This mare is BRILLIANT.
I had a good day with her today. Could you tell?
Yesterday consisted of jump field prep and the girls got the day off. We did more jump field prep today, but only after I worked with Ellie (Tiger did get another day off after getting an overhaul of a pedicure). The mare is shedding like a beast, so I started today with good long grooming that consisted primarily of currying and using the grooming block with a lot of elbow grease behind it. Andrea put it the best - "It looks like someone shaved their granny out here!" (laughter is never hard to find around her) Needless to say... Ellie is shedding. A lot.
I dragged Edwin to the barn with me today, so we arrived about an hour later than I normally do when alone. Edwin is even less of a morning person than I am (if that's possible) and getting him up in the morning... takes a little bit of time. Because of this, Andrea had started working the babies by the time we got there, and was busy working with Rio when we arrived. I had initially decided to just lunge Ellie in the round pen since she'd had the past three days off from work. I'm used to thoroughbreds that have to be worked EVERY DAY otherwise they are absolutely insane, and the idea of just hopping on after three days generally brings to mind thoughts of death and/or dismemberment. While being groomed and tacked up however, she was so quiet and relaxed (even after getting scared to death by the dump truck delivering shavings) I figured I push my luck a bit. I brought my lunge line with me just in case, but trekked out to the round pen with thoughts of our first lone ride floating around in my head.
Remember a few weeks ago when just my pulling the stirrups down scared the poor mare half to death? A true testament to how smart she is, she did her Ellie Statue impression while I tightened the girth, pulled down my stirrups, and moved the mounting block (read as: dropping it like the klutz I am) next to her. I love love love working with this mare. I have never had such a rewarding experience working with any horse before.
I took the mounting slow, in case she decided to bolt since there was no one standing at her head, but, again, a testament to the mare's amazing brain, she stood like a statue while I mounted. Seriously. She needs to hold a horsey day class on standing still. She's a pro at not moving until being told to do so.
More to the point - I'm on Ellie without anyone else in the pen!!! To say I'm thrilled... is more than an understatement.
I don't mean to sound like a broken record, but Ellie is a superstar. She walked around the pen completely relaxed, stopping, turning, crossing the round pen at 12, 3, 6, and 9 (in clock terms), and did it all with a total acceptance of the bit, not trying to evade it. She isn't looking for the bit, or have any sort of frame, but she is accepting of it. She has a super super walk, her beautiful shapely neck stretched long and low, engaging from behind, walking with a great forward motion. I am so excited to see where the next two or so weeks take us.
The plan for tomorrow is to trot her on the lunge line. Keep your fingers crossed it keeps going this well! I'll update on how that goes tomorrow.
Until then, I leave you with a great link to a lot of interesting (and valuable) equine news. Check it out here.
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