Colt Starting Clinic June 2014

[ecorso]

It’s really hard to remember all that we did today, because ALL I can think about is tomorrow. Hey, do you know what day it is???? No, not that. It’s our first RIDE!!!! I don’t even know if I can sleep tonight! It really was a good day though. I have to say that I am getting spoiled rotten. No, spoiled would mean I don’t appreciate it. Let’s just say pampered. Yes, that’s definitely it! So many people helped me stay focused, helped me make it on time, and made my journey so much easier today. I can’t even remember who all to thank, but it was clinicians, other students, and of course our fearless leader. Well, not completely fearless. He wouldn’t like the barn at my house. I don’t evict non-poisonous snakes because I appreciate the job they do helping to keep the mouse population in order. Of course if I grew up in Ozzie Land, where there are more poisonous snakes than we could dream of here, I’d probably be prejudiced against them as well, but back to Horse Camp, as my hubby calls my 11 days here. We started the day with our usual morning lessons in the classroom filled with stories and examples that did a good job of reminding us that interacting horses has the potential for disaster if we get lax in how we handle ourselves when we work with them. I enjoy how CA shares lessons he learned when he was just beginning his journey with horses. Ask him about the first time he used a Martingale some time. I’m still giggling. We saddled our horses again today, many times and while they all were much less flustered about the whole saddle thing, we were reminded to treat them like TNT. When we worked with them without the saddles, we could let them move more closely into our space, but when they were saddled, we were still being careful to keep them in our line of sight and to keep them further away from us, because it’s still possible for any one of them to explode. We did more exercises that taught the horse to give to pressure and bend and give to lateral pressure. There was also an exercise that helped the horses get over being fussy about their tail being handled. We worked with them one at a time in the round pen and did other things, like saddling and unsaddling, all spread out in the main outdoor arena. The horses are getting better about being around other horses being worked at the same time in fairly close proximity. Mine is still a little concerned about the sound of the handy stick with string whistling through the air or crashing to the ground when someone else is doing it, (not with me de-sensitizing him). The horses also spent some time in stand by mode, standing tied wearing a saddle, waiting for their turn in the round pen and all were calmer today at that as well. So many more lessons today, for us, for the horses, but I’ll have to wait to share them with you. It’s 10:30PM, (way earlier than I hit the hay ordinarily), but tomorrow is a big day and I want to be bright eyed and bushy tailed. Everyone seems to think that my horse was ready to be ridden today already. I am so looking forward to it! I’m not positive that Baron doesn’t have a buck in there somewhere, but I’m confident that they’ll direct me should I have an exciting ride. Thanks for the encouragement and well wishes!

Evie