After my last post about Gladys and our trials I was feeling pretty defeated and kind of dumb. Seems after 45ish years of riding I should know more but I have never said I was a colt starter, haha. Anyway, after mulling over how things went I talked to hubby and he mentioned the one thing I know but for some reason my brain just couldn’t remember, go back to some basics. I know this but for the life of me, I couldn’t focus on anything other than how ridiculous I felt. So, going back to some basics with Gladys like ground driving and gaining her focus. Of course the next time I worked with her I’m thinking to myself “dumbass you know this, why couldn’t you just think your way through it”. After giving myself a pep talk I went out and caught the two year old giant personality of a horse. I go through the motions, grooming, saddling, bridling, do some easy flexions on the ground, etc. Then I grab the driving reins which no matter how hard I try to put them up all nice and neat, they develop 14,000 twists and knots. I was about out of patience before I even got started. I finally get her going and she’s doing ok, full of beans and feeling good but she did well and I was able to end the work riding her around the pen keeping things quiet and comfortable. Except Gladys being Gladys just can’t make things easy. She again decided that turns were stupid, keeping her head quiet and listening were also not on her list of fun things to do. However, staring at the same cows she sees all the time over the rail was much more interesting than listening to me. We did manage to settle and get some nice quiet turns and a couple nice figure eights and while I wanted to do more, I knew I didn’t have the skills to push her through what the fit I knew would come if I asked for more at this point so I decided to end on a decent note.
I knew what I was doing wasn’t exactly what Gladys needs so I have asked hubby to take over for a few works to keep her on track. Watching him work with her and how to keep a firm but not mean handle with her and how to push her through 2 year old tantrums without making a big deal about it was refreshing even though I still knew I don’t have the cojones to do what he does so I’m going to watch for the next few sessions and try to learn how to see what’s going to happen before it does. He can see and feel when she’s about to do a normal 2 year old thing and get her redirected so much faster than I can.
In the meantime I decided I really needed to finally do something to get stronger and maybe even lose some weight. The thyroid cancer meds I’ll be on forever don’t help with the weight and I’m tired of feeling a little wobbly and not confident in my physical abilities. This morning I went to my first box fit workout and I didn’t die! I really enjoyed it and will continue with some one of on sessions for a few weeks to get a good feel of what to do when I move into the group classes. I better be ready when it’s time to go down the fence with Gladys. That’s my hope anyway. Glad ass the bad ass is going to make me be better and I guess I should be grateful for that. Until my next post, here’s a picture of Gladys’ mom, my mare Oakie and I before Gladys was even a thought.
Horseshoes and Hormones 