In barn news, Mocha and I didn’t ride tonight. Instead we played The Pawing Game.

You see, Miss Mocha has a slightly bad habit of pawing when she’s cross tied and bored. It’s both annoying and not good for her hooves since we have concrete floors in the grooming stalls.  I’ve tried whacking her knee whenever she paws, to convince her it’s not a fun thing anymore but that hasn’t really discouraged her much.

I decided to try another tactic.  Ignore her bad behavior and reward the good. Pretty simple, common sense kind of thing.

So, I put her in the cross ties tonight, pulled up a lawn chair and just sat there watching her… Whenever she stopped pawing I’d get up and pet/brush/praise her until she lifted her foot and pawed once. Then I’d immediately walk away and sit down, ignoring her completely. She pawed a lot at first, almost non-stop trying to get my attention but to no avail.   After about 30 minutes with just a few little breaks of non-pawing, she finally started to figure it out. You could almost see the gears grinding in her brain!  If I stood by her and gave her attention she wouldn’t paw, so I notched it up a bit and started to walk away when she’d lift a foot, before completely pawing. Another half hour or so of this, and more grinding gears in her big ol’ Tennessee Walker noggin and she seemed to have caught on to what I wanted her to learn.

By the end of the next half hour, she was standing nicely, getting brushed, praised & spoiled; only occasionally lifting her foot. She’d even lift  a foot, hesitate a moment, holding her hoof up in the air. Then she’d turn to look at me, think about it and set her hoof down gently as I started to move a step away!   SUCCESS!   Or at least for the time being.  I’m sure we’ll work on this “game” a few more times to keep reinforcing the lesson but I’m so proud of her (and me!) for accomplishing this little step!

Oh and if you want to add an interesting blog to your reading repertoire, check this one out: http://afatgirlafathorse.blogspot.com/ It’s a new blog just getting started by a plus sized gal addressing riding as a plus sized person.

I needed to order a cooling sheet for Mocha, so I could walk her out after riding without getting a chill.  I took a measuring tape out to the barn along with a friend so I could order the correct size.  My friend KC held the tape in the middle of Mocha’s chest and I walked it to the furthest point of her butt cheeks and it read 70″.

I ordered the blanket and waited impatiently for it to arrive.  When it was delivered I headed out to the barn to try it on.  MAJOR FAIL!  The cooler I got is way short!    The darn thing stops about 6 inches before her tail starts!  I swear I read that tape correctly… But since it is just a cooler that she will wear while walking in the arena after a ride, I figured we can live with it. Its such a hassle to ship stuff back, then wait forever for the replacement.

I’m gonna re-measure tonight so I will know her correct size for any future blankets I may shop for…  Hopefully I will not be made of fail this time!

Also, over the weekend I used the saddle fit  templates from this site :  http://www.horsesaddleshop.com/easy-saddle-recommendation.html to measure my fat mare. Well, Miss Mocha is a big girl… it looks like she’s gonna need the extra wide!  My friend Karin’s saddle, that I have been borrowing, is about 6.5 inches wide at the gullet. Mocha is going to need 7-7.5inches.  Time  to start shopping for saddles!

Me and my horse!

My mom, who is not really comfortable around horses (yet!) meets Rosie

Rosie’s got back!

Rosie, me and my daughter Kayleigh

I got her yesterday, and spent 7 hours at the barn with her just grooming her and getting to know each other. I’m gonna stop out today sometime too, probably after stuffing myself with turkey, so I can show her to my parents. My dad is excited to get a chance to ride her in the future… Not sure if he’s ever ridden before!

Her name is currently Rosie, but as I spent time with her yesterday she kept whispering sweet nothings about chocolate in my ear. I think she wants a name that reflects her pretty dark chocolate coat. Mocha? Java? Ganache? I’m sure she’ll let me know when I get the right one!