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You get a picture of my dog extending his trot because I have no new horse photos. |
I've also added a slightly random/barn related goals honey-do list for me to try and achieve (or at least remember). So while some of the items don't have to be done this month, it serves as a good reminder since I self-care for both of my horses.
February Recap- Suzie
Work on ShowmanshipHooray, this was a success, although quite minimally. We haven’t spent a lot of time on it, but we have practiced several times after the few rides I put on her as well as during hand-walks. She is pretty rusty on it – especially the pivots – but it’ll all come back soon enough!
Ride the Beast Mare - in the very least, once.And ride we did – multiple times! Despite the meltdown towards the end of the week I had off work, she was still good. I hate the fact we don’t have an indoor in this community!
- Measure and send out measurements of pony's back to the
fitter. – I didn’t do this. Mostly
because it’s not a necessary thing at this time. Although, I am looking more and more at lower end Dressage saddles (ie. Wintec) because my CC seems to fit her back well and I don't need a super expensive Dressage saddle since we primarily do Western. BUT, I do need to get a hold of a fitter to make sure a Wintec would be the right choice for her.
Set up a smarter way of feeding the horsesSuccess! I’m setting up a post on how I’ve been achieving minimal food wastage, keeping the horse’s busy, and keeping Spud from gorging on all of Suzie’s hay!!
March Goals – Suzie
- Showmanship – really start asking
for more quality pivots and refine her halts (she likes to step once or twice
after I have already halted). Bring out her showmanship gear and fine tune her
to the chain again.
- Work on her "separation anxiety” she seems to get when Spud leaves. Dose her with Rescue Remedy for the next few outings and see if that makes a difference.
- Stay on top of her weight – she is
looking a bit thin and don’t be afraid to give her some beet pulp/ grain if she
requires it. However, I am in the process of upping her roughage so that should
be good.
- Trail ride with other horses again – it doesn’t have to be a 4hr adventure, but even small things to get her back on track again.
Hello, ladies. |
February Recap - Spud
- Lunging with a saddle on - get better walk, trot,
canter transitions from him and responsiveness when I give him the cues. Big fat fail. With the ridiculous
amount of snow, there was nowhere to safely lunge him (in the pasture or
otherwise). With our only available option being the road, I opted out of
lunging him on the asphalt for obvious reasons. I was going to put the
saddle on him for the in-hand walk I took him on prior to going back to
work, but didn’t.
- Adding some weight while the saddle is on. - Nope. I should’ve put goals down about
driving him, because we did some kick-ass driving this month!
- Learn more about what is required for competitions. - Annnd a nope.
Soooo, the Suzie goals were a success
at least. For March, it will be interesting because the SO and I are going to
visit my parents for the week we get off from work instead of staying home like
we normally do. Pony time will be limited this month until the sun starts to
stay a bit longer, but I am hopeful and so, I’ve made a pretty large list of
things I’d like to get busy on!
March Goals – Spud
- Continue with the progression in harness,
if time allows. Start to get more quality work from him in the means of pace, rhythm
and balance. He tends to poke out at the trot and once I’ve half-halted, he’ll
hold a wonderful pace (and “frame”) only to become unbalanced and fall on his
forehand… once he does this, he coils up and sucks behind the vertical. I need
to let him know that he can be forward, but it doesn’t mean fast. The best part
about this goal is that I don’t necessarily need him to be pulling a cart – I can
also ground-drive him.
- Clean/condition harness; cause it’s gross.
"I helping you clean. Clean all the foods." |
Barn "Honey-Do" List (aka: I'll actually do all of it 'cause I am self-sufficient and proud, thank you).
- Purchase a new hose for the barn –
the BO’s hose snapped after our last freeze and I broke it when I tried to coil
it up.
- New lights for the middle aisle of
the barn – the current one is pretty lacking and doesn’t really throw enough
light.
- Re-organize the tack room and start
hanging saddle racks, bridle hooks, etc to make things more orderly. If
necessary, purchase a tub to hold blankets/saddle pads that are not in use so
they quit taking up so much room at home.
- Fences - after the “snowmageddon” we
need to check and look over the fencing as the snow melts to ensure the horses
cannot hurt themselves on it or escape. One fence board in particular has
already been repaired by the SO from the massive snow-dump.
- Go through tack and separate what I
need vs what I don’t need and either put it up for sale or donate to a young
riding kid who could use it (srsly, why do I have like 10 white saddle pads?!).
- Manure. With all the snow and being unable to take their manure to the back pasture for disposal, I had to resort to creating a very large and very disgusting manure pile by the lean-to until the snow thaws and I can get back there with the wheel-barrow. I don't know why I'm putting this on my list just yet, it's almost like I'm inviting it to snow again.
You did really well for goals considering Mother Nature did not have your back. At all.
ReplyDeleteLove the march goals!
Aw, thanks! I feel like a complete failure already, though. LOL
DeleteI agree - all things considered it seems like you got a lot done!! Also seems like perfect timing for your "honey-do" list as hopefully (fingers crossed) spring will actually start appearing this month and we will all feel like spring cleaning!!
ReplyDeleteThanks :)
DeleteHopefully I'll get some riding done... need the snow to melt out of the outdoor still!