Blog entry category: never a dull moment

Tonight I decided to ride Bestie in the lower arena because a) we hadn't been in there in a while and b) word at the barn was that today's sun had made it pleasantly toasty in there, especially as compared to the upper arena with its metal side walls that radiate the cold.

We ended up being the only ones in the lower arena; the just-after-work rush had slowed down at the barn. All seemed fine as I got on her and we started walking around to warm up. But after a bit, I realized that she seemed intent on not staying on the wall as we walked around the arena on the field side, at about the midpoint of that side. Then, when I tried to correct her to get her on the wall, she started acting really strangely, reaching out her nose to the wall, but keeping her body away from it. We were in the back right corner of the field side at this point.

At first I thought she just needed to itch her nose, which she does almost every time after I first get on. But as I watched her, this was different, almost like she wanted to reach out and smell something, but was hesitant to do so. She'd reach her nose out, get it right to the wall, then pull back. Each time she did that she got a bit more excitable. It was like there was something happening outdoors that she sort of wanted to investigate, but wasn't confident about doing so. I couldn't see, hear or smell anything out of the ordinary. Of course, with the plastic side walls up, you can't really see anything outside except vague shapes.

It made me increasingly nervous to be on her, so I got off. I tried to lead her along the wall to continue our loop, but she still continued reaching out to the wall with her nose while keeping her body perpendicular to it and then backing off. Even as I led her away from the corner into the middle of the ring, she kept turning back to the wall and looking at it.

I'm all about self preservation so I decided to lead her out of the lower arena and continue our ride in the upper arena. She was fine up there; business as usual.

After a few minutes, another rider came in and I mentioned the experience to her. She said the horse she had ridden earlier in the evening had acted the same way. Same corner. Honestly - it was a relief to hear someone else had the same experience. She couldn't see, smell or hear anything either. All we could think of was that there was an animal out there.

It was definitely weird. I've never seen Bestie act like that. It'll be interesting to go back in there in a day or two and see how she is. So much about horses is ... interesting. :)

Pivoting

I've been listening to a lot of podcasts and it struck me recently that twice in one week, on two different podcasts, I heard the word "pivot" used to describe the sidestep or adjustment that can be made when coming up against an obstacle or a challenge. It resonated with me because I feel like that's what I've been doing a lot with Bestie in recent weeks. 

I don't know if it's spring fever or what, but we seem to have regressed to the "oh hey, I'm done" stage at about the 25-minute mark while riding. That, and she has been finding odd (to me, anyway) things to get fired up about. For instance, on Sunday we were having a pleasant ride until someone pulled open the lower door to the other arena without shouting "door" (which is protocol), and Bestie shied away from the aisle and threw a couple low grade bucks for good measure. Then, last night we were going along well until another rider passed us and Bestie decided it was a race. People pass us all the time - that's just what happens when you're about the only Western rider in the barn, and usually she doesn't care. After that, she remained kind of "up" for the duration of the ride. Not misbehaving, but I felt like she was on alert for some other situation to react to.

In both situations, we pivoted. Rather than continue with what we were doing, I chose to scale it down to a walk, yet still keep at it for the full period of time I had allotted for the ride. I asked her to focus and listen, and she did, and I felt more confident at the walk that she wasn't going to pull any tricks. 

Today we pivoted outside. :) 

Rather than ride again, I decided we needed a little down time. The horses haven't been going out because the fields are pretty soupy, and lack of turnout definitely could be contributing to her issues. So we headed out to hand graze. Of course, in Vermont in March you have to look pretty hard for any grass. But up on the hill above the barn is our secret patch where no one ever grazes. There was enough there to keep her busy, and hopefully the relaxed time outside will let us get a fresh start together tomorrow night.

She was pretty tenacious - lots of leaves got pushed aside to find the grass underneath.

One pause to check out the sound of people in the yard next to the barn property. Then, back to eating.