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!

I went on a spending spree at Tom’s Western Store on Saturday and picked up some new tack, including a pretty, shiny red headstall and reins. The leather is a metallic red and really shines on her dark coat!!  I also got a new bit, saddle pad and a few other items.

Rosie seems to be taking some time to get used to her new bit, mouthing it a lot more than I remember her doing when we trail rode, but I did get in about 30 minutes of riding in on Saturday.  I’m going to make a few adjustments to the headstall and saddle to see if that makes some difference in her reaction. She’s not behaving badly by any means, just tossing her head occasionally and really mouthing the bit. She follows my directions but does seem to be either annoyed or bothered by something.  Perhaps she’s just getting used to the new tack overall, or riding in an arena compared to trails?

Rosie is still Rosie, too, although I have tossed around the idea of calling her Mocha, or maybe Cocoa… I figure I’d give us more time to get to know each other and see which sticks!  There is another Rosie at our barn, so it might ease some confusion if I go with Mocha but I don’t want to base my decision on this alone…   Rob and Kayleigh just love her too, both have been out to the barn with me throughout the weekend.   Rob even has his own bag of treats that only he gives to her.  I think Rosie’s big brown eyes must have melted his heart!

When I was at Tom’s I found a trail saddle that I really loved but just can’t afford right now.  It’s made by Circle Y/High Horse, it’s a synthetic so it’s not too heavy and they offer a wide tree to be sure we get a good fit. It was sooo comfy!  I could have stayed there in the store, sitting in that saddle, for hours!  Maybe by next summer, once we’ve both worked a few pounds off with regular riding over the winter.

The indoor arena is definitely  something new to Rosie, too. She stops and peers into the dark glass window of the observation room each time we go past.  She notices her reflection and at first seems to think it is a different horse- she’s whinnied at it a few times then steps forward as if she expects a response and a sniff!  It’s quite cute!

In the summer she’s a nice dark bay, but gets darker over the winter with her thicker coat and less sun…

Last night I talked to her owner and told her I was interested in Rosie and ready to take the next steps towards purchasing her. Today I will be scheduling a vet check and transportation to Sandhill Stables where I will be boarding.  She currently lives a little west of Grand Rapids, so it’s not too far… If all of those plans go well, she could be here either Monday or Wednesday!

OMGPONY!!!!!!

Two Tennessee Walker mares to ride on Tuesday (trail ride at Silver Creek!), a Rocky Mtn Horse on Thurs, another Tenn Walker mare Friday at Willow Tree in a group session, a Missouri FoxTrotter (this one’s not for sale, just a test ride to try out the foxtrot gait) on Saturday, plus the TWH I rode this past Saturday.

I hope that by Saturday, one of these works out to be the right one!  I’ve been reading, searching, learning and spending all my waking hours on "for sale" sites for a while now and can’t wait to get that part done so I can spend those hours with a horse instead of a computer!! 

Rob will be glad when this is done and over…   I think even with many hours spent at the barn, he’ll still see me more than he has the past weeks while I’ve been seriously shopping!  Lucky for me/him, I have 2.5 hours after I get out of work before he gets home.  That will be my guaranteed barn time that won’t cut into family time! 

Here are the two ponies that we will be seeing… Wish I had better pics, but I had to snag one from a YouTube clip and the other from a website:

Esprit:

and

Josie

They’re both Tennessee Walkers, 10 and 13 yrs old respectively, and love trail riding. Should be a nice smooth ride with either of them. Hopefully one clicks with me and we can move forward from “Shopping” to “Buying”! With any luck, I could be a horse-owner by Thanksgiving!!!!

I’m still horse shopping… Looking at Tennessee Walking Horses for their smooth gaits. I’ve got a couple that seem like they have good potential and may be worth visiting to take a test ride. Take a look and let me know what you think!

Abby:

Esprit:

Whadda ya think?

Below are my top eight – at least for the moment! 

For some reason I’ve been drawn to Appaloosas this week, so the current batch of saved ads is quite colorful! Excuse any poor grammar, spelling and strange abbreviations, I’m copying the ads as-is. Also, I’m listing these in no particular order, just as I pull up the pages in my browser… Let me know what you think – from true concerns, silly quips and OMGPONY! I wanna hear it all!

#1. Brego

#2. Reba

#3. Rocky

Rocky — Brown Appaloosa Gelding

#4. Zadona

#5. Sugar

#6. Lucky

#7. Gus

#8. Warlock

You’d be suprised at the beasts listed in the for sale ads as “healthy”, “sound”, “beautiful” horses when the accompanying photos clearly show elsewise. Nasty hooves, protruding ribs, dull coats and sad, sad eyes… So I’ve been reading up, researching and scouring every equine-for-sale website I can find; visiting the tack shops and the county fair to try to make some connections and find sale listings; but it’s getting tiring… I just want to find the right one and start building up the relationship between us so we can enjoy each other’s companionship for years to come.

It’s been decades since I’ve been a regular rider – probably since I had my horse as a kid, actually. But I’ve spent a lot of time with horses during my adult life and I’ve learned that horseback riding is much like riding a bike – once you know how to do it you’re fine no matter how long it’s been since you last rode. I’ve had the opportunity to ride recently and was tested by a snarky little mare who did her best to unseat me and disobey my instructions to her. Luckily I was able to set her straight, keep my seat and remind her that she’s not the boss. It felt good to know that I still have it in me, that I haven’t lost the skills I learned so many years ago…

I’m still a bit rusty, of course, so I am thinking about taking some lessons while I am looking for the right horse. I might even lease a horse if I can find one available where I can take lessons so that I can ride between lessons and practice. That would get me in better shape for eventually owning my own horse and riding more regularly in the meantime. If anyone out there knows of a good lessons/boarding/leasing stable within a 15-20 minute drive from Okemos, please let me know!

In the meantime, I am going to continue to search the sale sites and hope My Perfect Poneh shows up soon!