Artemis Updates

Guess what I finally did!  Take pictures!  Guess what this is not!  One of those pictures.  No seriously, I took pictures but they all turned out horrible and blurry.  Luckily I had some older pictures on my camera and they were better.  She looks basically like this but a little taller. 

Okay, so onto what she's been doing lately.  She's been a busy pony.  She is completely used to the saddle now.  That wasn't hard to do, she gets it put on about once a month, sometimes a little more, to get her used to it.  Then we set her and Jimmy loose in the arena and let them run around and have fun.  She stayed calm since she wasn't alone but she got used to the stirrups banging around her sides and the feeling of the saddle through her different gaits.  The only problem we have now is she keeps trying to eat the saddle.

This is an old picture (you can tell by the halters, her current one is silver) from one of her pony lessons.  It's not her favourite thing, she's kind of lazy and would like to mosey along but that's the only problem she has with it.  She acts like a proper riding horse, just minus the rider of course.

We work at the mounting block at lot, getting her used to both standing next to it, and having someone stand on it.  I usually keep the lead rope over her neck and lean over and just stay there for as long as I want.  She's usually pretty good, although she does have her distracted days. 

She has even managed to carry me a few steps.  I haven't sat in the saddle, but I've leaned over her, both with the saddle on and when she's bareback (I'd like her to be used to both from the start).  I was leaning over her back and my mom led her a few steps.  She was much better than I could have hoped.  I could feel she was tense and she wasn't sure about it but she never went to buck or run, she just followed behind my mom.  Even when I'd jump off she'd just stop and stand.

We did get a reaction out of her one night.  I was working on getting her used to pressure in the stirrups.  The weight on one side throws her off, so she tends to sidestep away from it.  There was another girl riding in the arena and she was great.  She was very concerned about spooking Artemis but I told her not to worry about us.  I want Artemis to get used to having other horses in the arena and the best way to do that is for the riders to do what they would normally do.

The girl was behind us in the arena, and I had just put all my weight in the stirrup when she asked her horse to canter.  The combination freaked Artemis and she bolted forward and I jumped off.  The girl felt really bad but I couldn't have been happier.  Does that make me crazy?  It just meant we had to try again, and we did.  The girl cantered some more, I put my weight in the stirrup and Artemis didn't move.  It wasn't scary anymore.  I'd rather her have more of these moments when I'm on the ground then when I'm eventually in the saddle.

We've also worked a lot with the stool.  The first time I get on her will probably be in the round pen so I'll be using the stool to get on her.  It's great to get her used to the mounting block, but it's pointless if I don't get used to the stool as well.  The stool was...tough.  She wasn't really afraid of it, but she didn't like it.  She would not stand next to it for anything in the world.  She'd sidestep away if I brought her up to it, and if I brought it over to her she'd try to trot away. 

So I figured, if she's afraid of it on the ground, why not put it on her back?  Yeah, I'm weird, I know.  But my logic is if she can get over it being on her back, then it won't be so scary on the ground.  It worked.  She went into circles when I first put it on but she stopped quickly and just stood there.  After that she didn't move when I put her beside it on the ground.  With that problem solved, she then decided she didn't like me to stand on it.  That was easy enough to solve though.  All I did was grab a brush, stand on it and groom her.  She'll now stand beside it, no problem at all.

I also did the same thing with the chair.  They have these metal wire chairs at the stable that are pretty light.  I had dragged one into the arena the other day while my sister and her friend rode, and Artemis was obsessed with it.  She thought it was the greatest toy in the world and kept trying to lick and chew it.  So I decided since she loved it so much we could use it to be productive.  Since it's so light, I was able to pick it up and rub it all over her.  Over her shoulders, her back, her tail. 

She didn't like that at first but it made me realize something.  Like usually I just had the lead rope tossed over her neck and I had two hands on the chair, so she was technically free.  She was going in circles around me and it occurred to me that she wasn't trying to get away.  She could have easily ran off across the arena but even though she didn't like the chair, she had no inclination to run away.  At least ,that's what I hope it was.  Maybe she thought I was holding onto her so that's why she didn't try.  Anyway, it only took a few minutes and then she was fine with the chair.

I think that's everything she's been doing.  Besides the normal lessons anyway, such as leading and feet.  Keep in mind, all of this has been spread over months, since before Christmas.  Her work schedule is light.  She'll have to work for maybe ten, fifteen minutes and then she has the next week off.  She only gets "tougher work" (getting saddle, working with the mounting block) at most, twice a month.  Every other time she just comes in, gets groomed and cleaned up, maybe walks around the arena a bit.  She only ever comes in on Sundays, because it's too dark to find her in the pasture by the time we get there on weeknights.  Also, any serious work I do, or any work where I'm standing above her, I always wear my helmet.  She's very calm for her age...but I'm not that stupid.

Also, we've come to the conclusion that her snip looks like a stroller.

She could have gotten so many cool things...and she got a stroller...Oh well, I still think she's adorable.

And now to finally end this long post.  So thanks if you're still with me and read through the whole thing.  I don't know how much more horse things I'll have to report in another month.  I have a third surgery coming up at the beginning of March.  This surgery is just on my wrist and I'm not sure how long I'll be out of commission for.  The recovery time is six months but I'm hoping that I can return to riding before that.