Hi Everyone! Today was another magical day!
This morning we were at the Ranch and worked on 2 horses each after a short demo by Sara.
The first horse I worked on was what they call a “Sombrero” horse, these are horses that the Ranch brings in on a lease basis for the summer from a large company that does this as a business. The horse I had was very interesting to say the least! He had had some sort of a neck injury and the Left side of his neck had a portion t
hat had a large scar and was quite indented. When I first tried to work on that area he as kind of resistant and would turn away from me each time I went towards it; as soon as I realized… and yes, this sounds kind of corny… that he was a little ashamed of that area and didn’t like to have anyone touching it I said; it’s alright, I don’t mind it, and then he was very willing to let me in and touch and feel and do anything that I wanted!
After we were finished with the first horse we had a little break and then got to go into the pasture where all of the horses were (about 25 of them), pick a horse and start massaging… no halter or anything! There was one horse staiding off by himself, his name is Top Hand and he is the one who was laying down in class last week! I started to work on him very slowly and he really didn’t want anything to do with me and started to walk away but when I followed and changed my presentation a little he was totally into it! I knew that he really benefitted from what Sara had done with his head and neck last week so I started there and when I finished with the Right side of his jaw he gave a really big stretch. When I w
orked on the Left side of his jaw he wasn’t so enthralled but stood for it, once finished there I moved to his rump and he started to walk away again… only this time he had his head down and was looking for a place to lay down! This was really amazing to me, he laid on his Left side and let out a really loud sigh, stayed there for a while and when another horse came over to pester him he sat up and got up! This was really amazing, I was almost proud of what I had done because I knew that this was a positive response!
orked on the Left side of his jaw he wasn’t so enthralled but stood for it, once finished there I moved to his rump and he started to walk away again… only this time he had his head down and was looking for a place to lay down! This was really amazing to me, he laid on his Left side and let out a really loud sigh, stayed there for a while and when another horse came over to pester him he sat up and got up! This was really amazing, I was almost proud of what I had done because I knew that this was a positive response!This afternoon we went to the Dressage barn and had our English saddle fitting class! I found this very informative as we went over where to place the saddle and what they are made of and how to tell if they have broken trees and such… I am so excited to get home to teach all this wonderful stuff to my Pony Club kids! At the end of the class I went and asked Bev (our teacher for the afternoon) if she knew of any way I could get my hands on a saddle tree (broken) so I could use it to teach. I was so surprised and excited when she said that she has one at her store and would love to give it to me so I could teach with it and tear it apart!!!! I really can’t wait to get home now!!!
This is a picture of a common part of the English saddle called the "pint pocket" I am always asked why it is called this and what it is for and today I found out! It is where the "point" of the tree slips into the padding for the pannels of the saddle! Yet another new and interesting thing to tell the Pony Club kids!
Tomorrow we are starting at the Ranch again and in the afternoon we are at Rick’s and our assignments are due so I will have to leave you now so I can do a final critique and print!
Have a great night everyone, miss you all
Much love
Love Sara XXO
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