This is my final round-up of show pictures. Here's Izzy trotting past her friends on the rail. Please ignore my form...
And here we are, walking up to a halt.I rode Izzy Sunday morning. She did very well til she spooked at something and threw her head up in the air, making contact with my chest and face.
I hurt a lot right now. Also, I kinda saw stars. That wasn't fun.
We just had a nice, low stress ride this morning. I'm pretty nervous; between the rearing and the face-whack, it really wasn't that fun of a week. I could put a standing martingale on her to curtail another head toss, but that could potentially unbalance her in a dangerous way if she tried to rear again. A running martingale might be safer, but I really don't like that the action is on the bit... I'm trying not to fuss with her mouth too much.
Any ideas?
I'll try to take a lesson this week. That usually does good things for my confidence and focus.
I'm not a big fan of martingales - since all they do is force the horse into a particular posture and often lead to braciness - and unless your hands are really, really good, I wouldn't use a running martingale. She's a relatively young horse, and even older horses spook, although I can certainly understand how getting hit in the face by your horse's head could shake you up. Take lessons and more lessons. The rearing and head throwing could indicate that she's got a problem with the bit you're using, or perhaps with how you're using it - only you can know and it's really hard to tell from where I sit. You may need some help to work through these issues.
ReplyDeleteI understand that martingales can be used to force a horse into frame, but that's not what I'm talking about. I'd just want it loosely adjusted to keep our heads from making contact.
ReplyDeleteNo, you definitely don't want that to happen again - hope you feel better soon!
ReplyDeleteI agre with Kate, lesson! If that generally helps give you confidance then do that. I would try and hold off on the martingale for now.
ReplyDeleteI think she looks really good in the photos!!!!!
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