I have been riding in the mornings before it gets too hot. Miss Pea had gotten a little bit grumpy when being groomed or having her girth tightened, and she had started grinding her teeth while riding in the arena again. I suspected a recurrence of ulcers, and got a refill on her medications. Sometimes a horse needs longer than thirty days to really kick the ulcers, and sometimes the ulcers return unexpectedly. The pharmacy I use is wonderful and sent her medications right away, so she has been back on omeprazole since Monday. Already she is more relaxed again when riding.
I've also been fiddling with saddle fit for her. She is very thin skinned and sensitive, so she really appreciates all the puffy sheepskin saddle pads and girth covers. She also is in a bit of an odd position at age five with a growth spurt, so it's nearly a daily evaluation to decide which saddle and pads will accommodate her and keep her comfortable for that ride. Fortunately, she has no problem expressing her opinions. If she doesn't like the girth she curls her head and neck around to my side while I'm fastening the first buckle. She will take it between her lips and she shakes it saying, "KIM, THIS is the part that is not right. Can you get me a different one please?" If she has no complaints about the girth she ignores the process of tacking. Similarly, if the saddle or pad isn't quite right she will lift her head as I place it on her back, sometimes turning to me to give me the stink-eye. If the saddle and pad are comfortable for her she ignores them. I like it when the horses tell me these details, it makes it so much easier to figure out what works for her. Every once in a while I get a really stoic quarter horse or draft cross in for training who refuses to ever complain, so then I have to get technical with my measurements and diagnostic evaluations of tack for those horses. Usually the thoroughbreds are pretty explicit with their opinions.
Miss Pea is jumping once or twice weekly, just enough to familiarize her with the possible questions she'll be asked on course in KY, but I don't want to pound on her because she's still young. I'm helping her to settle and relax when jumping so we do mostly low gymnastic exercises.
Miss Pea's flying lead changes are spot-on, and she totally understands the differences between crossrails, verticals, and oxers. She has jumped up to 2'9" with PLENTY of scope to go higher as she matures. She's good with all the ridiculous decorations I have as well. In addition to the jumps, my Bit of Honey Circus includes pool noodles, hula hoops, pinwheels that spin, various fake flowers, trees, and bushes in pots. Most of it I've picked up at the dollar store or at yard sales. I like to take this economical route because the geldings seem to think the objective with the toys is to see who can disassemble them the fastest. Pinwheels don't last too long when you have Highboy and Cole plucking the petals off and spreading pieces all over the arena.
I'm planning to take Miss Pea to the saddle club show in Wellington this Sat., I'll braid her and do the whole thing so we have some nice photos. Stay tuned for her glamour shots!
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