lantairvlea | Pferde

Ruby is moving much better. She jogged in for lunch yesterday and was moving very freely this evening as she moved the herd around to be sure she got every bit of alfalfa from all of the hay piles (we do a mix of mostly Bermuda and then a little bit of alfalfa in the evenings). I was tempted to ride her this afternoon, but ran out of time.

I did work Tru-D and she was a little hot. She hasn't been worked in close to three weeks and I haven't had her out of our arena in longer. She was a little gooberish to catch, but stood well in the crossties to be groomed. I then lead her in front of the house and to the roundpen. She was a little jiggy here and there, but manageable with small reminders.

There were some chairs sitting next to the roundpen, which made things Not Right in her eyes so I sent her back and forth through the gatr until she started doing so calmly. She also approached the chairs and snuffled all over them, knocking one over without scaring herself to my pleasant surprise.

I worked her in the roundpen, mostly just dictating direction as she was very much in a moving mood. Dave had moved the Camaro over by the roundpen and the presence of the car was also Not Right, though she eventually stopped cutting halfway across to avoid it.

I was mostly seeing where her brain was at and how she was moving. She looks 100%. I think any bobble behind was more her excitement and the clumsiness of a young horse in the canter. The trot looked great and she has some lovely flexion in her hocks and some good spring in her step. I think she gets the movement from the Haflinger side. While her butt is trailing some I think the potential is definitely there for some really nice movements as she develops. She is a quick study and while a little on the nervous side she happily takes direction and tries her best. Walking back she eyeballed one of the folded tarps so I took the opportunity to stretch it out (while still holding her and seeing her eyes bug out, but stay with me) and then send her over it. She sniffed and scuttled, but quickly turned it down and soon was walking across. I then asked her to walk with me a couple times to which she was slightly concerned as I stepped on the tarp first and it made a noise without her.

She led back to the arena nicely and I need to lunge or otherwise work her a couple times a week, even if it is just 10 minutes. She definitely needs more work desensitizing so she can relax better in her work. I love how sensitive and ready she is to respond, but I also want her calm and happy. She has a 10 month disadvantage compared to Zetahra and while we're catching up there's still some ways to go.

Tomorrow another five lessons and taking Ruby in for some x-rays on her right fore. We've cut her Bute down to two grams am and pm and will see how that goes. If she does well on that I might drop the cortizone/DMSO to once daily and go from there.