Hoof Blogs

Flossie's 140th Lesson

FLOSSIE'S 140th LESSON

Saturday there had been a storm in Waterford. (This is the town Flossie lives in). I could
tell because part of the track was muddy, and when I asked Des about it, he told me it was
quite a storm, too, with lightning and thunder, high winds and heavy rain. Fortunately, the
muddy part of the track was not a part that matters, because it was located on the inside
with plenty of dry outside ground to ride on beside it. Yesterday there was a big windstorm
in Waterford, just as there was in Woodridge when Norm and I were at the market. I think
these changes in her element made Flossie wacky. Riding her today was a nightmare. She
balked at everything and when she wasn't balking, she was freaking at everything in sight.
Every corner and every turn we came to, she either shied or balked. She didn't like the
heavy machinery buzzing in the paddock next door, she didn't like the barn that stands next
to Des' property, she didn't like the tree stump, the bushes, the lone tree nearest the
yard. I literally spurred and cropped her around the track today. She never got over her
silliness, either, even though we passed the same trees, the same corners, the same turns
over and over again. She even reared once and I really got after her for that! She never
tried it again. Thank goodness.

I cooled her out by riding her down the driveway and back. Then I rinsed her back with a
bottle of cool water before taking her around the track in hand. Again, she didn't want to
go, but I'll tell you this; she never once refused to put a foot forward. Not once. She
knew she would have been in trouble if she did.

In spite of the trouble I had with her today, I still managed to get her into some nice
circles. She chomps on the bit when circling and really gives it something to worry about.
I worked on getting her to bend, mostly to the right, which is normally not a problem. She
didn't want to work at full speed the way she did last week. If you remember, last week I
didn't need my spurs or my crop. This week I couldn't have ridden without either of them.

Des said Blaze is now a gelding. I asked the colt how he feels about that and he just
looked at me and let the wind blow through his mane. I guess that means it doesn't impress
him very much. He's gotten taller, though, which made us both laugh (me and Des) because
it's the colt's lack of height that motivated Gary to geld him. Ha ha.