Well, today is New Year's Eve! Yahoo! I dragged daddy to the barn today-almost against his will pretty much when I spotted....SANDY and CHERYL! I was so happy to see them, so I gave them both hugs and handed Sandy the check for the boarding for January.
I was so excited! It's New Year's Eve! I'm going to train Freedom! WHOO! How couldn't I be NOT excited? I ran to Freedom's stall and happily got her out on the cross ties, quick to brush her when.....
The Farrier and his Assistant came by....
I mean, it was fun to see them both; but they seemed in deep conversation about something with Sandy that involved a lady and buying something for a hundred dollars from her. I have no idea what but seriously...Anyhoo.....I attempted to brush Freedom's tail with the Absorbsine horse spray that I gave to Mar awhile back, but it was not happening. That mat seemed to have loosened some, but still hard as a rock. It wasn't going to budge.
Well, fine.
So, I taught Daddy how to tack up Freedom completely and Freedom, bless her heart....She tried to fool me by holding her breath! Hahaha...Nice try, not happening! I made sure to tighten the girth and then move it more comfortably and then waited until she breathed and readjusted it again. No worries, she had three fingers between the girth and her chest. She was fine-and the saddle would stay on firmly.
So, the reins were tied onto the saddle and I lunged Freedom. Much to my amazement....Freedom went bucking! She kicked, made noise and threw a fit. At first, I thought it was because of the bit or something being tugged because she kept throwing her head to and fro, and then I thought it could have been the girth....But no...I remembered. Her stall. Her stall smelled heavy of ammonia.
Which meant....
Freedom was moody...And pregnant. And she didn't wanna work. And still moody.
Well! This....Changed things a tiny bit....I would have to be a bit more harder on her to get her to listen, and to get her to get that energy out! She must have been so pent up! She kicked her heels high up in the air, threw her head and didn't hesitate to keep bucking every few steps around me for a while.
"Come on, Freedom! I know you're mad, this is to burn off your energy! Come on!" I spoke with her. For a brief moment,she looked me in the eye and then snorted, bucked again and ran around.
I kept talking with her every so often, but after a while, I gave her a challenge.
Go ahead and keep bucking and kicking and screaming....I'll just be here to make sure you keep the pace you set for yourself.
Did she fulfill it? Oh yes....I tried "Whoa"-ing with her and she didn't listen and walked around me. I used this time to have my back to her, and tug on the line a bit to get her to come to me. She came when I told her "Walk" and slowly did she touch my shoulder in which I gave her a nice scratch on her very favorite spot.
Then came Dad's turn!
He lunged her very well, but I couldn't help but notice something...Freedom kept SLIPPING in the arena when she was being lunged! She kept losing her footing! This never happened before her hooves had been trimmed. It seemed like now she was losing her balance because of being unfamiliar with hooves properly trimmed...That boggled my own mind. Maybe her hooves were cut a tad short? Who knew? I am going to talk to the Farrier though about this.
But we tried lunging Freedom on her right side, and I used an old gold gift bag to shake and make some noise with and well...Freedom freaked out and dragged dad across the ground like a rag doll. I tried not to laugh. He thought it was easy? Maybe now he'll think twice when I say it's no walk in the park. It's wrestling with a thousand pound, moody mare and she was not happy.
Did that work? No, it did not! So-I went to my original plan that me and Tracey Goforth had been talking about....Taking a plastic bag on the end of the whip and trying it that way. I found an unopened black trash bag and tied it onto a short lunging whip and cracked it and made the whole noise maker with it. She kept getting skittish and dragged dad back to the other end of the arena like a doll once more.
I followed, wiggling the whip in the air at her hindquarters and eventually after a few times around....We got a rusty circle! Freedom went around on her right side, stopping here and there...(Me waving and wiggling the bag in the air....) but eventually she knew I wouldn't go farther than making scary noises and she got the idea of what we wanted and went around by herself.
It was about the tenth time around when I told dad it was enough and up close...Freedom was panting hard, covered in sweat. You could see steam coming off of her neck almost as easily as you can see cobwebs on a black wall. That easy. I was in shock. Her belly was moving as if she was panting at her last inch of breath.
"That's enough." I whispered as Dad came over and his jaw dropped.
"Whoa! She's so hot!" He exclaimed. "No more for today."
I had to glare. No kidding...So, we put her on the cross ties and immediately placed a cooler sheet on her back and let her rest there for a bit as we fed her about 30 or so peppermints and tried to feed her hay.
Did she want the hay? Oh no. She ignored it and waited patiently for more treats. Not hay. Not water...Peppermints. Well...
Fine....
We waited for about 15 minutes, maybe more and she slowly cooled off. Then a nice lady came by and asked if she could turn her horse out first. I told her that was okay. Freedom needed to cool off some more. And while I waited...I tried out the blanket our Secret Santa gave us!
It's too small. WAY too small. About 6 inches or so was exposed from her tail and down. Her entire bum was exposed to the cold. I know that if I don't want a cold butt...She probably won't want a cold butt either. So, I turned her out for about 30 minutes and by then, the guy delivering the saw dust was there.
Time to go...Well before he had come by, I'd cleaned out Freedom's stall myself and was happy that it no longer stinked of urine or such. So yay! And then I put her up and we left....Sadly, but we had to go.
Included here are my 5 things I am surprised that happened this year:
1.) Freedom and finding out she's pregnant....(SURPRISE, SURPRISE!)
2.) Having my toenail removed because of severe infection. (I've never had that happen to me, EVER)
3.) My dad being able to find work again.
4.) Me having to take more meds than before...
5.) Making so many friends....
I was so excited! It's New Year's Eve! I'm going to train Freedom! WHOO! How couldn't I be NOT excited? I ran to Freedom's stall and happily got her out on the cross ties, quick to brush her when.....
The Farrier and his Assistant came by....
I mean, it was fun to see them both; but they seemed in deep conversation about something with Sandy that involved a lady and buying something for a hundred dollars from her. I have no idea what but seriously...Anyhoo.....I attempted to brush Freedom's tail with the Absorbsine horse spray that I gave to Mar awhile back, but it was not happening. That mat seemed to have loosened some, but still hard as a rock. It wasn't going to budge.
Well, fine.
So, I taught Daddy how to tack up Freedom completely and Freedom, bless her heart....She tried to fool me by holding her breath! Hahaha...Nice try, not happening! I made sure to tighten the girth and then move it more comfortably and then waited until she breathed and readjusted it again. No worries, she had three fingers between the girth and her chest. She was fine-and the saddle would stay on firmly.
So, the reins were tied onto the saddle and I lunged Freedom. Much to my amazement....Freedom went bucking! She kicked, made noise and threw a fit. At first, I thought it was because of the bit or something being tugged because she kept throwing her head to and fro, and then I thought it could have been the girth....But no...I remembered. Her stall. Her stall smelled heavy of ammonia.
Which meant....
Freedom was moody...And pregnant. And she didn't wanna work. And still moody.
Well! This....Changed things a tiny bit....I would have to be a bit more harder on her to get her to listen, and to get her to get that energy out! She must have been so pent up! She kicked her heels high up in the air, threw her head and didn't hesitate to keep bucking every few steps around me for a while.
"Come on, Freedom! I know you're mad, this is to burn off your energy! Come on!" I spoke with her. For a brief moment,she looked me in the eye and then snorted, bucked again and ran around.
I kept talking with her every so often, but after a while, I gave her a challenge.
Go ahead and keep bucking and kicking and screaming....I'll just be here to make sure you keep the pace you set for yourself.
Did she fulfill it? Oh yes....I tried "Whoa"-ing with her and she didn't listen and walked around me. I used this time to have my back to her, and tug on the line a bit to get her to come to me. She came when I told her "Walk" and slowly did she touch my shoulder in which I gave her a nice scratch on her very favorite spot.
Then came Dad's turn!
He lunged her very well, but I couldn't help but notice something...Freedom kept SLIPPING in the arena when she was being lunged! She kept losing her footing! This never happened before her hooves had been trimmed. It seemed like now she was losing her balance because of being unfamiliar with hooves properly trimmed...That boggled my own mind. Maybe her hooves were cut a tad short? Who knew? I am going to talk to the Farrier though about this.
But we tried lunging Freedom on her right side, and I used an old gold gift bag to shake and make some noise with and well...Freedom freaked out and dragged dad across the ground like a rag doll. I tried not to laugh. He thought it was easy? Maybe now he'll think twice when I say it's no walk in the park. It's wrestling with a thousand pound, moody mare and she was not happy.
Did that work? No, it did not! So-I went to my original plan that me and Tracey Goforth had been talking about....Taking a plastic bag on the end of the whip and trying it that way. I found an unopened black trash bag and tied it onto a short lunging whip and cracked it and made the whole noise maker with it. She kept getting skittish and dragged dad back to the other end of the arena like a doll once more.
I followed, wiggling the whip in the air at her hindquarters and eventually after a few times around....We got a rusty circle! Freedom went around on her right side, stopping here and there...(Me waving and wiggling the bag in the air....) but eventually she knew I wouldn't go farther than making scary noises and she got the idea of what we wanted and went around by herself.
It was about the tenth time around when I told dad it was enough and up close...Freedom was panting hard, covered in sweat. You could see steam coming off of her neck almost as easily as you can see cobwebs on a black wall. That easy. I was in shock. Her belly was moving as if she was panting at her last inch of breath.
"That's enough." I whispered as Dad came over and his jaw dropped.
"Whoa! She's so hot!" He exclaimed. "No more for today."
I had to glare. No kidding...So, we put her on the cross ties and immediately placed a cooler sheet on her back and let her rest there for a bit as we fed her about 30 or so peppermints and tried to feed her hay.
Did she want the hay? Oh no. She ignored it and waited patiently for more treats. Not hay. Not water...Peppermints. Well...
Fine....
We waited for about 15 minutes, maybe more and she slowly cooled off. Then a nice lady came by and asked if she could turn her horse out first. I told her that was okay. Freedom needed to cool off some more. And while I waited...I tried out the blanket our Secret Santa gave us!
It's too small. WAY too small. About 6 inches or so was exposed from her tail and down. Her entire bum was exposed to the cold. I know that if I don't want a cold butt...She probably won't want a cold butt either. So, I turned her out for about 30 minutes and by then, the guy delivering the saw dust was there.
Time to go...Well before he had come by, I'd cleaned out Freedom's stall myself and was happy that it no longer stinked of urine or such. So yay! And then I put her up and we left....Sadly, but we had to go.
Included here are my 5 things I am surprised that happened this year:
1.) Freedom and finding out she's pregnant....(SURPRISE, SURPRISE!)
2.) Having my toenail removed because of severe infection. (I've never had that happen to me, EVER)
3.) My dad being able to find work again.
4.) Me having to take more meds than before...
5.) Making so many friends....
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