Cold Day with Ground Games with Fancy

It was twenty six degrees again and the slight wind cut through my body like a knife.  I fed the home horses without wearing my four layer top and bottom.  The thought of riding Fancy was again, cold-painful.

Heck, I’ll reward her and feed her.  I drove over to Ms Fancy’s stable.  I got her out of her paddock and put on her magnetic blanket.  I fed her in her stall.  I cleaned up her stall.  There were some suspicious brown piles in her stall.

Oh heck, another crazy old woman has decided to ride her horse.  I decided to take Fancy into the arena and just play.  We side passed over a log.  This is difficult because Fancy wants to step forward to nibble my stomach instead of side pass.  We practiced a good deal on side passing without taking a step forward.  Fancy told me she wanted to side pass over the mounting block.  No, I believe she said, she wanted to climb on the mounting block.  I persisted in her passing over the mounting block instead of climbing up on it.

We did some circles at a trot with the log in her way.  She did fine.

Next it was pick up your feet time.  She doesn’t like to pick up her feet when asked.  We have now made this into a treat game.  I ask for a foot and when it is picked up, I rub her leg and give her foot back.  Then I walk over to the treat bag and give her a treat.  However, we had to play the game where she doesn’t go to the treat bag.  Her job is to stand still and let me get the treat.  This is tough for a left brain extrovert.  We finally did the job of getting all four feet picked up with treats award.  Next will be picking up the foot and holding it up for me.  The horse’s job is to sullenly pick up their foot and then press it right back to the ground.  Humans have a hard time holding up a forty pound horse leg.

Our next game was to learn how to pick me up on the mounting block.  I twirled the rope backwards, above her back and her job was to turn her body until her side was situated where I could mount.  She got a reward.  Then we had to do it with the other side of her body, which took longer.  She thought loading up with the same side was the answer.  No, I said.  I want you to know how to do this with both sides.

By this time my body was completely heated, even my hands and nose.  My cheeks were not glistening with streaming snot as they would have been if I had rode Fancy.