JR Session 38: Dorito Gordito

Monday, 6/1/09

I did a few new portraits of Mary the Morgan. As she becomes more fit, she is filling out nicely. She looks wonderful and it’s fun to chronicle her progress. Photographing black horses has become enjoyable now that I have the perfect practice model mare. There are so many nuances: every type of light makes a different color cast on her coat. The last bit of available light was reaching Mary as I snapped these frames. I particularly like the way she looks in her new Stubben Golden Wings snaffle.

I hand grazed Wizard and put his front legs in standing bandages while I was at the barn. His left front leg is still swollen. He is not lame on it, but the inflammation is still there. He also got a little massage- he seems quite pleased with the pampering. Whenever I massage the muscles near the sacroiliac joint, he does an elaborate yawning routine. Yawning can be a sign of relaxation and released tension.

Did you ever realize that Doritos means “little bits of gold”? That would make JR a gordito dorito since he needs to get his grain cut back a little- he got a little more roly poly when I went to Kentucky.

JR was longed in the indoor arena today. We had another excellent and productive session. I had the happy realization that I had not heard JR interfere at all in the past three longeing sessions! I think that the work has made him more balanced and he is more coordinated so he strikes his own feet less often.

I always start with no side reins and we work toward connection with side reins. Tonight, I experimented with tightening the inside side rein one hole tighter than the outside side rein. I did not see a big difference, but big differences are not what I want to see at this phase of training :^) When we were done with side rein work, I asked for a canter. The canter was easier for him in the indoor arena since the footing is firmer. I only ask JR to canter about 2 or 3 times around in each direction at this point in his schooling.

When we were done longeing, I turned JR loose in the arena. He walked beside me, sans halter, sans tack, and cooled off. His interaction with me has reached a new level and it was apparent when he was at liberty. We’re finally starting to understand each other a little better :^)

I did a little massage work on JR as well- he loffed it.

Wizard Session 74; JR Session 29: The Easter Parade

Sunday, 4/13/09

A sunny, brisk Easter morning at the barn :^)

My barn buddies prettied up their mares Miss Tuesday and Mary and we had a short photo session. Both owners were looking for nice headshots so I worked my magic with my popular black background doorway portraits, as well as a few other pretty headshots on the property. In the morning, the lighting is backwards from the usual evening light so I had to get a little creative. Fortunately, the property has a lot of pretty scenes so it’s not too hard to find a good spot.

Here’s Miss Tuesday, a Thoroughbred mare who is a granddaughter of the mighty Storm Bird:

And Mary, a 7 year old Morgan mare:

Just a day or two ago, Mary’s owner received her order from Simple Change Browbands and Mary modelled it for the camera. Isn’t it lovely? The browbands are strung together on a strong chain with clips on both ends so a rider can change the beads- you can have a different browband for every day of the week ;^)

Wizard and JR (barely) stood for some basic conformation photos, which I’ll post tonight or tomorrow. Both boys were a little wiggly, Wizard wigglier than JR, but I got the photos I needed to monitor their progress.

I longed both horses. JR was good in the indoor arena, and he was way better than he was just a few days ago. He did a few little loopy circles, but nothing bad. Wizard was FULL of run! He broke into a canter immediately and went around several times this way- I think he was feeling pretty silly because he was locked in his stall the day before due to the rain.

After longeing, I dosed Wizard with bute as an experiment and as a diagnostic tool. I’m going to see how he reacts to grooming and work Monday night when he has bute in his system. If nothing changes in his behavior, then I can narrow down a few possibilities.