Daily Journaling of an Everyday Equestrian

Sunday, January 7, 2024

While I was planning on working with Jesse, I had to attend to all of the boring things like laundry, and taking down the rest of my Christmas decorations that were still above my kitchen cabinets.

But I did finally finish painting a tall portion of a wall that needed it, and I have been neglecting it for longer than I care to admit.

Getting Out to the Barn, Sort Of

I did manage to make my way out to the barn to clean stalls. But that was about it as far as working with Jesse. I made my excuse that it was too cold. And it was only 30 degrees, so yes, it was cold.

I keep telling myself that soon I will be able to do more with my horse. And soon the weather will be better. And soon I will be too busy outside to keep up with all of my inside chores. That made me feel a little bit better. But I sure want the weather to warm up because Jesse has been pooping on his wall. And it looks awful. I want to repaint the stalls. But with the cold weather, now is not the time for that.

Focusing on Reading

On the flip side, I did get one of the dressage books I had ordered. So I decided to focus my energy on what I can do while the weather is crappy, and I can’t work my horse. So I sat down with my new book. It was written so well, that I had a hard time putting it down.

The book is called, Dressage Training and Competition Exercises for Beginners by Elaine Haney. I enjoy the way the author writes. It makes me wish I could write as eloquently. But just in the first few chapters, my major takeaways are all about the groundwork. This makes me happy because I love doing groundwork with my horses.

And one thing I thought was interesting is she is not a proponent of lunging. I thought this was interesting. But after I read why, I understood. And it makes sense. It’s funny how things have changed over the years as I have owned horses.

But I think my favorite takeaway so far is how she stresses the importance of the basics, from the ground. Because if done correctly, this will transfer to when you are in the saddle. Practice until it’s perfect from the ground, and then reinforce this while in the saddle. 

For example, getting the perfect halt starts from the ground. And the secret is that once your horse has halted, have him take 2 or 3 steps backward. This will begin to transfer the weight to the hind end. And the more you do it, the better your horse is supposed to be. Then when you get into the saddle, you don’t ask for the extra few steps back. But your horse will already be thinking that, and keeping his weight on his hind end. 

This is what I will be working on if the temperatures ever start coming out of the single digits.

Planning Ahead

I also need to get Jesse, and Al-Capony ready for the farrier who will be coming next week. I don’t like having my horses look in shambles when the farrier comes. I try to give them extra good grooming to make his job as easy as possible. And to make it even more challenging, I can’t get off from work. So Dale will have to gather the horses and hold them for the farrier.

I feel bad about this because these are my horses, and he has already done so much to help me in the past few months.

Hopefully, soon, I will not have to rely on the extra help. But for now, I am grateful to have it!