winter, where are you?

Where has winter gone? The deluge of rain has melted all the snow, along with the 50-60F temperatures. What is going on?

Now that me and Shyloh were having a ton of fun in the snow, it's gone. Sad face. In the place of snow, we have mud. Tons and tons of nasty mud. 

Ewww. . .mud.

Since our fun had melted, I decided to tackle the whoa, then turn around problem we have been having. With a cart attached, Shy won't be able to bend around like she does, but it is not safe for her to continue to get tangled in long lines, traces, and tires. 

I was expecting a super muddy and wet pony when I got to the barn, but I was pleasantly surprised with an incredibly clean and dry pony. Not that I am complaining or anything, but I have the cleanest horse around! She doesn't lay in mud and tried to avoid it as much as she can. I even had sandy evidence that she rolled to dry off after the rain ended. Good pony.

I took Shy into the indoor arena to give her hooves some dry ground. I also gathered all her tack and grooming supplies to bring in there. These natural showers keep Shy really clean. Last winter, she was a dusty dirty mess. This year, her mane is really clean and she is not dusty at all. By the time I got done grooming her, another person came to use the arena so I had to keep Shy on her lead rope.

I tacked her up and went to put her crupper on, she scooted out from me. What? This went on our whole session. . .Shy was really jumpy. I had quite a few incidents of the quick feet. I could give a million reasons (we never work in the arena, it's dark in there, there was another horse being ridden. . .), but I really think she probably did not want to work after being rained on all night and most of the day.

The session started out rough. First, holding two long lines plus a whip plus a horse that does not want to stand still. But I kept at it, did lots of circles, and soon I had control. Shy's steering was spot on but she was still giving me trouble with "stand." We practiced a ton and I worked on telling her to walk on before she decided to do it on her own. I also worked on her moving her front and rear independently to get back in line with me when she moved over. With lots of praise, at the end of the session, I had a decent stand. 

While this session was not as great as the past few weeks sessions, it is to be expected, right?  Got to take the good with the not so good. 

Photo I forgot to post from sledding. Shy is cute sticking her tongue out