Back to Samurai
Mar. 27th, 2006 07:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jennyaxeYesterday I was back to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jegra's stable for the first time since December. Originally I'd planned to start riding Lemkje, the horse I fell off from, but for various reasons that's not likely to happen any time soon, and as Samurai isn't going to be hired out he's still available and Jegra still needs help.
I got to the stables at about three in the afternoon. All horses were still out in the fields. I mucked out Campero's and Samurai's boxes (Campero's fracture is now completely healed, BTW) and then went with the owner to bring in Samurai and the other horses sharing a field with him. I let him eat and went off to the nearby gas station to get a hot dog for myself.
When I got back I started brushing and cleaning hooves and all that. Samurai was reasonably nice about it. It took some time to fit the saddle properly (Samurai got very upset when I didn't get the saddle right at first!) as it's a bit different from the onesgnapp uses.
The weather was lovely, but as Samurai hadn't been ridden in a week or so, and he can get quite hot and hard to hold when he's too frisky, I decided to stay indoors. It's nice to have a lovely big place to ride in, as opposed to the half of a barn we've got at Skutt's stables.
I kept to walks and trots, not feeling quite up to galloping yet. Samurai was a bit disappointed and tried to get away with claiming to be afraid of certain parts of the walls. When he found that all that happened was that he'd get to walk slowly past the same spot several times, he gave up on that, and the rest of the ride was uneventful. I'd forgotten how lovely it is to have such a well schooled horse - not that I don't love Skutt, because I do, but they are so very different and I really enjoy being with both. But I'm starting to feel the need for some lessons if I'm to progress and be of use to both the horses and their owners.
After I'd put Samurai in his box and put away the tack, I went up to get Campero from his field. He hadn't been let out until 12.30, so the stable owner and I thought he'd appreciate staying out longer than the others. He was a bit difficult walking down from the field - tried to run past me and then snapped in the air above my shoulder. I gave him a whack with the halter rope, whereafter he looked immensely sheepish and as if he was greatly surprised at what he'd done. He's a four year old stallion and it's spring... no wonder he's acting up a bit - but that's precisely why it's so important to deal with it immediately or he could become dangerous both to himself, to other horses and to humans.
I stopped for food on the way home and got back some time after eight. Didn't fall asleep until eleven, so I've been pretty tired today - not to mention achey! Mucking out two boxes is no mean chore, and both the wrist and the back are complaining. Also the hedgehog is being a bit prickly - I hope it'll get better soon now that I can ride twice a week again.
I do love riding Samurai, though I don't (yet) have the same connection to him as I do to Skutt. Of course I haven't been riding Samurai for as long, but I think it's also the fact that Jegra's had him since he was born, while Skutt was ten years old when Gnapp got him. So he's not got as strong a connection to her as Samurai has to Jegra, giving him more room for other connections with humans. Skutt is more affectionate towards me than Samurai is, though of course Skutt is far more affectionate towards Gnapp - she's with him five days out of seven and she works a lot more with him than I do. Still, he shows that he likes me, too. And yesterday Samurai appeared pleased with our ride - he has a habit of rubbing his head against his rider if he's enjoyed the ride. He hasn't done that with me before but yesterday he did. Of course, he'd not been ridden for a while and so would have enjoyed it even if I wasn't very good, but it did cheer me up.
jegra's stable for the first time since December. Originally I'd planned to start riding Lemkje, the horse I fell off from, but for various reasons that's not likely to happen any time soon, and as Samurai isn't going to be hired out he's still available and Jegra still needs help.I got to the stables at about three in the afternoon. All horses were still out in the fields. I mucked out Campero's and Samurai's boxes (Campero's fracture is now completely healed, BTW) and then went with the owner to bring in Samurai and the other horses sharing a field with him. I let him eat and went off to the nearby gas station to get a hot dog for myself.
When I got back I started brushing and cleaning hooves and all that. Samurai was reasonably nice about it. It took some time to fit the saddle properly (Samurai got very upset when I didn't get the saddle right at first!) as it's a bit different from the ones
gnapp uses.The weather was lovely, but as Samurai hadn't been ridden in a week or so, and he can get quite hot and hard to hold when he's too frisky, I decided to stay indoors. It's nice to have a lovely big place to ride in, as opposed to the half of a barn we've got at Skutt's stables.
I kept to walks and trots, not feeling quite up to galloping yet. Samurai was a bit disappointed and tried to get away with claiming to be afraid of certain parts of the walls. When he found that all that happened was that he'd get to walk slowly past the same spot several times, he gave up on that, and the rest of the ride was uneventful. I'd forgotten how lovely it is to have such a well schooled horse - not that I don't love Skutt, because I do, but they are so very different and I really enjoy being with both. But I'm starting to feel the need for some lessons if I'm to progress and be of use to both the horses and their owners.
After I'd put Samurai in his box and put away the tack, I went up to get Campero from his field. He hadn't been let out until 12.30, so the stable owner and I thought he'd appreciate staying out longer than the others. He was a bit difficult walking down from the field - tried to run past me and then snapped in the air above my shoulder. I gave him a whack with the halter rope, whereafter he looked immensely sheepish and as if he was greatly surprised at what he'd done. He's a four year old stallion and it's spring... no wonder he's acting up a bit - but that's precisely why it's so important to deal with it immediately or he could become dangerous both to himself, to other horses and to humans.
I stopped for food on the way home and got back some time after eight. Didn't fall asleep until eleven, so I've been pretty tired today - not to mention achey! Mucking out two boxes is no mean chore, and both the wrist and the back are complaining. Also the hedgehog is being a bit prickly - I hope it'll get better soon now that I can ride twice a week again.
I do love riding Samurai, though I don't (yet) have the same connection to him as I do to Skutt. Of course I haven't been riding Samurai for as long, but I think it's also the fact that Jegra's had him since he was born, while Skutt was ten years old when Gnapp got him. So he's not got as strong a connection to her as Samurai has to Jegra, giving him more room for other connections with humans. Skutt is more affectionate towards me than Samurai is, though of course Skutt is far more affectionate towards Gnapp - she's with him five days out of seven and she works a lot more with him than I do. Still, he shows that he likes me, too. And yesterday Samurai appeared pleased with our ride - he has a habit of rubbing his head against his rider if he's enjoyed the ride. He hasn't done that with me before but yesterday he did. Of course, he'd not been ridden for a while and so would have enjoyed it even if I wasn't very good, but it did cheer me up.
