Half-Brained
Sunny would be an outstanding horse if only she had a full brain.
Well, okay, truth be told she does have a full brain, but she does have the attention span of a goldfish and, therefore, getting her to focus on her job and listen is a bit of a chore. While tacking her up she was fidgety and not paying attention and backed into her halter. Twice. Both times she set back briefly as if she suddenly realized "O CRAP I'M TIED!" and then "Oh, I'm tied, no biggie." I think I know what happened last week now when Clint was tacking her up.
The trail ride went pretty well. She flubbed picking up the right lead a few times in the canter because, surprise, she wasn't paying attention to my cues. I also ended up being a little harder on her face because she wasn't responding to my light aids, which resulted in some small rubs on the bottom of her jaw from the bosal nose piece.
She's nice and responsive, when she's paying attention.
Even though Panda can be a little twitchy, I'd much rather ride her than Sunny. Of course Panda is doing much better than she was when we first purchased her, age and miles helps. Twitchiness aside, Panda is focused on her job. When tack is on she is working, no questions, which means that nine times out of ten, you ask her to do something and she jumps right to it. You don't have to get her attention back every other stride.
Sunny might come around as she gets older and gets out more, but it doesn't make it any less annoying to ride.
I'm going to hope that Cinnamon Strudel has a little more focus than her mother. I guess we'll find out as I finish starting her under saddle this winter.
In other news, our plans for the new horse shade are still under review. Apparently the county is set on having us chop down all the trees on the planet as I've lost count of how many copies of plans we've had to submit at this point. I've love for it to be finished before February. That's mostly because Panda is due in March and ideally she should be in her place of foaling at least a month before she's due.
Of course this whole process started in June, technically earlier, but the first plans were submitted in June. It's been four months now, let's hope it doesn't take more than another four (less would be nice!). We have no issues with zoning or drainage, the sticking point is the building guy.
Who'd of thought it would take so much to tear down some old shades and build a new one.
Well, okay, truth be told she does have a full brain, but she does have the attention span of a goldfish and, therefore, getting her to focus on her job and listen is a bit of a chore. While tacking her up she was fidgety and not paying attention and backed into her halter. Twice. Both times she set back briefly as if she suddenly realized "O CRAP I'M TIED!" and then "Oh, I'm tied, no biggie." I think I know what happened last week now when Clint was tacking her up.
The trail ride went pretty well. She flubbed picking up the right lead a few times in the canter because, surprise, she wasn't paying attention to my cues. I also ended up being a little harder on her face because she wasn't responding to my light aids, which resulted in some small rubs on the bottom of her jaw from the bosal nose piece.
She's nice and responsive, when she's paying attention.
Even though Panda can be a little twitchy, I'd much rather ride her than Sunny. Of course Panda is doing much better than she was when we first purchased her, age and miles helps. Twitchiness aside, Panda is focused on her job. When tack is on she is working, no questions, which means that nine times out of ten, you ask her to do something and she jumps right to it. You don't have to get her attention back every other stride.
Sunny might come around as she gets older and gets out more, but it doesn't make it any less annoying to ride.
I'm going to hope that Cinnamon Strudel has a little more focus than her mother. I guess we'll find out as I finish starting her under saddle this winter.
In other news, our plans for the new horse shade are still under review. Apparently the county is set on having us chop down all the trees on the planet as I've lost count of how many copies of plans we've had to submit at this point. I've love for it to be finished before February. That's mostly because Panda is due in March and ideally she should be in her place of foaling at least a month before she's due.
Of course this whole process started in June, technically earlier, but the first plans were submitted in June. It's been four months now, let's hope it doesn't take more than another four (less would be nice!). We have no issues with zoning or drainage, the sticking point is the building guy.
Who'd of thought it would take so much to tear down some old shades and build a new one.