Oh it's been so long since I've had a whole lot to write about aside from Aspen's injury. I do have some news there but also some fun things she and I did together today. First off Aspen's leg has been fluctuating in swelling and soundness the last couple days so as soon as I can confidently get her into the trailer I think it's time for an x-ray. If I get her in the trailer tomorrow morning I have a tentative appointment with the vet at 10am to check her out.
If you go to
http://youtu.be/-i6neHXvIMs you can see a short set of clips I made of her moving around today to keep track of her soundness level. The quality isn't the best since I was having trouble holding my camera and managing Aspen, my 22' line, and my stick at the same time. I'll take better video with my tripod tomorrow.
I did play with my horse trailer a little while today and she did really well. Aspen has only been in a trailer twice in her life (that I know of) and both times she was loaded without her best interest in mind. I put some hay in the trailer up front and then opened the door and walked in. She readily and willingly (to my surprise) nearly followed me all the way in. When it came time to getting her back feet in she was a little unsure about it and was further discouraged by the fact that bending her hock and lifting it high enough to step into the trailer was bothersome to her cut. We spent a lot of time just hanging out with her half in the trailer, I drank my tea, brushed her, let her eat, unloaded then reloaded to the point she was comfortable asking her to get as far in as she wanted and allowing her to retreat as much as needed. I am pretty sure that if not tomorrow then within a few days she'll be loading like a champ - dignity and confidence intact.
When I took her into the arena to test her out for soundness I was really surprised to feel so much connection from her. She was stuck to me like glue - super left brained, kind of sassy, but really into me. I had her go around on some circles that she did with great pizazz and then turned her loose so I could see how she'd move out and away from me a bit. Instead she was right next to me so I started jogging and she launched after me with a snappy depart. As of mid October we had been playing with Stick to Me at the walk/trot/canter on a 12' line. So for the heck of it I started skipping and she broke into a canter next to me AT LIBERTY after a MONTH off! She even cut back and forth a bit with me - this from my Right Brain Extrovert! :) :)
I guess I underestimated the power of undemanding time/friendly time together that we've had since her injury. We've spent lots of time just hanging out in the stall while I cared for her leg or moseying around eating grass. I really think that this nurtured the relationship between us and helped her feel so much more confident and trusting of me and my intentions. I can't wait until she's sound enough to play with all the way again!
And... final piece of super awesome news... Parelli Central featured me on their website! Check it out and leave a comment over there if you'd like! :)
http://central.parellinaturalhorsetraining.com/2011/11/do-you-make-your-horse-feel-smart/
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| Aspen supervising the handy men fixing her water tank. 11/4 |
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| 11/5 |
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| 11/5 |
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| 11/6 |
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| Got any treats? |
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| Bambi the Donkey, Emma, and Aspen begging for apples :) |
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| 11/7 - lame this day. |
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| 11/8 - Aspen's first trailer loading session. |
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| 11/8 |
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