choice to lunge instead of long line this morning.

I also figured out that Drifter (called Mama Bird most of the time) has Sweet Itch. That means that she is allergic to gnats and mosquitoes and she breaks out in a itchy rash. The best way to control this is to avoid having her bitten. I am trying a fly sheet with hood, but I am not sure the barn staff will keep putting it on and I am not sure how "ok" she will be with them putting it on. Although, she was fine with me!

She also has a dentist APPOINTMENT now, August 1st.

Naughty Drifter

I guess things can't always go smoothly. Today was the first day that I long lined her. I attached the long lines to the lunging cavesson. However, they don't attach smoothly or easily. I brought her to the indoor and felt the need to shut the door behind myself.

I took her to the center of the ring and attempted to send her out on the circle, like lungeing. She was walking right on top of me and was a bit tense. I finally got her straightened out and going in a circle. I could see her thinking about being "steered" from two sides. Apparently it freaked her out a little. She picked up the trot and trotted a few circles and then picked up a faster trot. In this case, she then decided that going back to the gate at high speed was a good idea. She straightened her head to the outside and took off. I lost control of the reins and she gave a little buck as she ran to the arena gate. She stopped by the gate and walked into the small barn attached to the arena. She stopped in the stall and was willingly lead out and put back to work.

I thought it best to work at the walk after that incident. I worked more on steering around the arena wall and practicing some halting. She was clearly tense when being steered from the long lines, but held herself together pretty well. After steering around the ring in both directions at the walk I decided that she should work. So I hung up the long lines on the surcingle and attached the lunge line. I had her lunge in both directions at a forward trot. I asked her to work harder at the trot because of her earlier outburst. She was difficult again to the right today with no improvement throughout the session.

After lunging, it was time to walk nicely around the farm. She was good.

Tonight was a big night for Drifter. It was her first night out all night with another horse. She is turned out with another mare, who seemed less like she wanted to be friends and more like she wanted to chase her. Drifter is herd smart and got away from the fence, away from the corner of the pasture and away from her turnout buddy. However, within a few minutes they were both grazing on opposite sides of the field. I think all will be okay.