Last week we went to the centre of Aiken to hear a talk by Dr Marty Becker, a well known vet. It was a charity event hosted by Equine Rescue of Aiken (who gave Michelle one of her horses- a thoroughbred called Flashman's Papers ('Flash') who was a successful racehorse) and Michelle, Maude and I volunteered. I was happy to be given the job of photographer. There was a silent auction and lots of free food provided by restaurants in Aiken wanting to support the charity. A lot of people were there and I felt rather under-dressed in shorts as it turned out to be quite a formal event! The talk itself was really good. Dr Becker spoke about the human-animal bond and the healing power of pets. It made me miss our dog Murphy!
Both last Friday and today, Michelle took me to a state park called Hitchcock Woods. It is such a nice place- really big and peaceful, and nice and cool in the shade of the trees! Anyone can ride their horse there for free. There are miles of trails to ride on, a stream to take the horses to for a drink, and clearings with cross country jumps in them. My favourite thing was going around the steeplechase track- a circular trail with wide fences in your path every so often, like a race course. Teddy, who is not normally the best jumper, was brilliant over these jumps! Michelle said it was the best she's seen her jump in years, and it was certainly the best I've ever felt her jump. It was so much fun.
Earlier in the week we got up early to go on a morning trail ride- not Teddy's finest hour as she decided to walk backwards into some bushes and refused to come out, me still on top of her but unable to do much because of the branches in my face! In the end I had to get off and lead her out.
On Thursday I went to a chiropractor in Aiken to try and help my crookedness (Michelle noticed when I first came here that I tilt my head and slightly collapse my body to the left, which isn't good for riding!) The chiropractor did some muscle strength testing on my legs and my left leg was so much weaker! He massaged some pressure points (painful!), cracked my back and neck and then I had to lie on an inversion table (where your head hangs lower than your feet) to stretch out my spine. It all sounds very tortuous when I write it down, but afterwards I felt really off centre and like I was leaning to the right, which hopefully means it worked!
This week I have been working with a horse called Ducky (strange name I know- his name as a racehorse was Ducktown Eddie) who Anni was working with before she left. Although he is very sweet natured, he's a challenging horse. It has taken him a long time since his retirement from racing to settle and realise that going fast is not always the right answer! When he first arrived he wouldn't stand still, couldn't trot or canter without losing his mind and was very tense. In fact, Michelle got him for free because a local farm that retrains lots of racehorses couldn't cope with him. We have been doing a lot of on-line work with him, and he can now do that fairly calmly. He has only just started being ridden again, and we are only doing very basic things- walking around on a loose rein, a bit of trot, and a couple of days ago he was calm enough to try a little canter which went well. He can still rush and be tense, but he has improved so much since he's been here. I think this just goes to show how effective Natural Horsemanship can be. Click here to see a video of me riding Ducky.
Also in the past week I filmed my on-line routine for my Parelli assessment (I am hoping to get a level 2 in the on-line and freestyle (riding in a halter) sections) and also practiced some more liberty with Teddy- see the video on the left. A new working student called Rachael arrived on Saturday. She's from Pennsylvania and is planning to stay for 2 months with her horse, Whiskey.
Riding Teddy without a halter or bridle
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| A strange sight- 'Beacon Homes' in Aiken where you literally choose your house from their selection and transport it to your plot of land. |
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