Friday, December 16, 2011

Off to Christmas.

Today was my last chance to visit Mr. Moon before leaving for Christmas holidays. Despite getting the afternoon off thanks to the boss (after a yummy Christmas lunch), I didn't get to the barn until 2:30. By the time I had Moon groomed and tacked it was closer to 3 pm, and I have to admit I wasn't in my best form. I suspect I was just too impatient to make progress before I left. To end 'with success'. Foolish, since the more you push, the harder it is to make progress.

In the end he did some nice stretching and reaching for the bit in our difficult direction. The reverse, we just seemed to be fighting each other. My impatience, I'm sure.

His canter work was crazy. He LOVES cantering and does it with soooo much speed and intensity lately (for a horse that previously wouldn't canter in the arena). Now he barrels down the long side like a crazy horse and slams on the brakes before the corner, since he can't make the turn. I suspect in our 5 attempts, we didn't once get the correct lead.

Never mind, he was unwilling to really slow down, his trot remained fast and his circles were sloppy. He just wanted to GO. I finally just brought him back to a walk, relaxed him and finished our ride working on reaching for the bit. If things are working and you're getting frustrated, go back to what the last thing you did successfully. That's what I learned in the first chapter of Anne Kursinski's "Riding and Jumping Clinic" this evening! : P Library book that I'm gonna study up on while on vacation. A girl needs SOMETHING horse!

Afterwards I finally got a chance to fix his blanket. I LOVE Schneider's repair kits now. I cleaned the fabric around the rips with some rubbing alcohol and let it dry. Cut patches from the repair kit strip (stick-on fabric) and rounded their corners. I pressed each stick-on patch to the blanket and then opted for the optional 'warm iron' to finish it off. Largely because it was still pretty cool in the barn and I wanted a good hold. The warm iron seemed to improve the hold even more, and I'm pretty sure those patches are going to stay on just fine (knock on wood). All in all, while you can see them in the sun if you're looking, it's a cleaner, more discrete and very waterproof repair. And THAT is something I can get behind. My $3 kit is about 1/3 used and I repaired 5 rips. Score.

Moon was back out in his paddock and I was back in my car, headed home. I miss him already though I smothered his little face with kisses. I love that horse. W has promised that Santa-hooves is coming to town, and I know he'll have a wonderful Christmas with his pony friends, especially with the care of W and her family. Happy pony.

For me, I'm gonna hope there's some pony-supplies under the Christmas tree. Last year I got Mr. Moon for Christmas, and I'm happy to know there won't be a horse this year. But I'm still searching for a show-jacket, some black webbers, a pair of show gloves and some pro-choice smbs. Yup, we're nearly ready for show-season.

So as I head MIA for the next couple of days, I wish everyone a Merry Christmas, that's full of horses, loved ones, and the magic that makes this season truly special.

4 comments:

  1. Merry Christmas to you, your family, and Moon!

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  2. I hope you have a fun vacation, :)

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  3. Merry Christmas!!! Just think of how happy Moon will be to see you when you get back :)

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