# #JustLeanaLittle (Sorrel's Journey with Selena)



## SorrelHorse (Apr 9, 2009)

I think it's about high time I started one of these journals and tried my darned'est to keep up on it! 

I will briefly introduce myself: My name is SorrelHorse, you can call me Michaela if you'd like. I was raised a horsewoman and am learning all I can every day. I come from a reining and cowhorse background and have transitioned into the barrel racing arena throughout years of gymkhanas and jackpots. I am "technically" a professional trainer, however I consider myself an apprentice still. I can get a horse broke, and am working hard to get more experience and hopefully build more of a name for myself. I have clients in my valley that I ride for pretty consistently and have the honor of learning from some incredible horseman and women, and I have the best barrel racing family around. I love my horse life! 

While the family owns many, many horses between us - I only have one who is solely "mine". Her name is Leana Little, aka Selena. She is an own daughter of AQHA World Champion Lean With Me (Smart Little Lena) and out of a Doc Tom Tucker bred mare. I bought her as a show horse five years ago, she had won some money already, but we made a tactical error: She did not want to be a show horse! :lol: She was a little spitfire. Could have won bucking bronc of the year every time she saw a judge. I would come home from the barn in tears and wanted to sell her, but no one was buying. One day we got a wild hair - She wants to be a bronc and be stupid about stuff, then fine, let's pick a sport where she can be crazy: And thus, my expensive NRHA licensed mare became my barrel horse. 

Wouldn't you know it...It's just what she needed. Since she found a job she loves, she has stopped being a bronc. She's stopped rearing. She's stopped refusing to do things. She's safe, calm, relaxed, and trustworthy. Kids can ride her. I even managed to get her shown in the reining and working ranch horse classes a couple times.

She is finishing up her first seasoning year and has won so much. With limited hauling we have about $250 won (We fall in the crack a lot, always just one place out of the money...lol) and a ton of prizes. Lots of things that say "Michaela and Leana Little, High Point" and/or "Average Winner" on them. Makes me proud and all warm and fuzzy. She's been on countless trail rides, swimming in the lake, I gathered cattle and branded off of her this year, she carried sponsor flags at our local rodeo, and so much more. She's not exceptional to most people - In fact, my boss doesn't like her at all. Calls her "average" and says she's too ****y, but you know what - She's my little pint sized powerhouse and she will live out her days with me. She will compete for a couple more years and then become my brood mare. She'll bring the cowhorse try and athleticism to match the speed, size, and stride of running bred horses to make some pretty barrel horses I suspect!


You'll have to bear with me, I'm a little obsessed with this mare. I like to post all the things about her. Hope I don't get too annoying.


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## SorrelHorse (Apr 9, 2009)

Update:

I have been very rigorously stretching and massaging Selena in hopes of getting her neck more flexible. My boyfriend (Who is also a very experienced horse person) thinks that is contributing to some issues she is having on the barrel pattern.

I rode her a couple days ago, very lightly, and am going to try again tonight.

My farrier has said she is stiff in her left hock as well, and right shoulder. I have been doing a LOT of stretches that seem to be making a huge difference, as well as using essential oils and liniment all over. I have also restarted her on supplements in hopes that will help as well.

Here's to hoping, and if any of you have other ideas I'd love to hear them!


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## SorrelHorse (Apr 9, 2009)

I also want to add, Selena's "little sister" was just started a couple days ago!!

She's the boyfriend's mare. She came to me to have some time put on her.

No riding pictures yet, trying to get some tomorrow, but here she is being checked up and experiencing the bit for the first time.


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## SorrelHorse (Apr 9, 2009)

Holy cow, this journal is old, and I had completely forgotten that I had even started it.

So, rather than make myself a new one, I will try to nutshell what has happened these past few years, starting from when Zoey was started (The black mare in the last post)

Selena got to have her vacation while Zoey was being started. It was what she needed, and I focused on getting Zoey broke instead. 

Zoey was really difficult at first, then really easy, then back to really difficult. Her first rides were fine, she had no buck in her, but usually I find around ride 4-5 they start waking up a little - She did a lot of running and trying to crash into the fence. I didn't let her, obviously, and she learned that tactic didn't work for her. I started her on the flag a little, and she was naturally really cowy and athletic, but after about 30 days riding at the barn I was at (That was set up for cattle work) we decided it was in our best interest for me to move in with my boyfriend, and we moved the horses to a barn a little closer.

Here are some photos of Zoey at the time, right before we moved her.

























At this point winter was setting in. I picked Selena up so she can start being legged up again. She was never lame, but I could tell she didn't feel awesome, so we brought her back slowly. I did finish the local barrel racing series on her, and won a little day money, and an average check at the end of the season - But no big stars, no real fireworks. Just a smooth easy transition. A race a month of so.

This was when Zoey started getting bad. I was still riding her every day, but she was getting more difficult to deal with by the minute. She was hot, anxious, and explosive. Even if I lunged her into a solid sweat before I got on, she was still all go and no whoa. She then developed a habit of spinning quickly around anyone who tried to get on her.

Chiro out, nothing wrong.
Vet out, nothing wrong.

So we kept going. I dropped her down to three days a week riding. It didn't really help. I started trying to back off and just trot and lope to keep her in shape rather than asking her to do anything. She seemed fine with that. After a couple weeks I started working her more and more, and some days she was fine and other days she was a mess. I hauled her a lot to races, ponied her behind Selena, she just never really clicked to the scene.

After that winter, I got a job that spring being the head trainer of a barn that was emaculate. I had my own barn, horses in training, and a big indoor and outdoor arena.

Problem is, and I should have known better - These people had a reputation for screwing trainers over.

I got five horses in for the first month. It was a good number because I was by myself, no help. Four of them were to start, the other was a refresher. Had a good number of lessons. This is where I met the rankest horse I had ever started. 

Littles, was a raging mare if I ever knew one. Seemed sweet at first, until you tried to ask her to do anything. It took me a month to even get on her back. She would turn away, run AT you, and snap her teeth. When we had fixed that, then she tried turning AWAY from me and kicking. Had to fix that. She took to the saddle fine, she was NOT a fearful horse. Her first ride was actually fine, she didn't buck. Second ride though, she did. We went bucking across the round pen. I got off, worked her some more, got back on, let her walk around and then got off again. It was weird with her. After I finally got her comfortable in the round pen, I let her into the big arena. There, she would explode out of nowhere. Walking along comfortably, then a big squeal and she'd leap up, and then go right into bucking.

She figured out quickly that bucking did not phase me. So she stopped that. Her next tactic was new to me: She threw herself onto the ground and refused to move. Every. Single. Ride. For a week straight. She'd just flop over and wait. 

I swear, I still don't know what was wrong with her. I made some calls to her vet and farrier, and they both said she was never "all there", even as a foal (They both were close friends to her owner).
So after sixty days I somehow, by the grace of god, got her w/t/c both directions and a little leg aids, and sent her home. That's all I needed from her. Meanwhile, the other three horses I had were all progressing wonderfully, with incredibly happy owners.

And at that mark, was when it all went wrong.

The owner of the facility called me at the end of my sixty days there, upset, about nothing. She demanded I take my horses and leave. When I asked why, she said there was just "too much going on" and she "couldn't handle it." At this point I had already paid her the next month in advance, so I asked her to rip up my check. She refused.

There was a lawyer involved. I moved my horses out that same day. I eventually got my money back. My sixty days was over.

Fast forward to where I am now. A nice couple who bought a ranch five minutes away from me, offered to let me bring the horses. I finished out the ones I had in training, and for a while I didn't take anymore. After that experience, I didn't want to. I was extremely depressed, and felt like I had failed, even though I knew it wasn't my fault. I put both my mares in stalls and didn't see them except to turn them out to pasture during the day. 

Cont. in next post.


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## SorrelHorse (Apr 9, 2009)

Anyway.

I was like that for a long time. Every now and then I'd get on one of them, but it just wasn't working out. Boyfriend didn't want to ride Zoey. He wouldn't say it in front of anyone, but he was scared of her.

My mares stayed at that barn for a long time. After a while, I got more comfortable there, and slowly started riding again. At the time there was a lot of other people riding. 

I tried to run Selena a few times, but it was a disaster. I hadn't run in so long, and neither had she. It didn't seem right. So I just rode around and laid her off racing again.

After several months of me being there, the BO suggested I start taking her overflow of lessons. I did, and it was frustrating at first, because everyone there wanted to ride dressage. I did not feel right starting them, but I did the best I could. I was using horses unfamiliar to me, and I didn't click with the people.

But, slowly but surely, I started getting a couple kids and parents who were reliable, kind, and genuinely wanted to enjoy the horses. So I started using my own horses, and brought one gelding out of retirement for it. It was working well.

Here is Selena with a few of her kids. 


















Zoey at the new barn. 
















As it turns out Zoey is pretty reliable as long as you don't ask her to DO anything. So, with that girl pictured above, I started using her for lessons too. We did a lot of extensive groundwork to get her safe on the lunge, and she is doing great. I patterned her on barrels but she really would rather I just not ride her. So honestly, I don't. She is great for a couple of the more advanced kids who are learning to ride more forward, energetic horses, so maybe that was just her purpose.

Selena and I started going to races again. Just a few, here and there, and we fixed all the soreness she had. She now gets massages every month, and a chiro adjustment every three. She feels incredible, honestly.

Here is a video of our most recent barrel run. In this pen, our fast time is a 15.2. This run was a 15.8. As you can see, I got nervous and accidentally shoved her out going to the first. It was brought to my attention that I am also favoring the knee that I broke two years ago, and even though it's healed I'm still guarding it. So there's work to do, mostly on me, while I figure out how to ride my horse again.







And, for fun, here's a few videos from the last few months of the kids.
















There is good and bad, but I am feeling a lot better about where I am.

I am going to finish out a gymkhana series this year, and then probably next season (Starting August) start running barrels a little more competitively. But the gymkhana will give us a low pressure environment for me to find my balance and strength again, while also letting Selena run and build that muscle and cardio she used to have.


Out of nostalgia, here is a compiliation of her running before my injury. Both from her first seasoning year, up until right before I broke my knee.






I am going to start setting phone alarms so I can remember to post here. I think it is good for me to watch progress as well.


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## SorrelHorse (Apr 9, 2009)

Well, it has been an easy week for these horses, though I realize in my recap of events, I forgot to tell Mayzi's story, and she is an important one!

Mayzi is a mare my mom and I bought about two years ago as a three year old. She is five now. She has been a constant struggle, but we love her to death.

She had 30 days when we bought her, but they weren't really solid. She was nervous and flighty, so we essentially just restarted her. Mom did most of the work as originally she was going to be her horse. She put an additional thirty days on her, but upon a pasture accident involving another horse, she tore her suspensory ligament in the back left leg and had to be put on immediate stall rest.

So she came to live with me for 90 days. In a stall. She was a kite. Anyone who has tried to stall rest young, energetic horses knows what I mean - she would try and charge her way out over the top of me, and when I did get her on a lead line she was constantly jigging, jumping, trying to run. I couldn't blame her. I hand walked her every day but she wasn't allowed to do any more. After that nightmare, the vet said we should turn her out and let her heal. So we did. 

Six months later, she came back. 
She got about a week of slow rehab, lame again. Turned her back out. 
Another month goes by. We try again, she stays sound for two weeks.
She develops an abscess under her jaw, unknown cause. She has to be quarantined in case it's strangles. It wasn't, but another thirty days lost.

We put shoes back on her, in high hopes. The farrier said the muscle is so atrophied on that side, that even her hoof is smaller than the other three, and that he's never seen anything so extreme.

This was the photo taken of her hind that day.









So, Mom started her rehab. It turned out to be a little too much for her between her other horses, so after some months of that, it was decided that it was best for her if I did the work.

So a few months ago, Mayzi came to live with me.

At first, she was clumsy, and uncomfortable. She would not reach under herself at all, she would not yield her hindquarters to the left (Which required her injured leg to stretch across), she would not back more than a few steps, she would not lope on her left lead. When she did trot, occasionally she would "lose" her back end, as though it fell out from under her. It was a slow, slow road ahead of us.

We walked briskly, over poles, in circles, backed, and yieled hindquarters for the first week. 
After week 1, we added four to five trot strides. Increasing a stride or two every day.
After that, we built up to trotting a full circle. Then two, then three.
At the end of the first month, she could lope three strides on the left without losing her balance and falling.
At the end of the second month, she could lope each way two or three circles before having to break down and walk again.

She has now been here 3.5 months, and she can lope up to 7-10 circles each direction, has a much stronger trot, her muscle is building back up, and she will yield her hindquarters all day long. She will back for miles and is learning to drive over poles.

For a while we didn't even ride. I would lunge her for 15 minutes, then get on bareback and walk in circles before putting her away. It was incredibly slow, and she wanted so bad to run and play. Here she is about halfway through, deciding she was too hot and bothered to go slow. She caught me off guard, so all I can do is laugh. No matter how careful I am, she will sometimes sneak in a little extra spunk when she feels she can get away with it. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BOGX-ikAU01/?taken-by=coordileana&hl=en

Then, this video was taken around the same time, so I could have something to look back on. You can see she lacks confidence.







The more I am with this mare, the more I love her. She is so gentle, and kind, and playful. She looks to her human for security, so while she is a hot and sometimes spooky mare, she doesn't ever panic. She might startle, but she will look to you for a solution. She's intelligent, trainable, and so incredibly charismatic. She comes when I call her, even though I don't ever give her a treat or reward. She runs to the gate when I walk up. If I stand by her, she will rest her head on me, and close her eyes. If I turn her out in the arena, she will not leave me, she would rather follow me everywhere I go. It is genuine affection, and while I do not often believe that horses truly feel sentimental attachment, I think this horse is as close as you can get.


I admit, I pulled her shoes off last week. Which was my first mistake. She isn't progressing as fast I thought, so I thought maybe it was best to save the money - And the guy who did her shoes before was not my normal farrier, unfortunately. When my normal guy who I trust came out and did her, he said her feet were done at poor angles for her movement and the issues she was having. He took the shoes off, did the best he could, and told me to keep sending him videos so he could see her move.

She is so tenderfooted now. She never used to be. However, despite that, I am noticing she is reaching more - Stretching out, driving up, and moving freely. As opposed to before, she went more upright than flat, and would occasionally short stride or act stiff. So, he will be coming back to shoe her, and hopefully we will see more improvement. I admit, I am not an expert on shoes, I didn't see anything terribly wrong with her shoes before, but then again I'm not the expert.

I think, worst case scenario for Mayzi, she is a broodmare. I am already imagining big, stout, grey babies.  Since I know the injury is not a genetic fault, and she is conformationaly wonderful and her mind so sound, as well as her athleticism and pedigree to back it up. Hard to get a better package than that. I wish this had never happened to her, but we will make the most of it regardless....


I attached some more photos in order. I take a photo of her butt every 30 days so I can see the difference. These are three shots after 30 days, 60 days, and 90 days with me. Will have another one in two weeks.


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

Subbing. 
Love this journal so far.


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## BlindHorseEnthusiast4582 (Apr 11, 2016)

I'm subbing too. Mayzi is beautiful!


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## SorrelHorse (Apr 9, 2009)

Well I didn't really get to ride today, but I did try and get everyone out.

Mayzi is still extremely tender footed, so I am trying to get the farrier out sooner to put shoes back on her, but he's an hour away from me so it's hard to ask him to make that drive for one horse. She may just have to wait the next seven weeks and tough it out until then.

I did notice when doing her daily massage that she is still quite a bit higher on the right side of her hip than the left. I'm still a novice to body work, and I thought maybe it was just inflammation, so I gave her a little bute in her grain to see if that made a difference. 2g. No change, so either it's not inflamed or the bute didn't make a difference. It was warm, but she was also standing in the sun, so her whole butt was warm. lol. 

I admit that doing this body work is a major challenge for me. I don't have a good "feel" of muscles and structure. I'm getting better, and I am noticing a big change in my horses, but I am still not in my comfort zone - I don't really have a natural talent for it, that's for sure. I am due to have my chiropractor out mid march, so at that time I'll get her adjusted too. 

Mayzi did a lot of work on the ground today, just some light things since she is tender. I did drag the arena, so that helped a lot since it was fluffy and soft. I just introduced her to poles, in hopes of getting her a little stronger beyond basic work on the flat, and she is definitely lifting and driving over them so I am happy with that. I had her lope over one, and it was cute to watch her figure out the puzzle, having to shorten or lengthen her stride to get over it. She is incredibly methodical, and intelligent. By the end she had figured out exactly how to position herself to lope over it. 

The others I just turned out for the day as I had to go train on the dogs, but they got to have their blankets off in the sunshine, so they were very happy!

(Note: I'm going to talk about dogsport now, so for those of you reading who don't know what Schutzhund/IPO is, here is a brief video describing it. )






Zico is progressing pretty well. We are working towards out IPO1 title. He is tracking solidly, handling corners very well. We just started article indications which he is picking up on quickly. We did a quick serpentine track today which he nailed, with the exception of being a little too speedy and not super methodical. 

He is running his blinds fairly well too. He will run a hot blind with a helper in it, but he needs to learn to run an empty one too (Shown in this video)








His obedience is absolutely pristine so that I am happy with, we just need to learn to keep him solid with it under distraction (i.e. working in protection when he has to heel and be called off the helper, when he really wants to engage and fight the bad guy) It is difficult to convince him that he should listen to me, when he could just run around and bite stuff for funsies instead. :grin:

He does love protection. He's a little raptor. 

Here he is working with a green helper a few weeks ago. The guy was good but didn't really know enough to progress Zico like I had hoped, so I am trying to find a club I can travel to where he can be worked a little better.

https://goo.gl/photos/orZ28N71GiU6q2NF8

https://goo.gl/photos/AtUUyBcssMaEM1xb7

But you can see how much he really enjoys it. His tail is going, his ears are up, he's barking good and the more that guy puffed up the more he pulled on me trying to get to him. I was pretty proud. Not bad for a cattle dog mutt. 

He is also learning to do his send aways, which I am happy with. It was hard for him to learn to go away from me because of his seperation anxiety, but he is doing a really good job of leaving with energy now, as he has learned it's okay and his confidence is growing. 

I am now home, out of my soaking wet clothes. Zico is curled up next to me and the horses are fed and bundled up in clean stalls.

Tomorrow I have to work a breakfast shift at the restaurant, but then I will be free. Hoping to squeeze a ride in on Selena afterwards if it's not freezing cold. Our arena is getting new rails put in tomorrow though, so I am hoping they will be done with that by the time I get there so I don't have to maneuver around people. 

Wish me luck!


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## SorrelHorse (Apr 9, 2009)

Well I did get to ride, MY horse, for the past two days - Which is an accomplishment. Normally I'm too busy getting on other people's horses. I told myself at the beginning of this winter that I was going to lay off the outside horses until spring, but low and behold, for some reason I still have a couple in my barn.

Anyway, back to Selena - I often forget what it's like to have a BROKE horse. One who is broke just like I want, responds like I want, and works like I want. There's plenty of ways to train a horse, and plenty of different styles, but I have forgotten that sometimes it's okay for me to relax and enjoy my own!

We haven't done anything particularly strenuous, just gotten her really loose and soft in her body. She gets tense easily so that's a big one. She is a naturally lazy horse, so keeping forward motion and drive is sometimes a challenge. 

All we really did was long trot, work on some counter arc circles and softness in the face, and then did some counter canter and lead changes. She is a really easy changer, it's very natural to her, so that is her favorite thing to work on - Plus counter canter is very good for their muscles and balance, and sense of self awareness. 

A spectator who was visiting the barn told me we were "Very in sync" and it was "poetry in motion" - Granted she's not very experienced so she doesn't see the little things, like me struggling to sit up straight to avoid favoring my knee, or how my ring finger hurts holding the reins because of an old injury, or how every five strides I look down at her even though I don't need to. Regardless, it's nice to hear good words.

This afternoon Selena will give two lessons and then Mayzi will give one. Mayzi is new to the lesson program since she is only just now getting confident on her leg, but this little girl took her first fall a week and a half ago and really needs something gentle to ride that isn't Selena (They don't really mesh) - and the other lesson horses are just a little much for her. The ponies are a little too stubborn off the lunge line, Zoey is a little too advanced, and the other mare I normally borrow is out with an abscess. So Mayzi it is. 

She has been doing fine with another girl, her fault is that when I am in the arena on foot she wants to drift towards me. It was a challenge before to get the little girl to ride her away. The one I'm teaching today is a little older and stronger, but last time she only rode on the lunge line because of the fear she is experiencing. I am hoping today I can get her off of the line. 

It's hard because she is one of three sisters that ride, and before she was the bravest of the three - Now the one who started out the most timid is becoming the bravest, but she hasn't fallen off yet.

It doesn't help that the parents coddle a little bit - Not a lot, mind you, but as any new to horses parent would. They didn't make her get immediately back on which I think caused a problem, but still, I think we can move past it with some confidence boosting lessons. 

Wish me luck, I'm off to lunch then to the barn. Today is my day to sleep in, so I admit I really haven't moved much today.


*MOD NOTE
This journal has been closed due to prolonged lack of participation by the author. Journals that have no active participation by the author for a period of time greater than 18 months will be considered abandoned and will be closed until the author asks for them to be reopened. *


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## Fimargue (Jun 19, 2015)

Definitely starting to follow this journal, so remember to set the phone alarms :wink: lol


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

That's good you got to ride your own horse for the past two days. That sounds like a great ride. Nothing wrong with that at all, sometimes you need a day or 2 to just relax, and enjoy it! Glad to hear. 

Have fun at the barn today!!!!


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## SorrelHorse (Apr 9, 2009)

It's been a rough day. 

Horses have been fine, Selena continues to feel GREAT. She is so soft, and so strong, and so free moving. I definitely feel the difference with all the body work we have been doing, as well as changes in her feed over the years.

Mayzi is the one who bothers me. Ever since her shoes she has been sluggish, depressed, and not making any progress. While she is moving flatter, I think it's more due to wanting to keep weight off her feet than actually striding out and flowing. I don't know. Maybe I'm just overreacting. It HAS only been two weeks after all. I think no matter what she's getting shoes again, but, I hope she will toughen up a little until next time. We rode her yesterday and she was pinning her ears at being asked to go forward, which is not like her. Similarly, she just doesn't feel "right". Sigh. It's very discouraging. 

Short entry. My partner and I are in the middle of a big argument and I barely got a break to come online and check my emails for work. Hopefully it will simmer down. I am feeling a little depressed and that sucks. I didn't ride this evening, but I'm considering going back later if I need to for that. Will see how the evening goes.


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## horseylover1_1 (Feb 13, 2008)

I just started reading your journal and I've enjoyed it a lot. Sorry to hear about the argument... I know from experience there's few things more stressful than that. If you ever need to get away for a minute or two the horses will always be there for you.


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## SorrelHorse (Apr 9, 2009)

The weather has been incredibly unpredictable the past week, it is starting to make me crazy. Snowing, sun, rain, and hail all in the same day should not be allowed!

I accidentally (sort of) agreed to take on another horse to be started even though I said I wasn't doing that until spring. She's big and she's powerful, and she's had a bad experience with another trainer. I don't know how she is going to react. The owner is a new boarder at the barn, and one of the only western riders besides me (And my haul in students) there right now. The mare is nice, and pretty, but she is flighty and unpredictable. You never know how those ones are going to go. I said I would start working with her as soon as our round pen dries out, as it's underwater at the moment with all the snowmelt. 

Similarly, this boarder also offered to clean my stalls in exchange for riding one of my horses. So I am thinking she should ride Zoey if all she wants to do is play, and that kills two birds with one stone.

Selena and I got a brief ride in yesterday, which was not nearly enough. She is a hot, energetic mare these days. Whether it's because of the cold weather, the feed change, or both - I don't know, but it's both fun to experience her really moving and a little frustrating because she is now a little cold backed and would really rather squeal and kick up her heels and run around than listen to me. Thankfully I am so used to riding her antics that it doesn't bother me, but I'd still really rather opt out.

















We only got a little frosting by the time I took that photo, but it ended up only being about an inch of snow anyway. Fine with me, I am ready for my warm weather.


I think I've decided I would like to give Mayzi a break from riding until she gets shoes again, or at least only ride her lightly. She still seems ouchy and miserable, and she's such an affectionate, expressionate horse that I hate doing that to her. I don't want to sour her work ethic.


Here she is playing with Zoey yesterday. And she gave herself eyebrows rolling, which I thought was hilarious.
















Also, funny what you find on social media, I got in touch with her old owner who I didn't really know previously. Apparently, she's been battling stifle injuries since she was a yearling, and that was why she had a late start. Similarly, she was an out of control young one, ran through a fence and cut up her whole face -










I guess she tried to put a first ride on, and Mayzi flipped over backwards on her and hurt her pretty bad. I guess they couldn't do anything with her, she was a nightmare to handle, and spooky and flighty five ways from sunday.

It's just interesting because I haven't experienced that with her. I mean she spooks sometimes, but it's nothing big. She just startles and carries on. She doesn't really buck and has never reared. The worst she's done is throw her head and hump her back a little with me. She was a little pushy when I first handled her, but was easily persuaded otherwise. She rides out for me really nicely and calmly, and she's SO loving. I've never had a horse so affectionate before. She really just wants to be with you. She's sensitive but she's not stupid.

It just makes me wonder what happened to her to make all that bad stuff happen. I don't know.

I have a hair appointment today that I can't really afford, but hey, it's a treat to myself. After that it's dog training timing, and Zico gets to go on the TheraPlate!! I love the theraplate for both dogs and horses. I am so excited. 

For closing, here's some cute photos of baby mayzi. She was a tank!


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## SorrelHorse (Apr 9, 2009)

While there was not quite so much horse time today, there was a lot of dog time!

Yesterday I allowed myself to get my hair done, even though it was expensive and I really could have spent the money on something else. I was informed that I'm sort of neglecting myself, not in a "Haven't showered for days and have mats in my hair" sort of way, but in a "I haven't slept for days, my growout on my hair color is four inches, I forgot to pick up my medication at the pharmacy and I'm so busy I don't remember the last time I've eaten" sort of way. So, I told myself I'd go.

It was pretty nice actually, touching up my blonde, getting it cut, and my stylist is a good friend so she put in some semi-permanent purple underneath which I think is super cool. Even though it's only good for a couple washes, I think next time I'll do more purple. I feel like it's super fun, and that maybe I deserve that. 

Post hair, I went to my other friend who runs a business doing therapy on her TheraPlate! 
Theraplate: Therapy, Rehabilitation and Sports Conditioning Platforms

Now I've used this thing before but I went a month or two without it recently. I live 45 minutes away from her so getting my horses there is hard sometimes. However she does live right next to my dog training field, so I try to catch her and put Zico on it when I can (And stand on it myself).

I think I really needed it. I have been diagnosed with nerve damage in my upper back and due to that I have some distorted feeling, and tingling in my neck/shoulders and down my left arm. On top of this, I also have been struggling with tendon tightness in my right leg (The one that I broke two years ago) and something else in my hip. Sometimes my hip will go out on that side and cause excruciating pain. It was happening every couple hours for a while there. After being on it though, I haven't felt any pain through training or through today, and my day is over. Yay! 

Zico has really only been on the plate on low before, because he's so sensitive and scared of noises. Well we wanted to bump it up for a full soreness session, so we did - And he freaked out, wouldn't get on, shaking. I had to sit with him in my lap. After a minute though you could see the wheels turning, and he started to relax, and even climbed off of my lap of his own accord to lay on the plate! He closed his eyes, relaxed, and did the rest of the session without any help from me. Here's a photo of us standing on it together towards the end.









If anyone has been wondering whether it really works or not, let me tell you, I am sold. After feeling how it helped me just once yesterday with my hip, I am going to be on it twice a week with my dog. I also noticed a difference in Zico when I brought him out. He is naturally a really narrow mover in the back end, but he also gets inflammation in his hips from jumping and working which makes him move inward with his back legs. Well, right after the session, he stepped off and trotted out and he moved almost completely straight instead of totally narrow! I felt his hips and I couldn't feel hardly any inflammation. It DID come back after we worked, but we did a lot of high impact stuff, which is another story. So we'll be going back to do it again later, and hopefully with more sessions it won't be so bad! I want him to live comfortably into his older years, so even though he's only three and can push through discomfort, I want to get ahead of the issue on this one.



*We also had an AWESOME session afterwards training!*

Zico is a medium-drive dog, which is good and bad. Good because it keeps him pretty sane, he doesn't get neurotic about things (Like some high drive dogs who lose their minds when they see a ball), and doesn't have boundless energy (So he actually sleeps) but it's bad because he can fizzle quicker than the other dogs, and if he's tired or loses interest then there's really nothing you can do to bring him back. So I have to really be careful how far I push, and I have been trying to condition him as much as possible so he has more overall cardio. When we got our BH title, it's a LONG routine, and by the end of it he was completely drained. The IPO1 title is just as long in obedience, but he also has to do tracking and protection and the obedience routine adds things like jumps, send outs, retrieves, and more distractions (Example, they fire a gun while you are heeling) - So I really need to work with him to get him through all of that.


Here is what an ideal IPO1 obedience routine looks like.








Now that's going to be my hardest part. I think he'll always want to track because that's his best phase so far, and what he likes the best - And I think he'll also do protection because then he gets rewarded for the game. He gets to bite no matter what, so at least he gets rewarded. Plus in IPO1 it's a short protection phase anyway. 


So yesterday we worked on running our blinds. He is now letting me send him into the blind from a few feet away, which is a start. He likes things that involve running, and jumping, so I am hoping our blind searches will come along quickly.

I am going to start acclimating him to markers, like in this video.






He knows about "place" when there is a marker on the ground, so I am hoping we can transfer that, and it will not be hard to teach him how to apply it to blind searches. 

We also did some work on our send outs, which was mostly just him running. He does have a hard time leaving me at such distance, but he is getting more comfortable, since he now knows I will call him immediately back.


And at the end we did some regular heeling, which I actually got to get some pictures of! We also did a long down (for twenty minutes. In trial it will be about fifteen, so I figure, better push the limit a little) He is really good at his downs. I just hope he's as good at it next time we trial.

Here he is in the down.

















Cheeky rat












And here he is heeling. We are working on keeping his head up on me instead of looking at my toy or my hand (My ball is a magnet that is attached to my back, and I usually carry a tug on my hand.) Right now that means a lot of eye contact, as you can see I'm looking down, but he is getting better.
























He is also really good at engaging with me, which I do by running backwards and asking him to get as close to me as I can and try to push into me.










Silly boy, I went to put my sunglasses on my head and he jumped up to touch me because he thought I wanted MORE engagement from him. I love this picture. It's so classically Zico...










And then here's some less flattering pictures, lol! In this one you can see he is looking behind me at my ball, not actually at me.














To be continued.......


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## SorrelHorse (Apr 9, 2009)

pt2.


One more, someone made a smart remark in front of me and I was giving them the face. lol










I love my club though. I found a great group of accepting people, and without their encouragement and support I wouldn't have been able to do this sport. Zico isn't a shepherd, or a malinois, or a bull type dog who naturally wants to bite and be high drive - So most clubs wouldn't even let me bring him to the field. I'm glad I get the chance to work him and learn for the future, so when I do get the Malinois I am hoping for, I will already have an idea of what I'm doing.


On a more horsey related note, we have decided collectively that even though we didn't breed any mares this year, that we WILL breed one (Or two....) next spring. We have four to choose from and who we breed will be dependent on who is sound (Mayzi....). We will breed Lexi for certain. If Mayzi is sound and progressing I will breed Selena, finally. If she isn't, we'll breed her, because we know her condition is not genetic and she has phenomenal bloodlines and conformation/brain to back it up. I think her crossed on a running stud would be one heck of a colt. If it's a colt at all out of her, I would actually consider letting remain intact - Same with Selena's - But we would geld a colt out of Lexi. She's a great mare and has produced great horses, but unfortunately her pedigree has very little up close names that would make a stud worth it. Her past few babies though have been sturdy, good hearted, and flashy. Really athletic too. They all made exceptional non-pro and youth horses. 


Excited for the future. I think I will need to start stud shopping.....


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## SorrelHorse (Apr 9, 2009)

Quick jump back in, I just found this, and while we're on the subject of dogsport - I am laughing my *** off!


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## SorrelHorse (Apr 9, 2009)

I had a very encouraging ride on Mayzi today!

I wasn't really sure I even wanted to ride as I have been feeling very sick since last night, but she is used in my Friday lesson so I thought I should. I lunged her for about ten minutes to get her warmed up, then got one for about half an hour. We didn't so anything super groundbreaking, but she felt really good. We trotted around the barrels and worked on getting her to sit back on her hind, trying to encourage her to use her hind more since she is still developing muscle back there from her injury - I am hoping that if she uses it gradually in smaller exercises (i.e, sitting back and rating to circle a barrel) that she will get more confident and build the muscle gradually without causing any stress on her body. 

So the idea is, a few more weeks of gentle downward transitions and backing circles, and hopefully she will get stronger and realize it doesn't hurt anymore to use that part of her body. It is difficult however, given that she is naturally a heavier horse, she will need to learn to be a little more conscious of how she moves. 

She was a little resistant of me using my inside rein and leg together. I just now introduced her to the idea that I can use more than one aid at a time (gasp) so she is a little unsure of that. But, some trot to walk transitions using both me sitting down, my inside rein and leg squeezing her up, and my outside rein just kind of guiding her around the barrel - Really helped show her how to use her brain, and provide an obstacle she can overcome mentally to build her confidence. I was proud, since when I first asked her she kind of braced and shook her head, but after the first time or two she settled, softened her face and relaxed her body to let me manipulate her ribcage and shoulders. She is naturally putting her hip under her going to the right (as expected) but I did have to hold her a little with my outside leg going left, and occasionally stop her to correct the hip from fading. Once she settled into that I went ahead and let her stop.

The other thing we are working on, is movement with energy. On top of learning how to listen to multiple aids, she also needs to add a little drive to her lateral work. She knows how to do most everything on a base level, but she needs refinement added. Today we focused on the shoulder exercises and sidepassing. It involved a lot of things in sequence, like -

Haunch turn right,
Sidepass right,
Haunch turn right,
Trot off,
Haunch turn left,
Sidepass left,
Haunch turn left,
Trot off.

The theory behind this is to do two things,
1. Encourage her to keep her hip underneath her in the haunch turn by immediately asking her to sidepass afterwards, and
2. Building energy into the turn by pushing her out at a big trot almost immediately.

The difficult part is keeping her from getting frustrated, as for her, this is the equivalent of asking her to do calculus when she's only been doing basic algebra. However, I think it is time she starts being asked to do more things with accuracy, as she is reaching the point of having mastered her basic foundation.

We also did a significant amount of backing, or at least as much as I thought she could handle. If I had a flag or mechanical cow to work I would prefer to work her on that for this because it would keep her mind busy, but unfortunately I don't, so we do what we can. I tried getting her to really trot big into a stop, draw back a step, and rollback the other way and trot off straight again. This is how I would also put colts on cattle, but it's hard when they don't have that focus to keep them fresh so I need to be careful not to sour her to it. 

She was quite clumsy with this, so after she gave me one good fluid turn each direction I called it quits and got off of her. I was pretty proud, as I threw new things are her and she handled them all with minimal resistance.










The new boarder is going to ride Zoey tomorrow to see if she likes her. If she does she will start taking care of her for me on the days she rides so that will be a little help. Right now with the three horses at the barn, two out to pasture, and the dogs plus work and lessons, I'm feeling a little burned out. If I could get someone on her back that would at least take one horse off my hands.
Wish me luck, again.


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## SorrelHorse (Apr 9, 2009)

*Walking on air right about now!*

Today I had a day full of lessons, as my Fridays always are. In winter I try really hard to cut back on everything and work more at my "real" job, because of the weather and lack of light. Half of my arena lights are burned out and I have not gotten to replacing them, but hopefully soon.

I have a lovely family who rides with me, they are my absolute favorite, they have twins (10) and an older girl (14) who all love horses, are so incredibly polite, and good hearted kids. They got screwed over by the first trainer they went with, who sold them a bunch of horses who were both unsound and unsafe for beginners - And tried to steal training money from them by telling them they had to pay in advance, so when they did, she dropped off the face of the earth.....Anyway.

Fast forward about a year, they've been with me since then. One of their good horses is out on injury unfortunately, but they have a really good Morgan mare they have all been riding. So usually, I give the older girl a lesson, then she passes the horse along to one of the twins and the other twin rides one of my horses. It seems to be working really well for now. They have their challenges and quirks, but they're kids. 

The older girl today was really good, she has been improving leaps and bounds lately. The twins are a little harder - One of them sits too far back and wants to do a chair seat, the other leans too far forward and balances on the horses mouth. I feel like half of my teaching them as a group is just me yelling contradictory things, like "Sit back! Sit forward! Leg under you! Leg forward! More rein! Less rein!" etc. lol. 

One of the twins (let's call her Lou) had her first fall the other weekend at our barrel race, so she's been struggling with confidence. I was having her ride Mayzi so she could get used to the feel of a horse who presents a challenge without causing any trouble, and that worked really well, but today I just felt that Mayzi was a little too hot headed so I opted to put her on Selena instead. Selena frustrates her to no end, she's so lazy, and she tries to dive in all the time. I know how she is and these two just don't click, but, Lou rode her through okay and I could tell that it was good for her to have to push a horse a little without anything bad happening. Hopefully this train keeps up with her.

The other twin, (Let's say her name is Abby) is having a hard time with her mare too, which is unfortunate. She loves her and she's a great horse for the kids, but she has a couple of days every now and then where she's just rude. She'll stop in her tracks to avoid going forward, and that little girl will get her with spurs, whip, what have you and she will totally ignore her. Doesn't happen with the older daughter, but she has the younger ones number. Had to work a lot on teaching her to get momentum and then keep it without letting her die out. Did a lot of figure eights around obstacles, so she had to negotiate a circle without letting the mare break down. Seems like it worked.

Meanwhile, for both of these lessons, I was on Mayzi! I didn't even realize I had been on her for two hours until I stepped off and she was sweating. You know what though, she felt REALLY good! She settled into the routine, demonstrated a couple things (Like haunch turns and how to soften her face) and she didn't even seem tired at the end. Usually by then she would have been trying to tell me she was feeling bad, but she didn't! That makes me so happy. Hopefully she isn't sore tomorrow, but I'll go in the morning to check. That is the most anyone has been on her back in a long time.


After that family I had three other girls, who are not quite as fun, but still cool. They're just a lot of energy, and they bring their siblings who are a lot of energy, and sometimes it's draining. We do 1/2 hour sessions on each of them. They are 6, and I think either 8 or 9? Somewhere in there. Lots and lots of questions. Like, "Can I curry her now? Can I give her a mint? What's that horses name? Can I bridle her? Can I get on now? Can I trot? Can I lope? Can I, Can I, Can I....?"

It makes me grind my teeth a little, but it's okay.

They did make a lot of progress too, to each their own. One of them is really struggling to keep her hands quiet. She is brave as all hell, but when she gets excited she tends to bounce and really raise her hands all the way up. So I took away her "fast" privileges and have been making her do a lot of walking which has made her sober up a little. I also at one point took her bridle privileges away and made her ride Selena with a neck rope, so that really helped establish that she can ride lightly and steer without pulling. Today though she kept her hands really quiet, sat beautifully, and was really thoughtful about her choices so I was proud of that.


The older of the three really wants to barrel race and doesn't understand why I won't let her just take off and run with my horse. However I can't complain too much since she doesn't disobey my instructions. I did let her trot the pattern today after she did some drills over poles and practiced her circles, so that made her happy.

The third really doesn't even want to ride, she just wants to be better than her sister. Not really sure how I feel about her yet, but we'll see.


I also got my boarder on Zoey and she really liked her. They seemed to get along really well, and even though Zoey's a little flighty and nervous at times the gal didn't seem bothered and just rode her through. I am hoping that relationship will continue as it would be really good for me.


Mayzi from today, standing patiently while I went to help a kid get on her horse.


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## horseylover1_1 (Feb 13, 2008)

I've never heard of someone being mounted while giving lessons but it makes so much sense to me. You can easily "show" people what they need to do instead of just "tell." 

Mayzi is such a pretty thing.  I love her color.


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## SorrelHorse (Apr 9, 2009)

horseylover1_1 said:


> I've never heard of someone being mounted while giving lessons but it makes so much sense to me. You can easily "show" people what they need to do instead of just "tell."
> 
> Mayzi is such a pretty thing.  I love her color.


Yeah, for little kids who need more guidance (i.e. lunge line lessons, graduating to then me just following with a whip) I stay on foot, but some of the ones who are comfortable riding by themselves it helps both me and them if I'm on a horse.


Mayzi is certainly a cool looking mare, here's some photos of her when she was younger shedding out - She had her old owner wondering if she was grey, or palomino, or chocolate, or what. lol


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## SorrelHorse (Apr 9, 2009)

Some time has passed!

I'll start with Zoey.
This mare has had a lot of attention lately, mostly because of the new girl who is riding her. She really likes her which is good, and Zoey seems to be behaving so far. She has ridden her about four times, working a lot on just stretching her out and getting some muscle back.

The only unfortunate thing is yesterday we came out and he back legs were a little swollen....Not sure if maybe she kicked her panels or something, but we buted her just to see if it goes down and I'll have to check it out again today. She wasn't super lame on it, but she was dragging her back toes quite a bit.



Mayzi and I have been having some really awesome rides lately, or at least awesome for us. When you have a horse in rehabilitation it is hard not to push them. I know what she is going to be capable of, and I have to remind myself that she needs to go slow as molasses to her goal - Which is proper soundness and muscle development. So that means we can't go too fast too soon, and we have to relish in the baby steps.

The baby steps include things such as learning how to respond off light touches - Mayzi finds softening her face to be difficult, so we have been working on getting her to respond to the bridle without resistance. We have made progress, and she IS softening - But some days are better than others. She is really resisting the idea that both my hands and my legs can work at the same time, so when I try to soften her nose in, she tries to fall forward. So I nudge her up a little, and in that moment she wants to take her head away again rather than just drive. So it will be a matter a patience and teaching her she can do both, involving bringing her head down softly to the pressure AND driving from behind and rounding herself up a little. 

Shaping is going to be hard for her in general I think, not just going forward. She has so much mass that she isn't naturally very bendy or loose, so teaching her is going to be a challenge. We have lightly been using the barrels as obstacles for working on circles, which has really brought out her weaker side. All I want is a perfect circle around the barrel, ten feet away, but she thinks she already has it figured out, and wants to dive across while ignoring my inside leg. So we will be doing lots of counter arcs in our near future. 

Overall though, I am pleased with the progress. Everytime she relaxes, releases, and responds I feel a big step forward is being accomplished. A little at a time, and hopefully in a few months we will be ready for real work.

Oh, and also, we got in the trailer!! Yippee!!










She has only been hauled twice since she has been hurt most of the time we've owned her, and she doesn't like the sound of the trailer under her feet when she steps on it. It took a lot, but I got her in multiple times. She doesn't respond well to any force, so using a whip behind her, even if I didn't touch her, almost threw her over the edge with anxiety. So I sat with her for an hour or so and played hot and cold, lunging her outside and then letting her rest at the trailer. I put some hay in there and she eventually stretched her neck out enough to eat it, then one foot, back out....Another foot....back out....Etc. It was painfully slow, but after she got all four feet in and was allowed to eat for a moment she relaxed.

New problem though, she will now go in immediately as soon as asked, but wants to fly right back out, either forwards or backwards, she doesn't care. I suppose though I should count my blessings, some horses don't back out of trailers at all....lol. We have more work to do. I am going to bring the stock trailer home so I will have more space to really work with her.




On another note, I did use the theraplate and a new thing called the PowerMag on Selena the other day at our gymkhana. I was so incredibly impressed. The magnet was supposed to be used with the plate to target problem areas, and I am so sold on it.

So background, Selena has really bad stiff neck muscles. Like, just to touch them they are hard as rocks. Always been that way, just kind of got used to it. Well Delaney, the owner of all this stuff and long time friend of mine, suggested maybe her issues running poles was because of her stiff muscles since it requires a lot of lateral movement. 

Selena doesn't like her neck messed with for massage. She pulls away and throws her head. Well, here's a video that speaks for itself.

This was after fifteen minutes or so. Watch the subtle twitches and lip curl she gives Delaney, before she finally releases at her problem area (The crest of her neck)






After that, she went and ran poles, and she ran beautifully. I'll find this video.

The ground that day was slick as all hell, and I honestly have to say by the time I got to my end turn I was so shocked by how compliant she was being that I literally just forgot to ride. I usually kiss to her around a turn and I didn't, so she bogged down and wondered if I was alive up there. lol. This may not look like much, but for her, this is a HUGE step forward.







Her poll felt like literaly jello afterwards. No rock, no nothing. And since then I've ridden her twice and she has felt forward, free moving, and full of energy. That is not like her at all. She is normally lazy, quiet, and easily distracted. 


Following Selena getting worked on, we also worked on Lexi (Mom's horse.) Lexi is an anxious mare. She has been in two trailer accidents before we had her, and she weaves so bad she wears down her feet. She is naturally nervous and scared, and I didn't even think she'd get on the plate. I put her on it for a minute on low just to see, and she stood there just fine so I paid for the session. Mom had to go run on her, so when she came back we did Selena first and then her. 

This is a video that speaks for itself. We were trying to show Selena giving release signs, but we got this instead.







Lexi was not tied or being held. She was standing loose, as she uses Selena as a security blanket. If we take Selena away, she usually just stands and waits for her to come back. This was the coolest thing ever. She stood on it for half an hour, and afterwards whenever another horse was on it she would inch closer and closer to it. Post this, she loaded in the trailer with no issues after making the best barrel run she'd ever had. I could cry I am so happy.



That's all, Zico and I are going to do our own theraplate session today and the girls are getting the day off while we train....And we are finally getting some sunshine, which is fantastic!


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## SorrelHorse (Apr 9, 2009)

Today was kind of bittersweet.


It started out by me looking at Zoey, who has been off for a few days. She seems to be dragging her back toes pretty intensely. I can't find any heat or swelling, so I suspect it may be in her hip or back. It's just strange, she hasn't been out of her stall really, and when Jackie rode her all she did was do a lot of walking and then a little trotting, because she is finding riding a little difficult since it's been a while. Definitely not what I would consider hard work. 

Here's a video of her moving, in case anyone wanted to see that.






So instead of actually doing anything with her, I just took the opportunity to have our second clipper session ever. The first time I ever showed her clippers, as soon as I turned them on (not even close to her) she panicked and pulled back. Since then I've done other horses with her tied nearby, and managed once to do her bridle path, but she would still pull back if it was brought near her muzzle. Well, today, she let me do her whole face and she learned that clippers won't eat her! She looks nice without a goat beard and mile long whiskers. She had crazy eye whiskers that drove me crazy, because the one on top of her eye was just one, and it was almost down to her nose. I'd never seen anything like it. Glad it's gone, lol.










Mayzi didn't really get to do anything except be brushed and loved on. I clipped her too, but she already knew how to clip - I think her previous owner must of taught her. I'd never done it but she didn't even bat an eyelash when I turned them on and did her whole face. She actually just lowered her head and let me do whatever. Afterwards she "played" with the kids in the round pen, meaning they swung ropes at her and tried to get her to move, and she mostly ignored them. lol. 


Selena had an interesting moment though. Went for our regular friday lessons, the first girl gets her and walks her into the arena. I have the kids walk the horses a few circles and then check their cinches. Well she made it around, and Selena randomly reared up, ripped the reins out of her hands and ran off. She ran to the corner of the arena and stopped and waited for me to catch her. I have NO idea what caused it, nothing I saw there seemed to have startled her, and she's never done anything like that before. I don't really understand why, but I guess that's horses for you. 

The girl was pretty shaken, and she cried and complained about how she got a rope burn. I really didn't think it was even worth mentioning given that I couldn't even SEE the burns. Her dad agreed with me and wasn't having any of her drama, made her get on the horse anyway, and after riding for a few minutes she came around. Selena was fine after that, her normal quiet self. It was just a weird reaction.


Tomorrow the Theraplate is coming to the barn, and I am so stoked. Time to finally get Mayzi on it, and hopefully Zoey too, because I think if the issue is in her back it will really help. If it doesn't we move on to the chiropractor, and if it still doesn't resolve, onto the vet. Blah. I hate calling the vet.


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## SorrelHorse (Apr 9, 2009)

Theraplate didn't really do anything for Zoey. sigh. Mostly because she wouldn't stand on it. She wasn't afraid, but it works by tensing and relaxing the muscles, so she didn't like that. She stood on it with her front feet on high, but as soon as she got her back on it, she started kicking with her right hind (The one she is worse on) and would jump off. She could tolerate it on low, but once turned to high, she wouldn't have it. So she didn't stay on it long enough for it to do anything. Oh well I guess.

We did use the power mag on her back though, and she no longer flinches when pressure is applied - Though she is still dragging those feet. Guess chiro is our next step..



Miss Mayzi was a **** rocket though. She had a ton of energy today after her session, and she raced around the round pen for a while. I didn't have time to ride, but I did check her up and let her play with pressure and release a little. About halfway through she even stopped chomping on her bit and kept her mouth closed, jaw relaxed, and was soft. I was happy with that.


Selena ran around like a bat out of hell too. But she's felt good since the race, so her session was just maitenence.


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