This month has been very hard for me to go without riding simply because I had no desire to ride Mara in the woods alone. I have taken her for many walks, and this week I was so discouraged because both my trainers refused to come ride in the snow, I defiantly saddled her up and was going to ride her no matter what.
It was misting rain today and I was hoping it would help get rid of the snow, but I was wrong, it made everything worse. Yesterday I took Mara for a walk on a little loop and it was fine. Today I would start to go down a trail, and any trail that a car had been on was solid ice. And most of the trails around here are auto accessible.
Oh, I have to mention yesterday because it was a milestone for Mara. She is so relaxed in this weather, we were having a great time. Since she is always calmer in rain, I think it's her sense of hearing that makes her so jumpy. Oh, and all her other senses too. The snow mutes things so she is in a happy zone. We came to a large ice puddle and I insisted that she walk through it. She tried and tried to avoid it but finally put a hoof on and the ice cracked and she started pawing (good girl, it's fun!) and then reached down and DRANK from it! First time ever: ) I was so proud.
She also dug through the snow to the leaves and dirt and roots and started licking the ground, she really loves the taste of the ground under oaks. Then she pawed at some ice and started chewing it with her teeth, enjoying it like a snowcone. I encourage anything playful at all that she does in the woods.
So, today I had trouble getting to a safe trail but when we finally did, I got on and we had a really nice half hour ride. I had to get off at a sheet of ice, but for the most part down there by the watershed the trails are snowy and muddy, not too bad. When it got bad, I'd ask for a slow motion walk, and she'd comply.
She was light to my aids and not alerting at anything for a long time. I sang Strawberry Fields Forever but I don't really know the words.
Of course she can never be calm for an entire ride, and she started gawking at things near the end but I just bent her away and then bent her back and forth, and I could tell she was loose and at ease, which is different from her normal freezing up.
So pleased, I jumped off and gave her carrots and mineral bricks and told her how good she was and even rubbed under her bridle, which she loves.
It was a rare ride where I had hope that she can relax and enjoy herself out there. At least, when there's snow everywhere: )
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
.JPG)
12 comments:
I'm glad you were able to get out and have a short, successful ride (and find your saddle in the tack room mess!) More of these little successes add up. I'm sure your walking with Mara for the last month has helped her confidence too.
I wonder if you think her spookiness is a sound thing if it would help to wear the ear-puffs I've seen some jumpers use? I know it's not a long-term solution, but I think it just dampens the noise. Just a thought.
But I'm glad she likes to play, I think encouraging that is great. Though all that ice sounds scary.
Irish, can you tell me about the ear puffs? It's worth a try for a horse who seems so much happier when rain is falling/snow is muting.
I'm spending my evening now reading Fashion It So, and it's awesome! This is exactly how obsessed I am with TNG. They do use some terms I'm unfamiliar with since leaving America, but I am laughing out loud anyway: )
lytha: this is what I've heard of from Smartpak: http://goo.gl/VVn51r
No experience with these, and I'm sure you can find them other places.
Glad you liked the link. I'm also obsessed with TNG, I'd love to get the whole set in Blue ray, instead I must content myself with occasional reruns (though I did get a talking Picard action figure for xmas...)
Irish Horse beat me to the ear plug suggestion. I've known show horses that wear tampons in their ears (IKR??!!!??) to damp the crowd noise. It's worth a try, right? Here's a link to Dover's non-tampon ear puffs:
http://www.doversaddlery.com/ear-plugs/c/3805/
Yay, you!!!!
Congrats on the nice snow day ride!
Sounds like a great ride!
Here's a sample of the various ear plugs/puffs. Just googled "horse ear plugs."
https://www.smartpakequine.com/spooking-solutions-703pc?ck=sw
I don't remember when it was, but in a recent post you mentioned something that made me think earplugs, too. Shoulda said something then...
Oh boy, I am looking at getting earplugs in Germany because it seems wrong to pay international shipping on such a tiny item.
I wanted to see German reviews of earplugs and apparently they're controversial. And just so ya know, Germans do not hesitate to express bigotry about America, the country that is cool to hate:
"Guess where the earplugs come from? America, of course. Where they need such things!"
"For earplugs to show up in a riding sport catalog (kraemer), that's negligent!"
"To put earplugs on a horse to prevent spooking is animal abuse. Horses spook - if you have a problem with this, don't ride!!! Humanity is truly sick!"
"Sowas bescheuertes!" I had to look up the word and it means, "Crackbrained, Head up one's arse, One beer short of a six pack, One sandwich short of a picnic" *lol*!
"You should train your horse and not use tricks!"
"Of course it comes from America."
"In extremely loud competition arenas, we use them for vaulting. I would never use them for riding."
"The horse should LEARN to trust people."
"The horse won't hear the car coming and will spook when he sees it go by."
"Will cause headshyness, will cause warts."
And finally: "My horse is so sensitive, riding with earplugs relieves his stress and allows him to enjoy himself."
Many discussed how they are used in Standardbred races to be removed via a string by the driver near the end to get more speed.
Interestingly, I cannot find any vehemence on American forums against earplugs, just the Germans seem to flip out over them.
After reading all this, I would still like to try them, but I'm worried about what my horse will do when she cannot hear a bicycle coming or a dog running up.
I use to use ear plugs with my thoroughbred when I would take her to new arenas or on trail rides. (Which she hated!)
She could still hear with the puffs in, she was just a bit more relaxed. I think it just helped keep her from getting distracted...
I will be honest and say that while she tolerated them, my other horse did NOT! haha
I use to use ear plugs with my thoroughbred when I would take her to new arenas or on trail rides. (Which she hated!)
She could still hear with the puffs in, she was just a bit more relaxed. I think it just helped keep her from getting distracted...
I will be honest and say that while she tolerated them, my other horse did NOT! haha
YES RIDING!!!! Good girl Mara!
I had a horse who was a nutjob. He would make Mara seem like a saint. Extremely explosive and unpredictable, and the thing that caused his reactions was sound. Even the sound of a bird taking off in the trees, the hiss of car tires through a puddle, would set him off into a bolt followed by a round of bucking. Even in the arena; there was no place I could ride him safely where he wasn't exposed to some sort of sound that would freak him out. I had heard of ear plugs and seen them used at h/j competitions and out of sheer frustration I bought a pair. I got these:
https://www.smartpakequine.com/pony-pomms-premium-equine-ear-plugs-12434p
They are a very soft, squishy neoprene that isn't ticklish (he hated the sheepskin plugs because they tickled) and they would stay in place through his shenanigans.
He could still hear just fine, but the ear plugs muted softer sounds like bird wings, the sound of a car driving slowly over a gravel driveway, the breeze in the trees. I still had to deal with unpredictability as he could still be set off by louder sounds and also by things he saw that frightened him (basically the entire world), but at least I it wasn't as constant an issue. I could sometimes get him to do a full dressage session without an outburst on a quiet day. So these things do help, and they don't make the horse completely deaf. They just muffle sounds a bit.
As for my gelding, his issues ended up being neurological. I could never train him out of his fear because he had a neuro disease that made him feel vulnerable.
I have met mares that had this issue of feeling vulnerable when in heat: they are painful, so they feel vulnerable and thus are more prone to spooking. Including my own. Is it possible that Mara is calmer in the winter because she is in anestrus due to the colder weather? Mares kept in places with real winter tend to stop cycling during the colder months.
Wow huge milestone for Mara drinking out on the trail! Yay! Have you thought about using ear plugs for her when out on the trails? I know a lot of people use them at shows to help with the distractions. It might be worth a shot for a temporary fix that she could be weaned off of (hopefully).
I actually saw rain on top of ice/snow for the first time in my life this week. I have no memory of ever seeing rain fall on snow until now. It's so weird!!
Oops I just read the comments and realized other people had already suggested ear plugs hehe. I really need to read comments before making my own...
Post a Comment