A Subtle Change with Big Results

I was lucky this week, I got my lesson on MJ. Those wonderful weeks of riding three times are long gone, and I just hope I can get back to that soon!

When I got to the stable Mary, the young lady who helps me groom and tack up MJ, brought him in to the wash stall while I got my Haas brushes…

Back to Broiling

Earlier in the week I had switched the Weymouth curb on MJ's bridle, from the Fager Elisabeth titanium Weymouth with the little vertical to the lips “port”, to the Fager Felicia titanium Weymouth whose port is angled at a 45° angle, with the top of the port to the rear. I kept the Fager Alice titanium double jointed bradoon with the roller in…

It Does Help, But

I actually had a lesson this week, on Thursday, and while the temperatures were “only” in the 70s F, the humidity matched the temperature. This is the one drawback of riding early in the morning, when I ride at the dew-point temperature the air is SATURATED with moisture. This reduces the cooling efficiency of my summer gear which often depends upon evaporation.…

More Adventures in Trying Bits

I spent this week trying out my new bits on all three horses, Cider, Coach and Mia.

Last Sunday I rode Cider. She was still quite stiff from her arthritis though Shannon thinks that she has improved some on the arthritis supplement. I figured that a different bit would give her something new to…

Bingo Improves--Slowly

When I arrived at Debbie’s barn her daughter, Sam, was hosing down a TALL chestnut mare’s left hock.  Another mare had kicked her there during turnout, and it was swelling.  When Debbie’s granddaughter led Bingo to me, I had her tie him up several stalls down from the wash stalls because the mare was not happy at all about being hosed.  Then Sam had to get Debbie’s help because the mare refused, refused, and refused again to take her medicine.  So I had to start…

Another Set of Eyes

When I got to the barn on Wednesday, Debbie’s daughter, Sam, told me Debbie was sick, but that she would be glad to give me a lesson.  Since a fresh set of eyes can often see things that become “normal” to my usual teacher I was happy to take her up on her offer (after checking to see that giving me a lesson would not put her behind for her other work at the stable.)  As we groomed Bingo, I was able to tell her some problems I had noticed when the little girls…