Hoof Blogs

Flossie's 73rd Lesson

FLOSSIE'S 73rd LESSON

Flossie was a stick of dynamite this morning. Norm dropped me off
an hour earlier than normal so I could ride before the heat hit full force. Flossie was
lying down when we approached, but she got right to her feet as soon as I got out of the car
with her ears pointing forward and her body at attention. She didn�t balk with me today. I
never even once had to use the spurs on her, and I only used the crop initially just for
good measure when we started out. She wanted to do everything at top speed. I worked her
hard for forty-five minutes than gave her a nice long walk around the track followed by a
break in the shade for five or ten minutes. When I started her off again, she did not like
it. She thought we were done and in no uncertain terms she let me know it. I asked her to
pace around the track and she kept throwing her shoulder out, then her haunches, wandered
from one side of the track to the other, tossing her head, and when I gave her a spanking,
she swished her tail. So I brought her down to a walk, counted ten steps, then sent her back
into a faster gait for ten steps. Then I brought her back down to the walk again for ten
steps, then asked for another gait for ten steps, etc. We did this until I had her full
attention. It didn�t take long, really. Then we did a nice canter and I called it a day. To
cool out, I had her going over that big, but short log I started working her over last week.
I had to dismount and have her walk over it, first, then I asked her to ride over it. She
went okay in one direction, but then I had to get off and lead her over the log again in the
opposite direction before I could get her to ride over it. At first she just wanted to side
step around it, like last week, but I insisted she keep going straight. I used my seat to
drive her up to it. She stopped, so I let her assess the situation. She put her nose down so
I let her check it out and when she brought her head back up, she was chewing on the bit so
I knew I had her. When I drove her forward, she just picked her feet up as pretty as you
please and walked over it as if she had been doing it all along. I ended the lesson on that
triumphant note. The baby colts were playing together for a bit this morning when Bambi and
Blaze�s mother brought them up to the yard while I was handing out carrots. Blaze was
running around and Bambi�s colt is starting to get just as independent as his playmate. I
was able to scratch Blaze on his bottom while he stood with his back to the fence while his
mom was getting attention. How alert these animals are! When I was standing Flossie in the
shade earlier, Blaze stood facing us from a ways off, whinnying to her with his wee teeny,
tiny voice. It was so neat. Later, in the yard, when I had everybody�s attention, Blaze
stood next to Flossie mouthing the way babies do. Flossie just used her face; ears,
gestures, etc, to let the baby know it�s only a baby. I love watching them interact with
each other! Bambi wouldn�t allow her son to nurse while I was there, but Blaze�s mother lets
him nurse all he wants. Right after snack time, the colt drops to the ground for a nap. I
like to walk around the paddock with the animals and when the babies are up and about
they�re so curious. They watch my every move. Bambi�s boy wants to come up to me so bad, but
his natural instincts kick in every time. He takes a step towards me, then watches what I
do. When I�m not looking, he�ll take another step closer. I wouldn�t be surprised if he
comes all the way up to me before too long. While I was waiting around after my ride, I took
some time to visit with Gary�s two geldings who live in separate paddocks. The bay likes to
smack his lips. When he does this, he makes a growling noise in his throat and when his lips
smack, they sound like a kid beating on one of those toy drums that has a black rubber head.
I would have never guessed it was a horse if I hadn�t seen him do it. The other horse of
Gary�s, which is a very light chestnut, was looking for attention so I spent a good deal of
time just rubbing on his sides, back, head, rump, and shoulders as he dozed with the breeze
in his mane.