I got to the barn last night (Friday) after not being there since Tuesday for the ill-fated lesson. KAT was there and told me she rode him on Wenesday and he did well for her. She worked on his lunging and was easily able to "fix" the problem. Again, that's why I hire professionals.
When I tied him and started to take his jacket off he was really sweaty. His blanket was actually yucky and wet on the inside. I let him cool off for a bit and brushed out his tail. It looked like he'd either been rubbing his tail so perhaps he was uncomfortable. It did get up to 70 degrees yesterday afterall. Even though Tuesday night I was in full long underwear and several layers last night I was in a t-shirt and a light down vest. SO back to the title of this entry: now I'm worrying about his blanket. How do I know when to leave it on and when to take it off? I left it off because it was so wet and the temperature low for the night was going to be 20 degrees higher than what it had been. I don't want him to be uncomfortable and hot. And that syntetic blanket doesn't breath very well. I did some research about blankets before I bought one and I read that a cotton interior, though it grabs hair, is much more likely to breath and not hold in sweat,etc. Do you think I could FIND a cotton lined one? It seemed they were ALL lined with nylon calling it "coat smoothing nylon" and "won't hold hair" well, okay, but part of my job is working with textiles and nylon sucks for absorption, evaporation and airflow. But since that seeems like what everyone else uses I bought one anyway. I did buy a very inexpensive blanket, but not the MOST inexpensive one. I waited until Congress (and the last Saturday of Congress) to buy it so I could get the best deal. Maybe there's some uber expensive blanket out there that wicks away moisture but I probably can't afford it. Maybe someday I'll get really ambitious and get a pattern from Suitability.com and make my own just to my specifications. Right...in all of my spare time.... Or maybe I could make a cotton/spandex slinky to put under his blanket. that would smooth the hair, absorb moisture and be small enough in a washing machine that I could wash it at home. I could make two. One that is on him, and one to take home and wash. I could switch them out once a week.....right. In all of my spare time...
Again, back to worries: He'd never rubbed his tail before. The weather today is supposed to be really nice, tomorrow, too. I can't go out today because I have rehearsal all day and a show to go to tonight. Tomorrow I thought I'd go out and spend some time with him and check the weather and put his blanket back on. Is there a book or something on how to use rugs? Here is one (of the many) questions I have: I know from outdoor survival class that if you are out in cool weather and you get warm from activity and take off layers, you should put them back on as soon as you stop moving. Otherwise you'll cool off too fast and it'll be harder to warm yourself back up. Does the same principle apply to my horse and his blanket? If we're warm from a ride should I put his blanket back on right away? Or do I need to let him cool down and dry his sweat mark first? I just don't know. Do you know?
Anyway, he rode pretty well. He lunged the best he's ever lunged for me. He stopped twice while on his left lead ( his bad one) but I was able to send him forward again. I guess I needed to be more aggressive and send him right back on if he stops. He loped around at the end of the line which was really good for him, too. Usually he veers in and doesn't keep a consistent circle. This time I was holding the rubber stopper and he was just going and going. It was awesome. I should've made him go longer, but I didn't. He still had some energy to burn off when we rode. He was good though. Cranky about loping off on his right lead, though. I think he was tired, but I made him lope off anyway, just took a bit of convincing. We are getting better and better at our balance. He's still ADD when there are distractions. In the time we were riding another horse came and went and then another horse came in and was still there when we quit. I have horse envy of this particular girl. She's got a chestnut gelding who's super well trained. She rides all the time and works really hard on him so I know that's a big reason why he's so good. I've watched her ride english and western and have watched her drill her showmanship. The pair work so well together. Last night she was riding western and practicing transitions and spur stops. The horse has such a consistent way of going. While my horse is speeding up and slowing down and looking around and raising his head, her horse is just level headed. He hardly changed his frame at all. That's what I want. I wonder if we'll get there? Do I have what it takes? And in a larger sense: would that make me happy? I never thought I wanted a dead-headed horse because I thought that would be boring, but then I rode some and realized how much fun it is. How relaxing it is. I like my boy a lot. I think he CAN be the type of horse I want, I just hope I can get him there. We're a week away from our 2 month anniversary and I'm going to do a bit of a look back at that time. Hopefully I'll REALLY see how far we've come.
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