Hoof Blogs

Flossie's 166th Lesson

FLOSSIE'S 166th LESSON

I arrived early at Des' to ride this morning, but not as early as I was getting there
previously. Gary and Billy and Dave were already there and gone by the time we pulled up.
The grass was dry, as was most of the track. The worst part wasn't the lowest spot near the
road, which is unusual. There's another spot closer to the fence near Woodland Park and the
railroad track that often takes forever to dry once it's been rained on, and this time was
no exception. It was muddy clear across the track, but the highest part was dry enough to
run any gait over safely, so it wasn't much of a problem.

Flossie was feeling good, as I had expected, but she wasn't spooky, even in spite of the
high winds we had all day yesterday. I think the little mare is growing up! I worked her
with a lot of contact on my outside rein and she seemed to appreciate it. It was easy to
get her to place her feet exactly where I wanted them, and I didn't have a problem with my
left leg. In fact, I was able to get her on the circle to the left and keep her on it, even
at the canter. Well, sort of a canter. It's funny how she'll do a canter to the right, but
going to the left she tends to use that off-gait that's not a true canter. At least she
stayed on the circle and didn't keep falling into the center. This was the problem I was
having before.

I'm so glad Eileen, who's taking dressage lessons, told me all about keeping contact
on the outside rein. It made such a tremendous difference in Flossie's performance and
I truly believe she was grateful for the contact. She didn't balk, even when she saw a
guy at the barn next door, which is something she usually balks over. She just seemed to
have more confidence. Maybe that's because she was more balanced.

I talked to a riding instructor on the phone the other day when I was looking for prices and
she kept me on the phone for a good hour offering me advice about circling. She said to
step into the inside stirrup as if I were walking forward, so I did that today and it not
only put weight in that stirrup, but it also put my foot in the right place against
Flossie's side. I did not have a problem with my leg! I repeat, I did not have a
problem with my leg! So, you see, there are ways to work around a rogue leg! Yahoo!

I enjoyed my ride so much today that I can't even express it. The weather was perfect. I
was able to get on and off before the morning started to heat up, and even though we worked
hard, neither Flossie nor I got very sweaty. It was so good to be back in the saddle again,
and on such a gorgeous day to boot!

When I turned Flossie loose, she went out to the paddock and rolled in a section that has
the tallest, greenest, fattest blades of grass. She seemed to be really enjoying the roll,
for she stopped when she landed on her side and rubbed her neck up and down and back and
forth for a while before rolling over to the other side. She has a way of maneuvering her
neck when she gets her legs up in the air so it's easy for her to make it all the way over.
She was a delight to watch.

Dave came down while I was still waiting for Norm and we talked about the horses. I told
him how his little filly knocks her water trough over after I fill it up and he said she
does the same thing to him. Now he comes down before noon to take her out of that stall and
put her in with the other horses in the little paddock where I used to work Flossie before
she was ready for the track. Gary keeps his horses in that area, so the little filly (I
call her Dazzle, or Daz, or Des' Daz) is not alone. The trough in that paddock is not easy
to knock over, so she has access to plenty of water during the hottest part of the day.