Wasabi the Escapee

 5 minutes - ground work - Wasabi

 

 Bill looked out the kitchen window and saw Wasabi wandering around the yard. What?  I went out and she walked right up to me for snuggles.  Checked the gate, still locked. Checked all the panels and it looks as though she might have stepped through one after kicking down a bar. Sigh.

Since she was out, and I hadn't worked with her in a while, I decided to spend a few minutes working on trailer loading.  It took a few tries, but soon she was loading her front half in the trailer willingly.  Bill called from the front porch and told me lunch was ready, so I rubbed her big head and put her in the turn out.

I Love the Smell of Morgans in the Evening

36 minutes - 0.85 miles - Rhulain

Had such a good time last night, I decided to do it again!  First, some grooming, then some groundwork, a bit of trailer loading, then let her snack while I tacked up.

 Three quick laps around the yard and then I was going to call it quits and let her eat dinner. On the last lap, she picked up speed and we loped right past the hitching post.  We zoomed by the turn out, then made a quick turn only to find the ground had been washed out.  She slammed on the brakes and we avoided any catastrophes.  Gotta love self preservation!  We turned back the other direction, hopped over the fallen log, and then untacked.

Five days in a row I've been able to spend with my horses ... I feel like the luckiest woman alive!

Ride Interrupted

33 minutes - 0.65 miles - Rhulain

 I only had a half hour before the kid's bath time, so I decided to do some ground work with Rhulain.  We breezed through the regular warm up, loaded in the trailer three times with no issues, and she was locked on to my every step.  I knew what that meant ...

Time to saddle up!  We did three quick laps around the yard before my timer went off.  Neither of us was done ... every time I guided her to the hitching post, Rhulain would veer off to the side and speed up.  

I know Rhu, me too.

Trailer Loading Trials With Wasabi, Part 2

Tuesday, September 16th  30 minute groundwork  92° 
Trailer Loading with Wasabi

Morgan just figured out she got left behind ... Sundance offered comfort

I figured I'd spend a more time with Wasabi on trailer loading.  Morgan had been napping when I went in to collect Wasabi.  When she saw Wasabi and I on the other side of the fence, she started scolding me ... she was whinnying, nickering, and running the fence line for 10 minutes before she settled down.

Wasabi and I went right to the trailer and did basic groundwork for a few minutes before I asked her to load.  She initially refused, so she got to do a few more figure 8s before she got to rest.  She stepped right in the trailer the next time I offered her the chance.  I got most of her body and three hooves in the trailer, but just couldn't figure out how to get that last hoof and rump in consistently.  At least we had no more refusals.  She was standing in the trailer when Bill got home, so I opened the "escape" door and let her get muzzle snuggles from him before putting her away for the evening.

It occurred to me later on that I "send" her horizontally from the trailer door and she does just fine. Perhaps I could try "sending" her vertically and see if that will encourage the forward momentum needed to get her whole body in the trailer.

Great fluffy clouds and beautiful colors tonight

Trailer Loading Trials With Wasabi, Part 1

Monday, September 15th  60 minute groundwork  99° 
Trailer loading with Wasabi

Normally Wasabi is a light grey (like her rump) ... with all the sweat, she's nearly black!

I went to gather Morgan from the turn out pen when Wasabi got in my way.  She was rather insistent, and I figured I could pony her off Morgan, so I haltered her up and took her too.  However, once she got away from the turn out, she turned bratty ... walking in to my space and generally being a nuisance.  So she got to do ground work.  Lots of ground work.

That's one tired mustang ...

After 20 minutes she was listening but still resisting, so I decided to transition our work into a trailer loading session. She loathes trailer loading. 

We worked on circles, figure 8s, sending her back and forth, side to side, anything to get her closer to the open door of the trailer. Then I asked her to stop moving at the trailer door and let her catch her breath a bit.  I asked her to move in to the trailer and she balked, so off she went for another round of circles and such.  When I let her stop the second time, I again asked her to step in to the trailer.  She popped her front hooves in and I let her stand there as long as she wanted.

Morgan was really tired of me paying attention to everyone BUT her ... look at that face!

Another few tries and I'm happy to report that Wasabi will now willingly step up in to the trailer ... with her front hooves only.  We'll work on the back half of her body later.  In the meantime, Morgan wandered around the yard, pretty much ignored.  She was really in need of some cuddling after I put Wasabi away, and I was glad to oblige. 

January 3, 2013 - Morgan: 1 hour

Trailered to arena by library.  Let her run in the turn out for 15 minutes before tacking up.  Rode towards Karin's house and came across Karin on the way.  We rode for about 20 minutes before we got back to the turn out.  

From there we rode to Karin's house and hung out for a while before Morg and I started back to the arena by ourselves.  She did really well with Karin and "So What" and did decently on the way back.  A few stops and starts, a bit rushy in the trot, but better than the day before.

She would not load.  Tired flagging her, using the stick and tapping front legs, butt roping, anything I could think of.  Finally she loaded and I let her stand for a moment before unloading and reloading 3 more times.  When we got home, we unloaded and reloaded 3 more times before turning her out.