Tuesday 3 April 2012

Rough night at the barn

I went out after work last night for a 7:00 lesson. I should have stayed home :)
Ginger was really well behaved bringing her in from the field. Usually she's a bit uptight leaving her friends, but last night she seemed content, and once again really enjoyed being groomed. I took her into the arena a bit early to just lead her around, and she was super quiet - which is rare for her. I got on and walked her around on a loose rein. She had been worked by the trainer earlier in the day, so we didn't lunge her. And then, the two people from the previous lesson left and the two people I was to be riding with came in. And she lost her mind. I tried to settle her and put her to work, but she was just getting more and more frantic, spooking at the other horses, trying to bolt, and generally just in panic mode. I dont think she was upset about the other horses leaving, it was the new ones she was quite worried about. There were two of them and she wanted to keep an eye on both at all times. I was getting a bit tense and it just wasn't working. The instructor led us around a little, but she was still pretty 'out there'. So embarassingly, we had to hang out in the center and watch while the others had their lesson. She was a mess, I was uptight and feeling bad for being so disruptive...all in all not the best night. At the end of the lesson, the other horses left and again new ones came in, but this time she didnt seem too worried so the instructor took 10 min to lunge us walk/trot to end on a good note. I walked her around a bit more, and that was that.
We're going to try bringing her in to the barn overnight for a couple of weeks (she's currently on paddock board). Maybe that will help her get more used to the comings and goings. The trainer usually rides weekday mornings and it's pretty quiet then. My lessons up to now have been private, so again pretty  quiet. Thats not to say she's never been ridden with other horses, but last night was obviously too much for her. Trainer girl is awesome and also said if this continues she'll start hanging out on Ginger while she teaches lessons, which would be a huge help. I'm frustrated to have such limited barn time and am leaning more and more towards heading to the coast for a few months this summer and just getting Ginger out and about every day. Of course wonderful Mr. G is there too, which is my main motivation. Mr G, after hearing my sad story last night, suggested we take Ginger to a deserted island and ride on the beach. I was like "!?!". He said "It worked on that Black Stallion movie". I love him, he always knows how to make me laugh :)
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