Third Gear

Yes, this was how I spent part of my time with My Boy last Friday. I told my sister that one of these times while I was hand grazing my horse, I was going to sit out and read a book. But it was easier said then done. I had a hard time concentrating on reading. I'd rather be watching my horse graze!

However, the actual ride before this was not as peaceful. I started off by grooming My Boy in his pasture. He has a hitching post there. This area where you see him standing? A month ago, it was all mud. It is so nice that it has finally dried out. But now it's getting dusty. Mud or dust? Hard to believe, but I'll take dust any day!

I saddled My Boy and took him up to the arena. I warmed him up by walking and jogging on the longe line, circling him left and right, playing some of the Parelli games. We side passed over the log from the ground, etc. Then I donned my helmet and mounted up. I always wear my helmet when I am riding alone.

I walked and jogged, more side passing, backing through a chute of poles, practicing some trail obstacles....My Boy was doing fairly well considering the heat. Then, I got a wild hair up my Pony Girl tootie-ta. I decided to lope.

A little background here....I have not loped my horse since last fall, due to an arena that was wet and slippery most of the winter. He has loped a fair amount on the longe line.

Loping is not my forte. I always feel like a flapping fool when I lope. I tend to lean forward and raise my tootie-ta out of the saddle, and when I sit it back down My Boy stops (which is how he was trained.) He is also a bit on the lazy side at times, so it can be a battle to keep him loping.

I normally do not choose to lope My Boy alone, just in case something happens. But Friday, I literally thought it in my head, gave him a squeeze, and he went right into the gait! I was pleasantly shocked. And then whooooaaa, he stopped 25 feet down the rail, on his own. I gathered him up and asked him again. And we struggled to keep going. He fought me once and it felt like he crow hopped a little, which is highly unusual for this horse. I got him going again, circling the arena once until it was my decision for him to stop. That was progress. I should have ended there but I tried it one more time and he crow hopped more obviously this time. Goodness! This was not My Boy at all! It was obvious to me that he wasn't trying to dislodge me while I was on him. He could have easily done that with more than a crow hop. But I was not comfortable with this behavior and did not know why he was doing it. Being alone without anyone to watch or help me, I did not want to continue this mystery from my horse's back. I dismounted and put him on the longe line again. I loped him both directions (I had not done this in the warm-up. Lesson learned.) You know what? He was WORSE on the longe line! He had his little head to his knees and was just hopping along the whole way around. After a few circles, he'd raise and carry his head normally. He was not full-on bucking. It was like the hopping you might see a young colt do when wearing a saddle for the first time.

After working him well both ways, I got back on and we just walked and jogged. I did not press the lope issue again. He did not seemed bothered at the walk, jog, trot, or backing up.

As I hosed him off, I began analyzing why this happened, and I thought of two possibilities. My mom recently gave me a saddle pad that did not work for her horse and saddle. It made her saddle fit incorrectly, it was too tippy. It is a nice pad, wool top, with a memory foam lining. However, it is a contour fit style and the lining doesn't go all the way across the top of the horse's back. It has two pads of foam on either side. Here is a picture of the inside:

My sister noticed a couple of weeks ago that when I was leading My Boy in front of her, that this pad forces my saddle up off of his back and it bounces there kind of oddly. And when I lunged him with the saddle on that particular day, he hopped up on all fours once then reared straight up, something I have never seen him do. I thought he was just full of it, because he didn't do it again.

I began to wonder if this pad was causing the saddle to fit incorrectly, perhaps pushing the saddle down on his withers? Or, it caused the saddle to rise and hit his back uncomfortably, even with my weight in it (all 105 lbs of me.) My Boy can be very quivery and sensitive about how things feel on his body.

Tonight, once it cooled down, I brought him out and saddled him with the old fleece-lined pad. And when I longed him, he did the same hopping behavior a bit at the lope when going to the left. He was better going to the right. I also rode him, and when I loped him short distances both directions, he seemed to be okay. My sister watched and said he did not hop, but he did shake his head and swish his tail more going to the left. I also think that head shaking can be a sign of irritation or pain. So I did not push it.

Since the saddle pad may not be the reason, my second theory is that his back or hips are out of whack and he really feels this at the lope. I was overdue in my wish for making a chiropractic appointment for him, so I now have one the second week in July. He is also out of shape, in regards to using his loping muscles. I try to lope him out on the longe line as much as I can in the rainy season, but not when I felt the footing was too slippery.

It is always an adventure with horses. It just shows that you think you have no issues and then your horses surprises you with a behavior you have never experienced before. I think the important thing, at least for me, is to weed out physical reasons for misbehavior first. If there is not a physical or equipment disturbance and My Boy is just being a balky pill, then we'll work on it from there.

As for the humgo to-do list, I have to admit, we actually got quite a bit done today. I'll catch you up on all of the adventures (including the pool we put in the backyard) tomorrow.