Best behavior

After 19 days of doing nothing but groom* Mag, I was pretty nervous about his first day out.

* - Why do I even try? To spend 2 hours scraping mud off of him, to see his hair again for a few minutes before he goes out and trashes it again, it's futility.

I thought taking him to the fancy arena would be a good first day, where I could lunge him first.

Then S1 and TP both told me they're unable to ride their grown up Arabians the last few weeks, because they're just too fresh and the weather is too chilly. TP said, "Bring Mag over, but just lunge him the first few times. Don't even try to ride in this weather."

Hm. Good idea. I'm probably able to type this right now because I took her (rather controlling) advice.

Getting there was the thing I was worried about because lately Mag has been spooking at trucks and busses. I planned to avoid Hohestrasse for that reason, then realized it's Sunday and chances are good we wouldn't encounter many. So, here goes.

It took so much effort for me to keep calm and I focused on a slower than normal walking pace. I imagined Mag was a big lazy coldblood but he was as light on his feet as a young Arabian can be. He even burst into a trot a few times out of sheer exhileration at being out. Also, it is much colder today than yesterday, and there is a stinging wind. Taking him out of his Winter blanket is like throwing him into a pool of water with ice cubes.

But I held it together, and when I named this post, I did it because Mag did too. He was a live wire but he did not spook or run me over today. In fact some neighbors stopped to admire him, "He's SO CLEAN" and I said, "Well, I took a garden hose to him." They were shocked, but I only did his legs of course. I think they noticed he's clean cuz they have to look at him dirty all the time out their window. Or, it could be he was just glorious because the sun was hitting him and his entire coat was iridescent  (from the vitamins?) and his tail was a thing to behold, I'd washed it with too-hot to touch water and he was holding it straight up in the air in excitement the entire journey.

I have to admit I was leading him using a lunge line and a dressage whip to 1. not lose him and 2. not get run over. But with no big trucks today, he was fine. I explained to him "This is the lunge line of my distrust in you."

I had to move Mag off the sidewalk many times as we encountered walkers bundled up like Ralphie's brother, everyone loves a sunny Sunday.

Mag started to calm down. I even let him graze at the halfway point and that really helped. The rest of the walk he was staring at the grass rather than worrying. Good!

I heard this odd noise as we turned up TP's driveway. It was a drone! It's my first time seeing a drone overhead. Mag didn't seem to care, but I couldn't find anyone who might have been controlling it.

On arrival, 3 horses pressing to greet us, I gave pause - what to do. 

I remembered (thankfully) that Mag seems to enjoy simply tearing around, ripping up the footing for the joy of it, neighing as he goes.

So I just took him to their dressage arena and very carefully unclipped the lunge line and backed out of the gate.

Of course, he dropped immediately to roll several times in their soft white sand, and then took off prancing and bucking and twisting and snorting the 5-mile snort repeatedly.

On the outside of the arena, I was safe from his flailing hooves. The three horses who live there were all standing as close as they could get to him, heads over their fences, fascinated. Dakhin pawed the concrete repeatedly. Dakhin would love to destroy Mag; he hates all newcomers, as an insecure horse typically does.

TP does not let me let Mag anywhere near her horses, like, 5 meters minimum. I'm sure the TB mare would be sweet to Mag, the friendly way she strains to touch him, but if he gets near, TP tells me, "Get him away!"

All alone, with Mag enjoying a good run on good traction for the first time in ever, I decided to start running around the *outside* of their arena, and sure enough, Mag followed, prancing and blowing and showing off for our horsey audience. I would hide behind a bush and Mag would look for me frantically, and then I'd run out and we'd run together again, with the fence between us saving my brain probably, from his hooves.





Then TP and her husband and a contractor came out and they settled in to watch the show.

I had entered the arena finally and started playing with Mag as I used to play with Baasha. My body language totally different than anything he'd seen before, because I wanted him to know it's playtime.

Oh, the emotions, as he responded like Baasha had 20  years ago.

He sprang into the air and kicked out and whirled and when I snuck up on him and raised my arms, he reared! I wondered if he'd been taught it, it was so perfect. But probably it's just natural for a horse to rear when a person acts like that!

Then we did it again, and he gave a tiny rear again when I raised my arms straight up. Wow.

I normally would never condone this behavior, but I think he knew it was playtime and he wasn't close enough to me to be a danger. I had my lunge whip.

Then I just ran around inside the ring with him and we played and played, it was awesome.

TP said, "Does he do this at home in your field?" I said, "Well, it's all muddy." I think the arena traction gave him confidence to really show off and dig in and gallop. I cannot walk properly in our field right now, I am always slipping around in the mud. This was my first chance to RUN with my horse off the street.

The contractor couldn't stop watching as Mag would run, stop, all his muscles tense, and give the snort to the entire neighborhood, over and over.

Then I told TP I would like to actually try lunging him, to see what he'd give me.

I put on another aspect and Mag knew immediately the play was over. I clipped on the lunge line and lunged him a few minutes. I couldn't get a walk, because at that moment a four-in-hand went trotting by.

I let him spin around crazily prancing, tail over his back, knowing it would be OK cuz he'd had a full hour to play before this.

Then my friend S2 went by in another coach pulled by her BF's Haflinger. Mag lost it again a little. To be honest, we saw 4 carriages go trotting by in the 1.5 hours we were there! It's a sunny Sunday, afterall.

TP waved at S2, and I did too, and I hoped that she could recognize that it was Mag, not Dakhin, spazzing about in the arena.  S2 waved back at us. TP asked me how I know S2.

Back to lunging, Mag settled as soon as the carriage horses were far enough away, and really listened to me when I said canter and trot. As usual, he prefers to not canter at all (too hard) but I got 2 or 3 revolutions before I said Good Boy and we were done.

He was, at this point, a reformed criminal, and held his face to my chest.

I was so pleased with him.

But I was not brave enough to bring him back to Hohestrasse for the journey home. I'd had enough excitement. So I took him through the woods.

And he followed me like a lamb the entire way home. I laughed, "I could have ridden you home!"

He was about 5 feet behind me, following without any hurry or worry. It was perfection. It's been a while since he's just followed me like that - lately I've needed to defend my space to keep him from trying to pass me. Annoying.

This was perfect. I've never praised him so much in our lives. I said Good Boy all the way home, and wished I'd brought cookies.

When we got home, I gave him tomorrow's breakfast hay-pellet mash, "2nd breakfast!" and now he's sleepily standing there with the sunshine warming his black blanket, I'm sure he's very comfortable.

I gave him an apple and a carrot in addition to his 2nd mash of the day. I'm not sure he knows what he did, but no matter, I know.

Tuesday I go ride with Seli and her Haflinger Momo and her wild disobedient dog Lupo again. Oh boy! I plan to spend a lot of time on the ground until I'm sure Mag is OK with the dog.

Tonight, I'm so proud of Mag, he held it together when the universe conspired against him.

S1 wrote me this week:

***

Bintu is very tense outside anyway and I only work him in the arena. Even that is difficult.

Silvan is the same.

Bintu spooks at everything at the moment. I lunged him today and walked a bit out on our trails. Was OK but he was tense.

***

To hear that Silvan is also on edge is a warning - he's not a hotblood, he's an easy going guy. We'll see what happens Wednesday, and on into Winter - it won't end soon.