My lessons with Flossie, a roan Standardbred mare |
FLOSSIE'S 190th LESSON We were able to squeeze my ride in before we did anything else today. Norm dropped me off at Des’, then headed on out to work. In the meantime, after packing, Norm’s son, Pete, drove his wife, Yah, and the baby to the rental car dealership where we picked them up on our way home after Norm stopped off at Des’ for me. I had to leave all my tack on Des’ property, though, because it wouldn’t fit in the car because all the suitcases and Hayden’s stroller were taking up all the room. Pete was visiting from Sydney for the week and it’s sad to see his family go. A huge yellow power machine was standing by the Rail Road tracks on the other side of the fenceline when I first started Flossie out. I walked her past, in hand, as I’ve been doing every week, to let her get used to the machine being there. Flossie walked right on by without even stopping or hesitating once. She went well at every gait in both directions on the track and she even circled in the paddock for me afterwards. When I first asked for a canter, she took off like a zebra being chased by a lion. When I asked for a canter the second time, however, I worked on collection and got her on the bit for a quarter of the way around before I brought her down. She gave me a nice up and down motion which I found delightful thanks to the work-out I do before I ride. It was a nice exercise and I was pleased she responded so well. Her environment may be noisy, but she’s learning she can trust me. I hope this trust continues when the machines start working on the road again because we’ll be surrounded by construction from every direction by then. Flossie’s hooves are looking good, I’m pleased to report. I touched-up her right front hoof with more wood putty and glue since it doesn’t seem to hold as well as the left hoof does. I was able to leave that one alone. I also put more dressing on her hooves as well. I was pleased with their overall appearance and so was Des. Billy was working his horses when I first arrived at Des’, and then when I was finishing up with my ride, Gary came down to work a couple of his. He worked four other horses earlier in the day, but since he has six horses, he had to return later to work the last two. I had never seen him work two horses on the gig before, but they went very well for him. |