March 15

Update from March 15:
Yesterday, I went to the barn after work, so arrived around 9:00 pm. There was not a soul at the barn, which was JUST the atmosphere I needed for a good, easy ride. I pulled TBM into the indoor, tacked him up, and hopped on. We did our normal, big long walk on a long rein until I felt the hind legs stepping under nicely and the back starting to soften and swing. Then went to the trot, still on a long rein, just asking for forward, powerful big strides. Took up the contact a bit, started circles and changes of direction to begin bending. And he started to come nicely into my hand, staying relaxed in the back and active in the hind leg. SOOOOO pleased! I even managed to remember how to SIT UP. hehehe. Think that had anything to do with it?

We had a lovely ride, and I started to focus a bit more on the outside bend we get in some corners, and the dropping the inside shoulder. As I was driving home, I realized that instead of focusing on that, what I need to do is start doing 15 and 10 meter circles to build the strength and balance to maintain the upright shoulder that I want. DUH. So, I will be adding that into our rides as well.

Schooled some transitions as well, we had some WONDERFUL trot/canter transitions. I tend to use too much outside leg, and that irritates TBM a bit. He just needs a little seat, and POOF, we're off. As always, less is more.

A funny thing happened when I was going to put him away. Because it was so late at night, and nobody else was around, I didn't close the gate to his paddock or the outdoor arena. Normally, I am a fanatic about closing gates. Anyway, I was leading him back to his paddock, and he was dragging his feet. Just not the normal crisp walk back to the food that we usually get. We were about, oh, 20 feet away from his gate, when I realized there was something in his paddock! It was a moose. *laughs* Well. I couldn't very well put TBM in the paddock when there was a moose in it! I also didn't want to corner it and make it feel threatened. So, I brought TBM back to the arena, tied him, and grabbed a lunge whip.

As I went back to the paddock, I realized how silly it was to get a lunge whip to chase a moose. And I stood there for a moment, trying to think of how to get that darn moose out of the paddock. Finally, I broke down and called the barn owners. Of course, at this point, it is 10:00 pm, and I felt HORRIBLE. Luckily, as I was on the phone with the barn owner, the moose wandered out of the paddock. I hung up the phone, ran across the arena and closed TBM's paddock gate so the moose didn't decide to go back in. Then I waited for the moose to wander around the outdoor, and finally trot out the other gate.

I am typically a person who thinks of every possible consequence from actions. But I NEVER thought that leaving gates open would lead to a moose in a paddock. hehehe. I tend to think of gates for keeping things IN, not keeping things OUT. Let us say that my perspective is slightly altered on the usefulness of gates!