I’ve had some sort of low-level stomach bug that leaves me incapable of doing much thinking–other than a few short writing sessions, not much on that front’s been getting done. But hey, I’ve done some pressing housework stuff, and been getting out to the barn to exercise horse, and am just kind of pressing on, pushing on through. I’m hoping the fatigue eases off after I’ve had enough time to decompress from work, get over the bug, and get fit myself. Mocha is getting into shape more quickly than I am.
Ah, Mocha. I’ve posted two big updates on Facebook, but the upshot is that The Girl is coming back into work with a vengeance. A week and a half ago, twelve trot laps (between sets of walk work focusing on bending and flexing) left her winded. Today, she roared through twenty trot laps plus six canter laps, and not only wasn’t breathing hard, but I felt like I still had enough horse to do more afterward. Granted, this was after a day’s rest, but she’s had six works in that time and she’s letting me know that she’s ready to go, go, go.
You know how some days with some horses under saddle make you feel like Alec Ramsay on the Black Stallion? Yeah. Today Mocha could have given the Black a run for his money. When the husband went to take her out of the stall, she was keyed up, ready to go, and then acted more skittery and hot-blooded in the cross-ties than her normal sensible cowhorse self. I started throwing in a couple of extra laps of trot at the beginning because she was just so much on the muscle, so edgy, so lookee-lookee at Things To Spook At. I figured she needed more time at a no-nonsense long trot, and as edgy as she felt, I wasn’t gonna two-point it. Twenty laps of posting trot and she was flying for most of it. I finally put her into a canter and she started pitching a little tantrum because I had a tight wrap on her and she wanted to run harder. Nope, one of us has to be the brains, and it was way too soon for that. But she settled down after that canter.
Then we went down the road for a short hack. She still remembered the spook from the Evil Horse-Eating Paint Gelding from Friday, so she was on her toes the whole way. But she was a good girl for the most part.
Not going to get into any pattern work until mid-July, and even then I’m going to be careful with it. But it’s pretty darn clear that horsie has made up her mind that she’s ready to get back into work, and I guess I’d better listen.
