First Ride!

Things with Pandora have been going absolutely swimmingly. Tonight my mom rode her for the first time since we went to look at her, and she threatened to steal her from me ;)

Still has that worried expression a lot of the time. Never spooks, just often looks askance at things and blows a little. It's almost cute, actually. Nevertheless, it seems to be duly fading as she settles in. I have to keep reminding myself that we haven't even had her for a week.

Getting much better about hoof-picking, though today as I was picking a front hoof she started to do that sink-back-ready-to-go-down thing, and managed to yank the leg away. I hollered at her that no, I did not appreciate having to hold her up. I picked up the foot again and she started to do it again, but I yelled and she stopped. Didn't have any trouble with any of the other feet and she stopped after the second try. On the plus side, she's almost 100% calm with picking up forelegs now, and her hind legs are getting there.

Her mane is all trained nice and pretty to one side now, except for a little chunk at the bottom that we were too lazy to do. This weekend we will probably take everything out, pull a little, and rebraid to make sure it stays on one side. I do so love primping my horses! She'll also get her tail washed. She seems to rub it, not sure if she still does or if it was in the past, but a good washing should help if she does still rub. Then we'll braid and bag the tail.

Continues to understand longeing better. Still, for whatever reason, only halts to the left. If she's walking to the right and is asked to halt, she'll turn in and face left, then halt. Bizarre. Oh well, we'll get her to understand it.

Perfect gentlewoman for tacking up. Mom rode first, declared that she has a wonderful smooth walk. Compared to McKinna the short-backed almost-pony, it's...well, not much of a comparison! But she did walking and some trotting, and Pandora was just great.

I hopped on for a little walking. She's definitely a very sensitive horse, and is thoroughly concerned about what I want her to do. You know the kind of dog whose eyes never leave you, because it wants to do exactly what you want it to, the instant you say so? That's kinda what riding her feels like. Very anxious to understand what I wanted. I kept it nice and low-key.

Moves off the leg nicely, definitely looks for the support of outside aids which is nice. Tends to mouth the bit a lot when she gets anxious, will have to see if that fades. Will try the plain french-link next, instead of the one we're using now with a copper center lozenge -- just to see if she likes the plain link better. Doubt it, but it's worth a shot. Don't think it's a bit issue.

The biggest thing is that I can feel her wanting to tuck her nose behind the vertical. Suspect that, at some point in the past, she was asked for a headset instead of working into the bit. She'll take contact, but it's too floaty and tucked-back for my taste. There were, however, some steps of nice contact without head-ducking -- perhaps the tucking is a reaction when she's feeling nervous? In any case, we'll definitely start out focusing on forward and relaxed and very much In Front Of The Vertical. She's quite happy to stretch down when you give her the reins, which is good. I have a feeling that trail rides will be very, very good for her peace of mind.

Her walk is, well, pleasant. She's much more forward than I was expecting (as I keep mentioning, her stiffness fades by the day). It's got a nice forward-back motion and almost a side-to-side sway with each step, not sure how to describe it. Nothing particularly weird, just a different walk than McKinna I suppose.

Speaking of walk, I've been watching her carefully and I am undecided. When she's walking in from the pasture with me, it often seems that she has a toe-first landing, but I'm also walking in short halting steps and she may be just going with me. On the longe I don't see quite the toe-first stabbing landing, and certainly not at the trot. So perhaps I'm just being overly concerned.

She was trimmed right before we got her, but it seems to me that she needs a trim soon anyway. Her hooves are a bit pancaked-out. I think.

Argh, I wish I was better educated about hooves. I know what looks good for the most part, and I know what looks bad for the most part, but I also can't tell exactly what is bad, or what is good. Does that make sense? I am also always worried that their hooves aren't good enough. I wonder, for example, if Pandora has a mild case of thrush. I see some black in the collateral grooves, but it doesn't smell bad, and it's not all mushy. A little soft. I don't know.

Clearly it's too late. This is a training log, not a reflection on how I feel about horse hooves!

Will post a picture-only post tomorrow from us riding today.

I'm out for the night.