Hoof Blogs

Flossie's 188th Lesson

FLOSSIE'S 188th LESSON

Because today was a public holiday, there was a lot of commotion going on at Des’ this
morning. Since he didn’t have to work, Gary was down, for one thing, trimming horses,
putting dressing on their hooves. Des had a welder working on one of his gigs. He was
making a lot of strange whirring and buzzing noises that were quite unusual. There were
people and horses moving around all over the place and I loved every second of it. Too
bad I had to leave it all behind to ride Flossie.

In spite of all the noise around us, I knew I wouldn’t have a problem with Flossie. The
big power machines were not around, not even near the old barn next to the track. I
still walked her in hand, though, before I mounted. She kept looking for machines and
listening for their clanging, chugging noises. She kept stopping and checking things
out, eyes wide, her head lifted high and her neck extended. Since I had mostly all day,
I gave her all the time in the world to gather up her courage, which takes less time with
me on the ground beside her than it does when I’m in the saddle. I think it might be
because walking her in hand is always a part of her experience with me. At the end of
each and every ride, I always walk her around the track to cool out, even if she doesn’t
need it.

I mounted near the road, after Flossie stretched her neck at the fence and made snorting
noises from her nostrils at the grass that lines the track. She wouldn’t pass the orange
rubber fence that was in the paddock where the barn is located, while going to the right,
so I turned her around to the left. The fence had never been there before, so I wasn’t
surprised it had taken her off guard.

When I asked for a canter, she flew around the track as though she were being chased by
lions. We did one full lap, then I brought her down to a trot and kept her going for
another lap. By the time we went to the right, she was warmed up and I was able to bend
her body around the curve in the track so when she tried to jump and shy away from the
rubber fence, she couldn’t fight the position I had her in. My outside leg and rein were
like a closed gate and she had no choice but to continue in a bent position, moving
forward. Then we worked some laps, diagonals, and circles in the arena before calling it
a day. It’s been a long time since she’s worked in the arena as well as she did for me
today.

Once in the area that I refer to as the “shed row”, I led her down towards the yard in
the front of Des’ house. That’s where the welder was working and I had to holler that I
was coming by so he could stop working and wait for us to pass, which he did. Then I
mounted and had her stand for the longest time. We watched a horse, in the paddock
across the way, chase a cow behind a hill, and return again on the other side. There
were lots of things to watch after that; a man who kept going back and forth to his
truck, and a big dog that was running around it.

Finally, I took her down the driveway. While standing at the apron, looking for the
neighbor’s goats, Liz pulled in. Flossie gave a start and jumped, so I took her off to
the side so Liz could get by. I like odd situations that happen unexpectedly around us
because it’s good for her training.

When it was time to walk her around the track in hand, after untacking her and washing
the sweat off her back with the warm water I had brought with me from home, a power
shovel started up, rattling and banging alongside the barn as it proceeded to cut down
the trees on the other side of the fence. I wasn’t expecting to see any power machines
since today was Labor Day, but I was mistaken.

The area that was being worked is a huge forest and it’s going to take a long, long time
to get all those trees down. Once the lot is vacant, it’s going to take years before the
housing development that’s going in is finished. Flossie’s still on her toes around the
area that went up recently, right next to the lot that’s being worked now. There’s still
a lot of commotion and noise to contend with from giant trucks and huge machines even to
this day, and people have been living in those houses now for at least a year or so.

Flossie didn’t want to walk with me once that power machine started ripping the trees out
of the ground. It took time and a lot of persistence on my part before I could persuade
her that it was safe to go with me. I’m hoping all the training she’s getting out of her
noisy environment will make a less fearful and more relaxed horse out of her in the long
run.

When it was time for carrots, neither Flossie nor Bambi wanted to approach me in their
normal spots beside the fence since they were so close to the powerful tree-bully
machine. I refused to go to them, however, so I stood my ground and kept calling them
over to me. Bambi would take a step or two, then turn and chase Flossie away. I kept
calling anyway. Flossie eventually got past Bambi’s lifted hind leg and came straight
away to get her hand-out with Bambi soon following close behind. It was good to see
Flossie show such courage! Not only in defiance of the machine, but of Bambi, too!

The huge wads of wood putty I glued on Flossie’s hooves stayed in place all week, even
after my ride today, so I applied the hoof dressing I bought recently and let them go at
that. We’ll see how they look next week.

Billy came down to work his horses before I went home today. I took some photos of all
five of them as they trotted around behind a contraption that was attached to his truck.
They looked really neat in the dust that flew up all around them. I hope the photos came
out.