Hoof Blogs

Flossie's 206th Lesson

FLOSSIE'S 206th LESSON

It was a hassle-free morning at Dessyland today. I didn’t arrive until after 8:00
o’clock and no one else was around. Even Des I saw only once and that was to wave as he
drove away in his truck.

The power machines were working on the road, but they weren’t right on top of the track
the way they have been in the recent past. Men were moving about, waving and saying good
morning, lifting objects off the ground and carrying them away to some other part of the
work area. No longer viewed as a threat, albeit Flossie still flinches to a certain
extent when she goes by that area when she’s working on the track, even picks up speed as
if to say “Nya a a . . .” the way Curly would in the Three Stooges, I no longer have to
double her to get her to keep going.

I worked Flossie lightly today and with a lot of walking between exercises. We did one
less lap around the track in both directions in hopes of conserving her energy for
circling. She went at a nice canter all the way around the track in both directions
after working at a trot first. Even past the area where the equipment and the men were
working!

On the circle, I started her out to the right since that was the direction that gave us
trouble last week. At the canter, she kept wanting to fall in in one particular spot,
and when I corrected her, she’d break into a trot, so I rode her up to that spot with
every aid geared towards keeping the canter going. I managed to get her to bend around
my inside leg as I held the inside rein slightly up and back which manoeuvred her against
the rail the way I wanted her to go. When she tried to break out of the canter, I gave
her a tap with my crop. That did the trick. I got three laps out of her that way and
called it quits.

She went to the left as perfectly as she went last week. I had no problems keeping her on
the rail. I didn’t have to counter-bend her, either. I had her do three laps at a
canter and then pulled her down to a trot. With every lap the canter got faster and
faster so I worked on slowing her down by pulling on the reins and then releasing them.
I also tried something new while cantering. I pulled my feet away from Flossie’s sides
and noticed an improvement in my seat and in Flossie’s gait. I kept my knees in, and my
thighs where they always go, it was just my feet I moved. I’m thinking if I continue to
ride that way, maybe I’ll be able to slow Flossie down quicker than I thought. Once I
get that nice slow canter on the circle that I’m looking for, I can start working on
figure eights. I’m really looking forward to that!

The track was soft after the rain we had two days ago, and only slightly muddy in places
that didn’t make a difference. The sun was warm, the air was cool, and the cloudless sky
was a bright shade of blue. I tried to savor the day with every breath.

Gary’s gelding, Zippy, is still sharing the big paddock with Flossie and Bambi. He’s not
real quick at picking up body language and hand signals the way the mares are. It makes
him appear to be brainless. He’s a nice horse all-in-all, just not as sharp as the mares.