Lying Down on the Job

Schwartz has been doing really well, and so I tried to take him to a small local schooling show over the weekend.  Unfortunately the footing wasn't quite good enough for me to feel comfortable riding young green horses, so we went back home and it ended up being just a field trip in the horse trailer.  Despite being just about ten minutes away, the trip was a little stressful for Schwartz and he did some cribbing Sunday and Monday.  Before this he hadn't cribbed for about a week.  To try and help him get his mojo back I had Dr. Landes come out and do another acupuncture treatment on him.

Warm and sunny, this afternoon Schwartz was feeling pretty zen as we waited for the vet.  I decided to hop on him bareback and hack around the property while we waited.  I suspect he had never been ridden bareback before.  He gave me that classic befuddled look as if to ask, "Uh, Kim, I don't mean to be rude, but didn't you forget something?  The saddle perhaps?"

I climbed on at the barn, and then we rode down to the arena.  We walked around the arena for a few minutes, and Schwartz dropped his head and took some deep breaths.  I thought, "Great!  He's relaxing!"  Shortly after thinking this his knees buckled, his hocks folded, and he laid down right there in the sand in my arena with me still on his back.  He went all the way down, to where I was sitting on him but my feet were on the ground on either side of his barrel.  I admit I got a little excited and I energetically yelped and told him to get up RIGHT AWAY.  Bless his heart, he immediately hopped right up, looking at me over his shoulder as if to say, "Oops, sorry about that, I thought you said we were just relaxing today."  Usually a horse will buck or fool around when they rise from lying down, but he just carefully stood up with me still on his back, apologized, and we resumed our leisurely walk.

A few minutes later when the vet arrived I rode Schwartz back to the barn and the vet actually asked if this was a new horse.  I said no, this is Schwartz, and Dr. Landes was floored by how good he looks, even just in the three weeks since he saw him last.  He's all glossy and shiny, gaining weight well, and very mellow.  We did the acupuncture treatment anyway, and in his assessment the ulcer points were much softer and Schwartz was tremendously less reactive.  I haven't seen any cribbing this afternoon.  I guess he's comfortable enough to be lying down on the job.

I had to include this picture of the mares enjoying their time in the pasture in the afternoons.