piss and vinegar

Shyloh was quite the spunky pony today! But I can't blame her. . .most of her pasture is flooded (at least the part all the horses prefer to hang out on, strange) so I am pretty sure she has been mostly stationary for the past few days.

Minimal mud

Surprisingly, Shy was so clean! The rain/snow mix made her mane so white! Only the very bottom of her legs where a little muddy. Yay! I had decided to lunge Shy since I had not done that in a loooong time and I had not really worked her in a couple weeks. The reason behind that is I think Shy needs her teeth floated. She is dropping food and had been holding her head funny with a bit in. The equine dentist comes next week.

Flaxen mane

Anyway to the arena we went. . .the following is my internal (and possibly external) thoughts:

-Wow, Shy is looking good, she is walking very forward.

-Oh, she wants to trot. Well, I need to ask for it so I will bring to to a walk. . .Walk. . .WALK!

-Now she can trot. I can't believe she wants to trot so bad.

-Shy is tracking up really well. She is holding her head in position for short amounts of time. Pretty good for not working in a while.

- Hmmm. . .keeping up the trot. Going faster. I will try asking for a canter. Shy hates canter.

-What horse is this? A canter that I don't have to keep her in? Correct front and rear leads the first time?

- I think she wants to buck, yeah, she wants to buck. . .but she is keeping herself together, just going faster. 

- Shy is looking good. I think this living outside is really benefiting her.

- Time to stop and switch directions. Whoa. . .whoa. . .whoa. . .Whoa. . Whoa. . .WHOA!!

- Let's try that again. . .and again. . and again. . .no not faster, STOP! Dang this horse is feisty today!

The opposite direction was pretty much the same, but when we switched directions again Shy was listening better. But she was a trotting machine! A fast trotting machine!

After our lunge session, I did some stretches on Shy. What is the best way to tell if your horse likes being stretched? When she is already holding her legs up when you get around to that side! She looves her some stretching!

Then Buddy the Belgian came into the arena for his riding lesson. As big as Buddy is, he can be a scaredy-horse. He was afraid of the back corner of the arena and making the "thinking noise," which can also be referred to as the scared noise. Shy, who never had a problem with the arena, was feeding off of Buddy's vibes and perked her ear and was jumpy. Weirdo. 

Buddy is a giant Shy!

We finished our day with the Tour-de-Hay, which includes the Tunnel of Hay and all the other hay spots around the barn. Shy knows them all and I let her lead the way. 

nom nom

When I put her back in with her herd (minus her buddy, Jesse, he moved, so sad) Shy even gave a little attitude to Lukas! That was a shock! Sassy pony is feeling that tomorrow is March!