Tuesday, September 5, 2017

A Story About Baby Horses

Last Friday, Alyssa came over to play with Zoë and I. She's a super riding badass (who is going to championships at TRAINING LEVEL EVENTING this week omg) and she totally talked me in to riding my baby mare bareback for the first time.
also annual gameday photos
I toodled around like wheeeeeee omg imma die THERE ARE NO WITHERS HALP and ZB was perfectly fabulous. 

Then because I'm the best friend ever I was like ALYSSA NEEDS A TURN. 
yeah she just gets on my baby bareback in shorts and does this
After said fabulousity, Zoë stopped. And Alyssa was like "she's stuck" and I was like "pssh kick her you tiny penguin". 
oh yeah she's four and it's her first time bareback
Instead Alyssa messed around on her and I thought nothing of it and we all went on our merry way. 

DUN DUN DUN

Cough. 

So the next time I came out to ride, I hopped on and we were marching around at a going walk. 
no under saddle pics so admire her Zoë cuteness
And all of a sudden.

She stopped. 

Not just lost her balance.

Full-on planted her feet and grew roots like a hundred year old oak tree. 

There was no kicking or scooting or breaking her loose or changing her balance to move her. 

I finally had a barnmate ride over and loan me her dressage whip. 

We repeated that lesson many times that day.
the Zozo Brain
And the next time I rode her, I carried a whip from the get go and she never offered to stall out once. 

Babies are magical!

PS also don't assume your friend is just weak and can't kick because clearly that is not the case.

29 comments:

  1. lol tiny penguin

    planting feet is such a nice disobedience. easy to fix and very little chance of dying.

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    1. ^Agree... unless its right before a jump :P Zoe's too cute.

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    2. Yeah definitely no chance of dying and no crazy overreaction after. <3 her.

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  2. if i've learned anything about riding bebe horses, it is to always carry a dressage whip instead of forward malfunctions lol.

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    1. Yeah I guess I'll be picking one up from here on out. I'm not used to losing the go button, haha.

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  3. I had the same problem with my boy for a few rides about a month or so after I got him. When he saw his friends go outside if I turned him away from the door he'd just plant his feet. Super easy to fix with a dressage whip though!

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    1. I think in some ways the whip makes more sense to her than leg because of her driving training. I didn't need to use it much, just a tap like "GO" and then we were off.

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  4. Fix it! Fix it now! For the love of your future thighs and cardio, fix it now!

    --Love, another Perch X owner

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    1. Oh hell yeah. It's so fascinating to work with her because I've seen people have draft x sized problems. Obviously I will have problems too, but this baggage-less baby thing is a golden opportunity.

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  5. Rode a few drafts and Xs when working at the trail barn. Once they get a handle on bigger + stronger = winning it can be an uphill battle. Catie is 100% right :D

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    1. Definitely. I was very very picky when horse shopping because I do not want to take on a draft horse that's been spoiled. No thank you.

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  6. lol charlie has tried that a couple times too. "but... what if i just don't move? is that an option??" haha

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    1. Yeah totally. A smart horse is going to try all the exits just to know what happens. As long as you come to an accord, it's all good.

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  7. OH NO! Stationary honey and inanimate OTTB flash backs! (Clearly, I've been traumatized by the non moving equine.) I'm glad she understood the dressage whip. Hopefully no ongoing stationary horse issues for you!

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    1. I mean there's stationary and there's stationary for sure. I have definitely sat on horses where stationary was not something you just kicked on.

      But Zo is such a fabulous lady that I just explained what I wanted and then she said YES MA'AM.

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  8. I much prefer planting of feet to fleeing to the hills. What an adorable baby.

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    1. Haha right? 10/10 prefer this to bolting sideways into the fence AGAIN.

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  9. HA! Love the matching outfit and stalling horse. I can imagine her just NOPING out like a baby :)

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  10. It's always funny to see how they all have their different versions of "naughty". I've known many a warmblood to just plant themselves and refuse to move, too. It's a hard one for me!

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    1. Taken to extremes, the planting oneself would make me crazy. However, as a baby experiment, it's totally non-scary to ride and easy to fix.

      Plus. omg. YAY NOT BOLTING. I'm over bolting for at least the next decade.

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  11. I do want to try Valley bareback but I have lifelong paranoia about my leg re breaking now *sadface*. Zoebird just likes a little whip tickle lol

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    1. Ha yeah I definitely only rode C bareback for pictures a couple times.

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