Distracted++

There was a lot of wind today but that wasn't our only problem - Mag was exasperating me keeping track of all the other horses' whereabouts. In my opinion this behavior should be going away, not getting worse.

Bad timing - as I was putting the cavesson on, the Fjord mare Maja and another horse came back from a trail ride. Mag lost his mind and manners, forgetting I was even there, trying to get to them, and I had nothing on his head at the moment so that was tricky. The ladies said hi to me and I couldn't even reply because I was trying to get a hold of Mag. In his excitement he pooped twice and I tried to clean it up but Betinna said, "Hey, you leave that poop there and I'll get it. You have enough to worry about. Go work your horse." So thankful to these nice people!

During our warm up Maja's owner poked her head over the door and asked if she could bring her in to roll. As soon as Maja was in the arena Mag lost his mind again, MY GIRLFRIEND! and I wasn't sure I could hold onto him with my regular lead rope. Before she left, I asked if I could switch to the lunge line so that I would have a chance to keep a hold of Mag when she leaves. As she left I'm sure she was thinking, "What a drag, to have such a freaky horse!"

Then his other girlfriend - Mia - poked her head in but they just watched for a while and it was something to see. Mag was airborne and needed no encouragement to canter today. He flew around the place tail on fire, and I just aimed him for the ground poles and one raised pole so it was even more work to fly around like crazy.

The wind was rattling the sides of the arena and I could hear some crashing noises and it was very, very exciting, so I was glad Mag was moving himself around by his own choice.

Then Claudia arrived and said, "Hey this is a lot of wind. If you don't want to ride today I understand!" I said, "Let's see what the wind does." She came in and I asked her to set up more "toys" for us to play with, and to think up some patterns for us. She set up a cloverleaf of 4 cones and a box of poles and then a triangle of poles and explained what we'd be doing. I was thrilled that she had these ideas cuz they help Mag learn to focus, they help him learn to balance on tight turns, they let him learn my weight/leg/rein aids for these turns, and they help my mind not wander to "riding can be fatal".

What was that thing Gabi said the other day, "Life is perilous and ends in death." *lol* It's funnier in German.

Betinna poked her head over and watched for a while. That's no good, having a horse that is interesting enough to attract an audience!

But Mag was feeling better, and I took off my gloves and touched his chest and he was totally dry. How can he be dry after so much cavorting around? I kind of want to see Mag sweat once, for real. I have three very nice coolers. Never get any use...

The cloverleaf thing was really fun and I can feel Mag balancing on tiny circles so much better. The triangle was a trip. Mag did that naughty flirtatious nickering to Claudia again and this time she said, "Are you sure he's not a stallion?" Well hm. How can I be SURE?: ) (Well, if so, we'd have a donkey hybrid baby by now....)

Claudia was thrilled with his willingness, and she asked if I wanted to trot and I asked if she wanted to run. She ran with us 4 or 5 times down the long side and Mag finally dragged himself to a jog I was able to post to. She said, "You really don't need me on this line, I haven't used it once today." But it sure feels nice to have a safety net, especially in wind.

Then another lady brought her horse to the door and Mag lost it and I tried to pull his nose to my shoe, the touch the shoe exercise, and he refused, "Must see who it is!" but on my 4th request he finally did. "Oh, you're still on me?" He really cannot do two things at once.

Again he got tons of praise when we were finished, and I felt pleased about how he handled the patterns. Oh, I forgot, I also used the cones to begin a very advanced exercise with Mag - walking a square, but at each turn, you stop, then make the turn by either moving only the front end or only the hind end. So if I want to make a left turn at the corner of the square, I ask him to do a turn on the hindquarters, a quarter turn, only moving his front legs. Then we go again and I ask for his hind end to move to the right for the left-hand-turn. It's such a fun thing to do, and he caught on and was able to do it, especially with Claudia's help from the ground, she'd step toward his hind end to move it over as I asked. I really want to get proficient at this, cuz it's a lovely exercise in precision, and with cones, makes a lot of sense to the horse.

Or a little sense. Not sure how much sense exactly, to a horse's mind.

Back at the barn Claudia was helping Tanja with Mia. Poor Tanja had a worse day than we did - she took Mia for a walk and tried to do ground work, and Mia refused and got very grouchy and reared up in defiance, as well as kicking out at her. Tanja asked if she could have the cavesson back. Of course, it's yours!

Claudia went in the stall with them and I heard her yelling at Mia, "You stop that!" Tanja doesn't know how to be strict with Mia, but she'll learn. Today she told me Mia took advantage of her like a child does when the parent is ill. I was like, kids do that? How horrible!

I had Mag tied to the wall and was washing his tail and when a friend walked by, Mag forgot I was there again and whirled around, away from me. I quickly followed, smacked him lightly on the nose, getting Dr Bronners Lavender soap foam all over his muzzle, and told him to get back where he was. Moving away of course is a much preferable action than ramming into me, but he just couldn't control himself and hold still, yet again today.

Then I clipped his bridle path and a little of the long hair in his ears (he's so good with that) and Claudia and Tanja said, "WOW, he is so good with clippers!" Claudia said, "I've never tried to bring clippers near Argo, he's so afraid of water, I don't dare." I said, "Hey, he might surprise you!"

Finally I was done and I just hung out with Claudia and Tanja and it was great to just listen to them talk, and I noticed that Argo has a mustache. This is is the 3rd I've seen at this barn. You know horsey mustaches? I had never seen them in America but some European breeds have them. She said she thinks he's a Freiberger but do warmbloods have mustaches? She had used some essential oil on him for some healing voodoo and he really, really hated it. The look in his eye! He is such a massive, expressive horse. He's so afraid of water she has trouble putting this tiny little dropper near his hooves to treat thrush. It's smaller than her hand, but he knows it's there, and that is has FLUID! He tried to break free 3 times as she tried to put drops in his hooves, but she uses a German plastic style blocker tie ring and it works. Oh I will have to tell you the stories she told me about Argo another time - that horse had a terrible time but obviously love prevails.

Hopefully I'll see them again tomorrow - I can't get over how wonderful it is to have people who want to help each other, who thrive on it. I don't need a professional, I just need a support system, which I am treasuring, every minute.

One more thing that made me laugh today - Willy saw me dumping my soapy water bucket from washing Mag's tail (I like to use warm water) and he saw the fine white foam and said, "Did you MILK your horse!? Look ladies, she milked her horse!" *lol*


The seller on Mag, November 2015. I loved his short tail. I cannot seem to cut it in a way that looks naturally short. Back then he knew how to have an audience and be good about it. (This is his "AUDIENCE?" face.) He simply must get back to this level of acceptance of things happening around him while at work. Ugh, I can see that he has lost a lot of weight. Any day now I'm gonna start beet pulping/hay pellet mashing him.....