Hullo all! Well, I am still alive. However, after unloading Logan yesterday, I was beginning to wonder... But let's start at the beginning.
Yesterday was Logan's first ever riding meeting away from the farm- with other horses, no less! She was an angel. She hopped in the trailer super nicely to go, unloaded pretty well, and was a dream to tack up and ride. She didn't bat an eye at the other horses, and plodded along on her way, happy as can be. We didn't work on cantering, as she was still getting used to the footing (dressage sand, she's used to working in the field), and she's still a green-bean at it; I didn't want to push her when she was doing so fabulously her first time out.
We worked on trotting and maintaining speed, getting her to move out, passing others and letting them pass (she didn't get racy at all), stopping, backing, ground manners, etc. No one could get over how big and gorgeous she is! And she was quite the ham- she loved every second of it.
However, unloading her at home was a different manner. She loaded quite nicely to go home, but when my trainer went to unload her (I asked her to unload her, as Logan was getting very impatient) all hell broke loose. Well, I exaggerate, but it was nerve wracking. We drive a 5 horse slant, and as Logan is so large she uses two stalls, she had a bit of extra wiggle room. As soon as my trainer unhooked the stall divider, Logan jerked the rope out of her hand, hurtled backwards slamming the gate open, and did a very graceful slide off the back, landing on her rear. No one was hurt, thank goodness, and we worked with her some more on backing out without killing anyone, and she's doing considerably better now.
Don'tcha love greenies?
Every lovely horse has an issue, and trailering is Logan's.
However, I'm going to be working her at home today, so she'll get to make up for her behaviour by doing amazingly under saddle, I'm sure. She's so wonderful. I have several dressage shows later this year lined up that we plan on taking her to, provided she's still improving at her current rate- make sure you look for Limited Edition RS under the list of high-scorers!
But, moving on to some sad news...
I'm sorry to say that Sugar, my 30-odd year old Appy, passed away last Sunday. When she didn't show up for breakfast, we found her lying out in the pasture. There was no struggle, she simply lied down and never got back up, so that's good- much, much better than having to have the vet out to put her down because of an injury or something. So here's to the wonderful Appaloosa who was stubborn as a mule and taught me how to ride a buck- we'll miss her.
Yesterday was Logan's first ever riding meeting away from the farm- with other horses, no less! She was an angel. She hopped in the trailer super nicely to go, unloaded pretty well, and was a dream to tack up and ride. She didn't bat an eye at the other horses, and plodded along on her way, happy as can be. We didn't work on cantering, as she was still getting used to the footing (dressage sand, she's used to working in the field), and she's still a green-bean at it; I didn't want to push her when she was doing so fabulously her first time out.
We worked on trotting and maintaining speed, getting her to move out, passing others and letting them pass (she didn't get racy at all), stopping, backing, ground manners, etc. No one could get over how big and gorgeous she is! And she was quite the ham- she loved every second of it.
However, unloading her at home was a different manner. She loaded quite nicely to go home, but when my trainer went to unload her (I asked her to unload her, as Logan was getting very impatient) all hell broke loose. Well, I exaggerate, but it was nerve wracking. We drive a 5 horse slant, and as Logan is so large she uses two stalls, she had a bit of extra wiggle room. As soon as my trainer unhooked the stall divider, Logan jerked the rope out of her hand, hurtled backwards slamming the gate open, and did a very graceful slide off the back, landing on her rear. No one was hurt, thank goodness, and we worked with her some more on backing out without killing anyone, and she's doing considerably better now.
Don'tcha love greenies?
Every lovely horse has an issue, and trailering is Logan's.
However, I'm going to be working her at home today, so she'll get to make up for her behaviour by doing amazingly under saddle, I'm sure. She's so wonderful. I have several dressage shows later this year lined up that we plan on taking her to, provided she's still improving at her current rate- make sure you look for Limited Edition RS under the list of high-scorers!
But, moving on to some sad news...
I'm sorry to say that Sugar, my 30-odd year old Appy, passed away last Sunday. When she didn't show up for breakfast, we found her lying out in the pasture. There was no struggle, she simply lied down and never got back up, so that's good- much, much better than having to have the vet out to put her down because of an injury or something. So here's to the wonderful Appaloosa who was stubborn as a mule and taught me how to ride a buck- we'll miss her.
