Just when I get it together...

So a few things have happened for Riggs and I since my last post.

Firstly, he became rideable. Well not properly, he was a total arse for my friend and bucked her off twice before he settled down enough to plod around for her. And to even get to that point I had to chase him mercilessly on the lunge to expunge all his energy. I still feel super, super guilty about that because I keep going back to his bow and this niggling thought that all this circle work is so bad for it. But you know, I can't do straight line work if I can't sit on him. He is a really nice ride once he's quiet though, so there's hope if we can end his dangerous streak. And it was good for my nerve to get on him and feel safe too. Not to mention good for his over inflated ego about being the boss.

All saddled up and looking smart

 My friend sorting him out

Me having a ride

On lunging: he's a bit fuzzy on it really. He understands 'trot on' and sometimes agrees to 'walk on', but not often. He seems to be of the opinion that he should just immediately trot (especially when going clockwise) as that is what we'll be doing shortly anyway. And this is truly a fine sentiment, and I'm pleased he gets 'trot on', but other things are important too. Like, he wouldn't even move going clockwise on Sunday, that took some mighty convincing. I'm using commands along with the whip so that eventually my voice will be all he needs, but he's not making it an easy job, and to be honest, the lack of consistency isn't helping the situation. Another thing he's bad at is stopping, we're working on that and cantering!! He canters for a quarter to half a circuit then just stops. Like properly halts and turns to face me. I think this is a matter of unbalance and again, lack of consistency of training and will be improved in time. We had an okay half hour session on the Sunday just gone. His anti-clockwise work is basically very good, clockwise not so much. Practice, practice, practice.

His weight is also really good at the moment, I'm so happy with him! It's gotten to the point where his feed is being cut back so he doesn't get too big. I cannot express how pleased I am about that.

10/2/13

I also had an equine myotherapist come out to look at him on Sunday to see if his rodeo problem was muscular. He crossed off hind leg as he walked a little and carried his tail slightly off side - classic signs of pain so the EMT went over him and found his tender spots and he was a very, very good sport about the whole experience. He was good for nearly an hour before the annoyed tail swishing gave way to annoyed raspberries (he was so, so annoyed, but he was so cute!!! I just laughed at him.). And despite being very macho TB about the whole experience - 'Enjoy this? Never.' - I saw his top lip twitching. He's such a funny man. He moved much more freely after the massage so I know it's done him good, I'm just yet to see if it'll have helped his rodeo performances.

I had planned out this week so that he was exercised Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday with a similar schedule next week. And today being Tuesday my friend and I were going to repeat the riding experiment to see if the massage had helped. Everything was coming together! And then, I totalled my car on the way home on Sunday. I have grade one whiplash from the experience and no car. So my training plans are in total disarray. I can't get a job without the car, I can't go work with Riggs without the car and my finances are slowly but surely drying up. So I'm in a bit of a bind for the moment. Eventually my dear Riggs is going to have to go away to school for training as I am just completely unable to give him the necessary consistency at this time; it's so frustrating!! But for that to happen I need money. So Riggs is basically having yet another holiday. It's tough being Riggs.

Sometimes, I just want things in my life to go right.

A-Okay

It occurs to me that I have simply neglected to post about the results of the blood test.

His blood test was 'unexciting', which is good news. But this still leaves the overt ribbiness as quite the mystery unfortunately. I'm generally clinging to the view that it's the lack of adequate grass statewide at the moment that is making it especially hard to put weight on him, so I do hope that when the rain returns he'll start leaning towards the fat side of things.

In other general Riggs news, I spent some bonding time with him on Sunday afternoon as I, and I feel so guilty, have not had the spare time to spend with him lately. I intended to pull his feral horse mane, but he had other ideas and wouldn't stand still long enough to let me detangle it! I then attempted to just groom the rest of him, but he really had ants in his pants at that point and was weaving and trying to run away from me and digging to China... And then because he wanted me to feel really bad about taking him from his paddock, he played the sore back card. This sort of irritates me a bit as some days he's ducking away from brushes and then, literally the next day, he'll be fine. Does anyone else's horse do this to them? I then gave up and just gave him a bath and he fought less with me over that, so that was a pleasant surprise! I even got sprayed with minimal water!! And then towards the end of the bath he gave in and stood quietly so I was able to detangle his mane - victory is mine! BUT, he wouldn't let me cut his bridle path properly and now he looks like a tool... one day I will conquer the head shyness. I thought I had at one point because he stopped pulling away from my hand going within the vicinity of his ears, but adding the scissors to the mix was too much. Little by little, we'll get there.

He also had a long pick at the grass on the lead (because he's got the great racehorse mentally when being hand picked that 'OMG I AM NEVER EVER GOING TO SEE GRASS AGAIN!) and he nosed a broom, which moved causing him to jump on me. Total ditz.

So that's what's new... I am going to see him again on Thursday and am going to pull his mane then while it's still nice and detangled so I will take some photos then.

I didn't realise I had any recentish shots, but this one is about a week and a half old - he's trying out his new fly mask. Is purple his colour?