Somehow cosmically the world of horses is all about irony. Here I am at my wits end trying to think of what could be wrong, how hard it will be to fix, and how wrong horseshoes feel. Well, as it turns out the fix was quite simply to shoe the horse.
She worked sound the day after her shoes were put on, and I swear it was like having a different horse. I don't think anyone realized how much pain she was in. She went from being slightly rushy (I think trying to get off her sore feet faster) and disconnected all around to lighter, brighter and so steady! All the hippity hops and wobbles were her trying to stay off her front feet, because it's like my horse has whole new gaits.
So I've been riding a lot. She feels amazing. And all the desensitizing stuff has TOTALLY paid off. She's now trotting/cantering past packs of dogs playing fetch with running yelling children, not worried about poles in the arena or standards outside the arena, all the little things that used to make her flinch away have become non-issues.
I also got reacquainted with an old friend that used to teach lessons at a summer camp I worked for. We'll call her Kevin (it's a long story) She's an amazing rider and has this amazingly well trained Appendix gelding and she events ** level and wow... So today she decided to let me borrow one of her bits and give me a few pointers. I got a long lesson in a circle about how to get Bijou to stretch down and into contact. It was awesome to have someone on the ground to say yes when we were doing well, no when we weren't, and give suggestions for when something needed to be changed. I think she really enjoyed having me as a student because I understood what she wanted me to do and got it done for the most part. She kept having me slow the rhythm with my posting and I could feel the difference when she mentioned it and it was so intuitive for me but I just needed someone to tell me which pieces to put together. Overall, this week has been awesome.
I also started a new job that sounds really fun and pays well too. No I'm not licking envelopes or doing online marketing from home, I'm working as a hostess for a portable photo-booth. I get paid to enjoy someones wedding and entertain the guests :D
This summer is coming together nicely!
Stay tuned for the next episode featuring....................... Photos of Bijou WITH ME ON HER!!! never before seen!
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That is such good news! Of course we'd all love to keep our horses barefoot, but some of them really do need shoes. I'm approaching the same decision with my gelding ... he will likely need some as well since he wears his hooves down so quickly. Some days I also suspect he is a little foot sore, but he's pretty stoic so it's difficult to really observe. In any case - hope things just keep getting better for you! Pictures please!!! :-)
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