Anticlimax
I still feel hung over. Since I hardly drank enough to get a real one yesterday, never mind to carry on to today, that seems a most unfair reward for all the effort of getting Tetley sorted out !
It was lovely to have just the two boys to do this morning. They are out full time now that the ground is dry, and they didn't come when they were called. Zippy wanted to, but Jazz didn't follow and he didn't dare come in on his own. I went out and shook a bucket and that got Gutso more interested, and up they sauntered in that glorious warmblood walk that they both have.
I decided that since I hadn't ridden Jazz for 3 days that I could not trust him to take him out in the glorious spring sunshine. I didn't even trust him on the open arena, so I decided to go indoors. This was also Zippy's first lesson in being left alone. He screamed a few times, but on the whole he was pretty accepting of it. He didn't sweat up or look particularly distressed when we came back out of the barn.
Jazz did a really good session. He settled well, considering that Tetley has recently been eaten by a Peak Park Lion (rare breed :-), and did some superb work. In fact, for a five year old, he was a joy. He wasn't perfect, but he accepted every correction and listened to me all the time. We only did half an hour and had two neck stretch sessions in that too, but he did shoulder in, travers, walk trot transitions, and walk to canter, all on both reins and all really high quality stuff.
While he was finishing his breakfast I did Zippy's feet, which continue to grow rather high heels from where he was untrimmed as a foal and has slightly contracted feet. I take them down as far as I possibly can to try to get his frog bearing on the floor. We're almost there. His feet look quite nice, they are a just a little smaller that you would really want them to be on a horse of his size. He was a very good boy with the trimming, in fact he's much better than Jazz about leaving his foot on the stand.
I must just describe to you how Gutso eats :-)))) He opens his mouth as wide as he can. Then he runs his bottom teeth deep into the food, shovelling as many cubes inside as he can by pushing his bottom jaw forward along the bottom of the bowl. If you think of a big shovel bucket on the front of a tractor, you've got the idea. I've never seen a horse eat like it!
I wonder how Tetley is, I'm sure we'll be hearing later.
C.
posted by cptrayes @ 12:02 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
are you sure he's a horse? that description really doesn't sound like ....
....it does sound like Tucker. What I have done is mix in some large alfalfa cubes with his pelleted feed. That makes him have to rummage a bit so he slows down. Tuck will finish his food in record time and then go chase Chance away from his unless I lock him in his stall for the duration.
Your comment on v and Tetley on the last post confirms my suspicions that she was afraid to ride him. That made him an embarrassment to her, so she needed to get him out of sight and out of mind. No excuse, but a partial explanation for her cruelty.
Back later. Off to church for Palm Sunday.
LIke Caroline I am not feeling my normal self. In fact I have the flu. Just to make you feel better I will list my symptoms: intense body aches, headache, heavy cough, sore throat, fever, nausea, complete fatigue. I can't really sleep but I can't stay awake for long either. All this the day after Tetley comes to me and the start of my two week break. On the positive side, I will be lighter the next time I ride him.
I sent Dave, my husband, out to the stables today to clean the stable and to spend some time with Tetley. When he got there they were all grazing peacefully. As soon as Tetley realized that Dave was coming for him he walked over to him. A moment of very mild anxiety until the others came in and then he settled down to eating his hay. Dave said that Tetley has way more hay than anyone else! I probably wouldn't have ridden him today anyway but I do want to spend time with him. I hope that Tetley understands that Dave and I are a unit.
Claire I have always had a suspicion, from his strength and colour, that possibly his father was actually a JCB. This does appear to add strength to that possibility :-)
Jean I think you are right. And my first reaction on seeing Mary Lou ride him is how wild it must have driven Victoria that Mary Lou was not only totally unscared but also got him working superbly. It can't have endeared him to her to be shown up like that, can it?
I was very reassured by ML's posting when I read it. I have also had an email from Claire today (replying to one I sent thanking her for her hospitality) where she says that he is settling well and the whole yard loves him. The only person in his whole life who never did was Victoria!
C.
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