So my goal for this week was to get back on Nina and see how it goes. I am still having some minor balance problems and it has been not quite 5 weeks since I got run over, but not riding is making me crazy. I find that when I drop my head and look down, my balance is a little iffy and I am more dependent than normal on my eyes.
I kind of thought that not looking down would be something that would waken my first jump instructor from the dead in celebration that FINALLY I quit doing that.
But trying to use a small amount of common sense I decided that I needed a nice calm day; decent weather and no reining riders tearing around all over the arena. Just in case my balance sucks and this is a bad idea it would be a good idea to have Nina keep her feet on the ground.
So this entire week has been crazy with wind... see my post on the surprise arrival of a blanket overnight... and Nina, who is not normally bad in the wind, even with stuff blowing in the wind, has had enough of it and gotten spookier everyday. So I guess we will wait for the weather to calm down. Suppose to rain or snow tonight, maybe that will be it.
Today Nina threw a snorty fit and tried to climb in my back pocket over a pile of grooming stuff by a trailer. I usually just ignore her dramatics and they go away in about 2 seconds, but this one was really big so I decided to call her on it. I went and stood next to the stuff with her lead line paid out. She snorted and braced herself (not against me or the line) and snorted and snorted and kept looking at me. I ignored her, looked at the stuff (hoping the owner wouldn't show up and think I was shopping) and waited for her reaction. She decided that there was something good to eat on the ground - IN THE GRAVEL? turned her head away, left both ears pointed toward the scary stuff and ignored me back.
I led her away and right back and by now she had forgotten what all the snorting was about and just walked up to, over and around the stuff.
Silly mare.
I kind of thought that not looking down would be something that would waken my first jump instructor from the dead in celebration that FINALLY I quit doing that.
But trying to use a small amount of common sense I decided that I needed a nice calm day; decent weather and no reining riders tearing around all over the arena. Just in case my balance sucks and this is a bad idea it would be a good idea to have Nina keep her feet on the ground.
So this entire week has been crazy with wind... see my post on the surprise arrival of a blanket overnight... and Nina, who is not normally bad in the wind, even with stuff blowing in the wind, has had enough of it and gotten spookier everyday. So I guess we will wait for the weather to calm down. Suppose to rain or snow tonight, maybe that will be it.
Today Nina threw a snorty fit and tried to climb in my back pocket over a pile of grooming stuff by a trailer. I usually just ignore her dramatics and they go away in about 2 seconds, but this one was really big so I decided to call her on it. I went and stood next to the stuff with her lead line paid out. She snorted and braced herself (not against me or the line) and snorted and snorted and kept looking at me. I ignored her, looked at the stuff (hoping the owner wouldn't show up and think I was shopping) and waited for her reaction. She decided that there was something good to eat on the ground - IN THE GRAVEL? turned her head away, left both ears pointed toward the scary stuff and ignored me back.
I led her away and right back and by now she had forgotten what all the snorting was about and just walked up to, over and around the stuff.
Silly mare.
Maybe the scent of smoke in the air has her even jumpier? I wondered about that. Might be better to wait until the air settles down...in more ways than one--hehe! ;)
ReplyDeleteThe smoke doesn't seem to bother them, but the combination of the high winds and the smoke might be making some of them jumpy, Nina isn't the only one.
ReplyDelete