Headed out to the barn today for another longe session. I longed Sophie yesterday and she had two days off before that (from longeing at least). We started off with her mane side to me, which is my least favorite side because it's her hardest side. Longeing in that direction goes like this, *cluck*, half halt, half halt, *cluck, half halt, *cluck*, half halt, for the first few minutes before she relaxes into the trot and reaches for the bit. Every time she would lower her head she would get a "gooooood giiiiiiirl" as well. I was dreading it but everything came together pretty quickly.
I switched to using my surcingle because it will fasten tighter than Kim's. It doesn't have rings as low down the side as Kim's though. But, mine doesn't rub her elbow either. Her mane side was actually better this time than her non-mane side, so I'm going to give her a break next time. What happens is when we stop to reverse she yanks her head up and forward, pulling the surcingle out of place which also effects the adjustments needed for the side reins. So next time, I'll remove the side reins and walk for a couple of minutes to let her stretch her neck before continuing.
After longeing I gave her her bobbing bucket and untacked her. She was pretty sweaty and still a little warm, despite walking for a while after we finished (it was near 90 degrees when I left for the barn, probably 85 by the time I worked her), so I decided to hose her off. I was a little nervous about that, since I've never hosed her down or seen her hosed down before, but she was great. Didn't care at all. After I sweat scraped her I took her out to graze beside the barn and that's when the torbie cat that reminds me of Kitty tracked me down. I petted her some, as Sophie grazed, and at one point she was so focused on me that she flopped down on the clover just as Sophie was trying to eat it. Both animals were *very* surprised when that happened.
And on another note...today is horsie laundry day. I'm washing my dressage boots for the first time and they look great! Just threw them in the washer and you'd think they were new looking at them. They came out of the washer almost dry, so I'm letting them air dry the rest of the way and they should be good by the time I make it out to the barn tomorrow. I really wish I'd bought more of them, but next time around I will!
2 comments:
Smart Pak sells a nifty little brass toothbrush thing you can use to keep the velcro nice. But once again I am such a freak about things like that. Do you want to share a tack room with me???
Thanks! I ordered one, gave me the excuse to get something from Smart Pak since they have the shoulders back device I want and forgot to order with my regular shipment too. I would love to share a tack room with you, few things make me feel better than a perfectly arranged tack room, yes, I'm a real dork.
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