Kortney
got out of school at noon on Thursday and met me at the barn. I
was still hooking up the trailer when she arrived, because I’d
had a few errands to run after I left work. We pulled out at 2:00
pm.
The trip was uneventful, other than an unintentional detour that
we took while attempting to get gas in Southern Maine. I got off
the Turnpike at an exit that said there was gas, but the signs
were deceptive… we drove for almost ten minutes before we
got to the gas station! I was really ripped, and even more so
because I had to pay a toll to get back on the Turnpike. Oh well,
lessons learned, don’t get off at that exit again.
We arrived at the Equine Affaire (located at the Eastern States
Exposition) around 7:30 or so. I’ve been there many times
but everything looked different in the dark and it didn’t
help that I was totally unfamiliar with the ‘backside’
operations!
Please refer to the map below (E Barn is in red at the far right,
and our camping area is off the map behind it.)
Even with a map, we drove around (and around, and
around) for a long while, looking for a way to get to Barn C so
we could check in at the office and get our stall assignments.
At one point we turned into a road that looked like it should
lead to the barn, but it got skinny mighty quick! There were campers
along both sides, and trucks pulled diagonally in front of them,
making the road really narrow. I carefully squeezed between two
F550s, and then suddenly realized that this road was nothing more
than a dead-end camping area.
This picture was taken later that night, from the nose of Josh
Lyons' camper, looking back towards the main road. By this time,
the second F550 had been moved... but you can see the first one
parked almost in the center of the picture. The one that is missing
was parked almost directly opposite, sticking out into the road.
Kortney spotted a group of people standing a bit
down the row from us, and suggested that I ask “that guy
in the hat” where we were and how to get to our barn.
I pulled forward a bit more and called him over; as he walked
towards us in the dark, I made note of the young, brown-haired
man’s clean black cowboy hat, nice jacket, and expensive-looking
chinks. When he got to the window I asked if he knew how to get
to Barn C; he didn’t. I said in a defeated, resigned voice,
“this is a dead-end, isn’t it.”
He grunted, “yup.”
“I’m going to have to back out, aren’t I.”
Another grunt. “Yup. You any good at it?”
Kortney laughed, remembering our adventure in Pennsylvania. “She’s
great at it.” Then she hopped out and took position on my
right flank. I asked the man if he’d watch the other side
for me.
As I’d been talking, I’d been looking at him more
closely. His jacket had some embroidery on the left side of his
chest… it was Josh Lyons’ signature… Slightly
embarrassed, I said, “are you Josh?” He grunted, “yup.”
I didn’t want to seem like a star-struck ninnyhammer. “Hmm,
I see. Well, thanks for your help, I appreciate the extra eyes.”
With that, I put the truck in reverse and waited for him to walk
back to the trailer. I managed to squeeze back through the worst
of the congestion, then stopped and said to him “I’ve
got hundreds of friends online at HorseCity.com who are waiting
to hear how our trip to the Equine Affaire went… they’ll
kill me if I don’t get your autograph while I’ve got
you here… do you mind?”
He agreed but then I couldn’t find any paper for a minute!!
I would have given $20 for a program booklet right then. Finally
I found a plain sheet of notebook paper and a pen, and he signed
a note for me. I don’t recall what he said right now (nothing
profound), but I know he made it out to “Sharon and Zephyr”
and signed it “Josh Lyons and Taz.” (The autograph
is at home, I'll scan it in when I get a chance and add it to
the story.)
As we backed out of the camping area, I noticed that the two
campers on the very end had signs in the window. Andrea, the woman
who had rented the campers our group was staying in, had said
that we were camped in the first two campers in the first camping
area, under the power lines. Based on that description, I guessed
that these two were ours. We didn’t stop to check, though,
because we wanted to get Zephyr settled in.
We finally found Barn C and went in to get our stall assignment
off the office door. I had reserved a tack stall but the list
only had me down for one stall! I was pretty mad, since I really
didn’t want to lug hay and shavings, let alone tack, back
and forth from the trailer for four days. The trailer parking
area was halfway across campus! Anyway, the list said we had stall
99 in E Barn, so off we went to try to find it. Another 20 minutes
passed, easy, before we arrived… we found out later that
we’d been very close to it several times, but had turned
the wrong way.
We walked in and found Zephyr’s stall; it was smack dab
in the middle of the barn, on a corner right next to the big center
aisle. I quickly decided that the hay would go along that wall
and everyone would just have to put up with it! We carried in
the hay, and all three bales of shavings. We laid all the shavings
down at once because the floor was concrete and I wanted Zephyr
to feel comfortable enough to lay down and rest his legs. I hadn’t
expected a concrete floor; if I had known, I would have brought
an extra bale to replace what I would remove when I mucked it
out.
We tucked him in with hay, grain, and a full bucket of fresh
water, then set off to park the trailer. We got a pretty good
spot for it, closer to the barn than we’d expected but still
a good five minute walk. We decided to load the tack into the
truck so we’d have it right with us, and could drive the
truck right up to the barn whenever I wanted to ride.
The campers were actually pretty close to the trailer, and they
had left room in front for me to park. I was right, the sign in
the window announced that they were the temporary home of the
Downeast Border Riders. We knocked on the first trailer but no
one was there. After sitting down to relax for a few minutes,
we decided to go put gas in the truck and get a few simple groceries.
That trip was uneventful, and we returned to find that nobody
was home, still. We finally realized that they were all at the
Pfizer Fantasia, which normally runs from 8-10:30 or so. Nobody
had told me which camper we’d be in, so we decided to just
unload our stuff into the first camper and move it later if we’d
guessed wrong. Then we set off to take Zephyr out for a walk.
He had settled in pretty well but had left his grain half-eaten
in favor of his hay. He certainly was happy to get out and walk
around! Even though it was late at night, everything was brightly
lit. I expected him to spook at shadows now and then but he didn’t
seem concerned. We strolled down the row of buildings towards
the Coliseum, hoping to get close enough to the doors that he
could hear the applause. He’d never been exposed to applause
before, and I was a little worried how he’d react in his
clinics on Saturday and Sunday. But I figured we had plenty of
time before then, to work on it.
The Coliseum door at the Stroh Building end was wide open; that’s
the door a lot of the performers exit through. The door guard
agreed to allow us to stand there, as long as we got out of the
performers’ way when they needed to come through. I took
a good hold on the lead rope as the first act ended, expecting
Zephyr to at least jump in place when the crowd cheered.
The crowd cheered. Zephyr bopped me in the arm with his nose,
totally ignoring the music and applause, asking me why we were
standing still when we could be walking around exploring. Kortney
and I laughed. We tried for another twenty minutes to desensitize
him to the crowd, but he just wasn’t paying attention. He
kept bopping me with his nose, trying to get me to walk away.
The only thing he reacted to was the Mounted Shooting; he flinched
in place and looked into the arena. Finally we relented, and I
spent a while running back and forth behind the row of buildings
and letting him stretch his legs beside me.
We went back to the barn around 9:30 or so, and hung out there
for a little while. When we got back to the campers our group
had returned, and they told us we’d have to move our stuff
to the other camper. Oh well, no big deal. It didn’t take
us long to settle in and fall asleep.
On Friday morning we got up early, showered, and headed to the
barn at 7:00 to take care of Zephyr. I was pleased to see that
he had laid down. While we were there I asked our neighbors, who
had a tack stall, if they had room for a saddle stand. They said
sure and even gave me the second key to the lock! I was, of course,
thrilled and offered to pay them, but they refused.
By 8:15 we were on our way over to the Better Living Center to
find the booth where my stuff would be sold. I was able to get
an Exhibitors’ Pass for myself, and Kortney was able to
come in with me once she had her 3-day armband. We dropped the
Rhythm Beads off in the Running Bear Farm booth but Teddy wasn’t
there yet, and I had also forgotten some things, so we headed
back to the truck to get them. We didn’t get back until
almost 9:00. I was still tagging and hanging my stuff when the
trade show’s doors opened. By 9:05 I’d sold Hunting
Season Necklaces to two different people! I’d only brought
five of that design so Teddy and I decided I’d need to make
more that night. Finally I got everything tagged and displayed,
and Kortney and I headed off to do some shopping at around 10:00.
I had planned to go to Josh Lyons’ session on lead changes
at 11:30, but when we got there, he was taking an awful long time
to warm up to the subject. I did get one picture, but my digital
camera doesn't do action shots well.
Our wallets got antsy-pants before too long so we took off to
shop some more. So much to see, so little time! That first day,
I bought a set of Beta Biothane split reins to match my headstall,
a pair of SSG neoprene winter gloves, a custom stall sign for
Zephyr (green and yellow, of course), and a rain sheet that was
in a half-price bin. The rain sheet was marked Pony but the saleslady
assured me that size fit her 14.2h Arab… I asked if it would
fit a horse that wore a 68-72” blanket, and she said yes.
When I stopped back at the Running Bear booth to check on my
necklaces, the other three Hunting Season necklaces were gone
but only one traditional necklace had sold. I was a little surprised,
but decided there were still two full shopping days to go.
We got Zephyr tacked up during the late afternoon, and headed
over to find the show farrier so he could put two missing nails
back in his shoes. He also tightened the cliniches on all the
other nails. These are only Zephyr’s second set of shoes;
the first set was last summer. Since he’s so new to shoes,
he didn’t behave that well for my farrier. So I expected
him to try to pull his foot away from this farrier as well. But
I guess there was enough to look around at that he was too distracted
to complain… he actually did very well. We attracted a small
crowd of onlookers who commented on various things from his plastic
horseshoes, to his mane, to his necklace. Many, with confused
expressions, asked what breed he was. In fact that was the most
common question we got all weekend. People would stare at him
with increasingly quizzical expressions, until they finally couldn’t
stand it and had to ask what he was. The farrier didn’t
charge me anything, wasn’t that nice of him?
I rode for a while behind the buildings. He behaved pretty well
but wanted to run! It took me a while to calm him down enough
that he would trot relaxed. Then I was able to work him on the
foxwalk a little. He did all right with that, better on the pavement
than the grass but pretty well nonetheless. We put him back in
his stall, grabbed some supper, and headed to the camper to make
some necklaces. We were able to get five more Hunting Season necklaces
done before we ran out of bells in that size. Then Kortney went
to bed and I went back to the barn to check on Zephyr. In spite
of the noise from the rest of the barn, he was laying down sleeping
when I got there. I went in quietly, and was able to snuggle against
him for a while. Every now and then he’d turn his head and
nuzzle me… man I love that. Then he got an itchy spot on
his belly so he rolled away from me onto his side and together
we scratched at it. I’d have been happy to spend the whole
night with him like that, but he decided to get up and see if
I’d left anything in his bucket. Since he was up anyway
I took him out for another walk/trot. I wished there was a paddock
for me to turn him loose for a few minutes but there wasn’t,
so we just ran along together. Eventually I put him back in his
stall and went back to the camper for the night.
I woke up at 5 on Saturday but forced myself back to sleep until
6. Zephyr was scheduled for a massage with Andrea at 7:15, so
I let Kortney sleep in and just told Andrea to go get her when
she wanted to head over. The massage went great; Andrea said that
Zephyr was much more supple and loose than the great majority
of horses she worked on. Even his tense spots (his poll and some
areas of his butt) were loose compared to most horses. I was thrilled
to hear that; it meant that he wasn’t getting stiff and
sore from all the work we’d been doing with his new gaits.
It was almost 9 before the massage was over, and I had to rush
over to the Better Living Center to tag and display my new necklaces.
But Andrea said Zephyr needed to be walked for a few minutes,
so we threw on the new rain sheet (way too small, dangit!) and
Kortney walked him while I headed in to set up my stuff.
By 9:30, I was starting to wonder where Kortney was. I wasn’t
actually concerned, but I was wondering. She’d known that
Kate and Zeke (friends from GaitedHorses.net) were supposed to
meet us, and she’d been excited about that, so I was surprised
that she was taking her sweet time getting there. But I was too
busy with customers to really put much thought into it.
I don’t know what time it was when I saw Kortney heading
my way through the crowd. She looked upset. As she came up next
to me I saw that she was crying. Through her tears she said that
Zephyr had fallen and was hurt.
I immediately dropped my stuff onto the table and told the cashier
that I had an emergency and had to leave. As we power-walked through
the building, I could see she was really upset so I put my arm
around her and hugged her close, telling her that I wasn’t
mad, that it wasn’t her fault, and that he would be fine.
I tried to find out what had happened, but the shock was really
starting to hit her. She was sobbing but I was able to piece together
that he’d fallen somehow and hurt his knees, and there was
blood but not an excessive amount.
As we left the building we ran into Comanche and her family.
Of course they asked what was wrong, so as we ran by I said there
had been an accident and they were welcome to come along if they
wanted. They did.
We arrived at E Barn to find several people standing outside
his stall. One was an Equine Affaire employee, who reported that
the vet had been called at Kortney’s request and that he
would be there shortly. I opened the stall door and was relieved
to see that although there were big patches of hair missing from
both knees, there was a very limited amount of blood and no heat
or swelling. I took him out of the stall to reassess in better
light, and the rest of the onlookers agreed that it really wasn’t
bad.
Kortney was still really upset and couldn’t talk, so the
employee filled me in on what had happened. She assured me that
Kortney had done everything right. Apparently as soon as it happened
she had brought him to the office in C Barn and asked them to
call the vet. Then they sent her over to E Barn to put him in
his stall; when she got there, she asked the people down the row
to help her. It wasn’t until she knew he was safely in his
stall and had people to watch him that she came to get me. For
a young girl with so little horse experience, I am so proud and
impressed with her response to an emergency situation!!
My phone rang shortly after that; Kate and Zeke had gone to the
Running Bear Farm booth and had been told about the accident.
They were trying to find us and needed directions. When they got
there, they helped me decide that we probably didn’t need
the vet after all, and that antibiotic ointment would be enough.
The E.A. employee radioed the office to say that the vet wasn’t
needed and we left to get the first aid kit from the truck. When
we got back, the employee said the vet had come anyway, and had
looked at Zephyr and agreed that his care wasn’t required.
It was nice of him to do that!
I wiped his scrapes with Betadine and applied Corona ointment.
He pulled away a little bit, probably because the cold ointment
was a harsh shock to his tender skin, but his reaction was much
better than it might have been. We didn’t even bother to
halter him.
Afterwards Kortney and I headed over to watch the Cavalry Mounted
Shooting, but they were finished when we got there so we just
explored the Young Building for the rest of the hour before Liz
Graves’ first clinic session. I found a decal for my truck,
a gold-colored foxtrotter. Wrong breed, right gait. Oh well, it
will look pretty against the dark blue paint.
We sat with Kate and Zeke for Liz’s morning session. It
was very good, even though it wasn’t new to us. It was a
repeat of the same things we’d learned in Pennsylvania.
As we sat there, Kate whispered that the man in front of Zeke
looked really familiar, and she almost wondered if it was Stoney
from GaitedHorses.net. Zeke leaned forward and asked if his name
was Stoney, and it was! We all chatted quietly for the rest of
the session, commenting on the different horses and techniques
she was showing.
Here's Liz, marking different points on a horse's body and explaining
why his conformation dictates that he perform a particular gait
(running walk, I think):
At 1:00 when the session ended, I was scheduled to meet up with
the rest of the HorseCity.com board buddies, but had to delay
that a moment so we could get a picture of me, Kate, and Stoney
– we all post on the boards at GaitedHorses.net and had
been ordered to get a group photo.
The HorseCity buddies weren’t hard to find; they were the
largest group of people out there and I recognized a few of them.
Unfortunately, just as I got there and said hello, my cell phone
rang. It was Louis and Traci, who were waiting out by the ticket
pavilion and needed me to bring them their tickets. I had to excuse
myself to meet them, but I was back in a couple minutes and we
took a picture.
Here we are (left to right): Charmergirl, lja1, Tractorman, Horsenaround,
Zephyr's Mom, Goldentoes, Nikki, Comanche, Horseshoe Princess.
Everyone loved the shirts! The front said *proud to be a horsecity.com
board buddy* and below that it said 2003 MA Equine Affaire Reunion.
(Rattusratt did the cartoon for me. Thanks Ratts!!) Horsenaround
asked everyone to sign the back of hers with a permanent marker;
nobuddy else felt comfortable doing that because they were afraid
the ink would run in the wash.
We all had different things we wanted to go do,
so unfortunately we weren’t able to visit. I had a necklace
for Lja1 (Laura) that I’d forgotten to get from the truck
that morning, but first I had to meet back up with Louis and Traci,
so Laura just tagged along for a few minutes. It took me longer
than it should have to find Louis and Traci because of a slight
misunderstanding, but finally we found each other. The barn was
on the way to the truck so we all went there to check on Zephyr,
then Louis and Traci went off to shop while I got the necklace
for Laura and changed my clothes in preparation for a warmup ride.
While we were tacking up, Louis called me to ask how many necklaces
had been on display. I told him 33 originally, but that 6 had
sold the first day. He reported that there was only one left!
Of course I was thrilled, but I had to wonder in the back of my
mind whether that could possibly be accurate! They had sold so
slowly the day before that I wasn’t convinced they’d
sold out. I figured I’d just check in later to see what
had happened.
That afternoon’s warmup went better than the day before;
Zephyr foxwalked happily up and down the road behind the buildings.
He wasn’t as antsy to run as he had been on Friday. I made
sure to tell everyone who looked at his knees that he was fine;
he’d fallen but there was no swelling or heat. I was so
worried that people would think I was a horrible person for riding
him in that condition!
I rode until 2:00 or so; the clinic wasn’t until 4:00 so
we loosened his cinch, put his halter on, tied him where he could
reach his hay and water but couldn’t roll, and went to find
some lunch. While we were there we checked in at the Running Bear
Farm booth, and found out that four necklaces were unaccounted
for and presumed stolen. Their combined value totaled almost $150;
I was so mad. Teddy said she felt really bad and would split the
loss with me. It wasn't the money that made me angry though, it
was all the work I'd put into those necklaces. Whoever took them
would not value the effort spent to make them.
When we went back to Zephyr's stall we discovered that he’d
gotten his lead rope stuck behind his water bucket. I was pleased
(but not surprised) to note that instead of thrashing around and
fighting it, he’d apparently just stood and waited for help
(the water bucket was still full to the brim so he couldn’t
have been fighting against it). One more example of why it’s
important to teach your horse to give to pressure and to tie well.
At about 3:30 I took him back out to continue warming up for
the clinic. It was cold and very windy; I had a quarter sheet
on over his butt and my lap, and I wore several layers of clothing.
Kortney took the sheet and my coat from me as I entered the ring,
but within a few moments I could tell that I would still be too
hot. I was wearing PolyPro thermal pants and shirt, cotton riding
tights, a thin cotton turtleneck, and a fleece vest. As soon as
they closed the big door, the air started to get thick and hot.
Liz introduced herself and named the horses’ breeds. Then
she called me out to the middle to talk about the importance of
saddle fit, and to show how a good saddle should fit. She also
talked about the importance of using a bit that will work well
with the horse’s mouth shape. Finally, at my request, she
told the crowd that he’d fallen on the pavement and skinned
his knees, but that he was fine and they shouldn’t worry
about him. Then she asked me if she could ride. Of course I said
yes!
Here's Liz riding Zephyr:
She told the crowd that Zephyr was an interesting
case because in spite of his half-RMH bloodlines, he was built
to perform a foxtrot. She also said that he was new to gaiting
and therefore was only at the foxwalk stage. She trotted him a
bit to wake him up, and then slowed that down into a foxwalk.
Surprisingly, he kept breaking into a trot. It occurred
to me that since he couldn’t hear his feet, maybe he was
having trouble finding the gait! Liz didn’t seem concerned
or annoyed though; she remarked to the crowd that she had seen
him a month ago and he was progressing well. (It was actually
two weeks ago, so that means he’s actually doing better
than she thinks.)
I went over to her suitcase and grabbed a roll of
bright vetwrap, knowing that she would want to mark his diagonal
legs so people could see what he was doing better. She did, and
then she had me get on and demonstrate a hard trot and a foxwalk.
Afterwards we stood at the gate end while she worked with the
other two horses. I really didn’t hear that much of this
part because people kept coming up to the fence and talking to
me! Most of them wanted to know what breed he was, what type of
saddle I had, or where I’d gotten his necklace.
Finally, around 5:00, Liz called us all out and had us ride around
the rail at the same time, showing the differences between the
gaits.
At this point Zephyr was getting a bit pokey and
I was wishing I had my spurs! It seemed like he would either walk
(slowly) or trot, but not foxwalk. I was a bit peeved with him
actually, but tried to remember that he couldn’t hear his
feet, it was hot, and he was probably bored to death. In fact,
at one point while he’d been waiting, he’d actually
fallen asleep and Kortney swears she saw him wobble a little as
he stood there!
Traci had the digital camera, Louis had the 35mm camera, and
Kortney had the digital camcorder. Kate, Zeke, and Stoney were
also in the crowd. But because of the poor lighting, we didn’t
get more than a couple halfway-decent photos between all of us!
Goldentoes stopped by for a few minutes and we chatted quietly
through the fence while I waited for my turn.
I needn’t have worried about Zephyr’s reaction to
the crowd’s applause at the end. One of the other horses
freaked out anyway and took off across the ring. The second horse
got really alert and scanned the crowd. Zephyr just opened one
eye and shifted his weight to the other hind leg.
I was both pleased and annoyed that as soon as we got outside,
Zephyr executed a flawless foxwalk all the way back to the barns.
I was pleased because that meant he was feeling OK, but annoyed
because he hadn’t strutted his stuff in the arena! I vowed
that the next day I’d work him on the grass, for as long
as it took until he was able to foxwalk without hearing his footsteps.
As soon as Kortney and I put Zephyr away, we met Louis and Traci
back at the Mallory Building. After a quick bite to eat, I stopped
at one of the vendors there and bought a collapsible canvas wheelbarrow
for the trailer and a triple-hook bridle bag to carry necklaces
in when I go to trade shows. Traci left to find her daughter and
her friend, and get in line for the show. Their seats weren’t
with ours.
Here's a very tired Kortney at dinner that night, wearing her
new hat:
Kortney, Louis and I checked on Zephyr and went
back to the camper to change clothes before the show. Our seats
were great, right on the corner where I like them. I like to be
able to see most of the arena through my camera lens, yet still
be able to see down the long side. I got a few pictures but it
turns out I would have been better off not to use the flash.
This picture is of a guy who had been standing on the back of
the horse in front, and who just leapt into the air and did a
couple somersaults, and is about to land on his feet on the second
horse:
This picture is of a lady riding her Lipizzan stallion
sidesaddle. I don't know what this movement is called, but he
reared and then leapt into the air and kicked out with both feet.
In this picture, you can see his hind feet are off the ground
by a good 8-12":
Louis left for his hotel right after the show, and
Kortney went right to bed. I went back to the barn and hung out
with Zephyr for a while, cleaning his stall again and taking him
for another walk.
Morning came too soon, but since I didn’t have anywhere
to be right away, I let myself stay in bed until almost 8. I wanted
a shower but our water hose was frozen solid so I had to just
heat a pan of bottled water and make do with a sponge bath. My
hair was so tangled I could do nothing more than stuff it into
a bun at the back of my neck.
I fed Zephyr and cleaned his stall, then walked him around a
bit. Kortney still wasn’t there so I put him away and went
to collect her. By 9:00 we were shopping again. I got a couple
tubes of Zimectrin Gold and a new rain sheet that actually fit.
I also managed to find a new water bucket; you wouldn’t
think they would be hard to find but no one had them! I agonized
over whether to buy a new Aussie duster… they were only
$99 and the one I have is actually GREASY from all the wax I had
to apply in order to make it waterproof. I finally decided that
I would just think about it and come back later if I decided to
buy it. It was much easier to decide that I couldn’t afford
it once I wasn’t holding it in my hands!
The last thing I bought was a great trailer tie from http://www.ultracite.com/
- it’s made to automatically release if the horse falls
down, and it works SO much better than a regular panic snap. This
truly seems to be a fantastic design and I’m proud to have
it in my trailer. (The door latch they sell seems a little hokey,
but I love the trailer tie.) I paid $25 for mine but their site
is confusing… I can’t tell how much they charge for
them there.
We went back to the camper and found that our water hose had
thawed, so we took showers. At about 2:00 I tacked Zephyr up and
rode out behind the buildings for a few minutes so that Kortney
could film him strutting his stuff on a paved straightaway...
I wanted to show that
video to Liz as proof that he really had improved more than
he'd been showing her!
Then we went out to the big grassy area to practice foxwalking
where we couldn’t hear his footfalls. At that point I sent
Kortney off to shop and stay warm; it was very cold and windy
again, and I was wearing fewer layers so that I would be comfortable
once we got inside the arena. I alternated between the grass and
the road, keeping him interested by doing lots of direction and
location changes. By 3:15 I was satisfied that not only could
he now foxwalk without hearing his footfalls, he could also foxwalk
around corners if the turn was gradual enough. At one point we
met up with Stoney behind the Young Building and he walked with
us over to Mallory. Zephyr hit such a fast foxwalk just then,
that I doubt he’s ever gone faster! I was glad we had a
witness!
At 3:30 they opened the big door to let us in, and I gave Kortney
my coat and his quarter sheet. Louis, Traci, Kate, and Zeke had
gone home already, so to my knowledge it was just Kortney and
Stoney who were left from our group.
There were three horses for the “Suppling and Strengthening”
clinic; a Paso Fino, a Rocky Mountain Horse, and Zephyr. Liz spent
some time leading the Paso Fino around to calm him down enough
that he could be worked with. While she did that, I used some
cones at the gate end of the arena to do some figure-8’s,
sidepasses, and turns on the forehand/haunches. I was pleased
with his responsiveness.
After she’d calmed the Paso Fino, Liz took Zephyr from
me and rode him through the series of patterns that she wanted
to show everyone. He did the patterns nicely for her but refused
to break out of a slow walk. Just as she was about to be finished
with him anyway, he refused to even leave the gate-end of the
arena. She commented to me that he was shutting down mentally,
that he was tired after being there for four days, and that he’d
had enough. She finally had to get off and lead him to the far
end, where she got back on and walked him around for another minute,
and then handed him back to me while she talked the other two
riders through the exercises.
I could tell when I got on that he would be fine; the tiny ‘ladies’
spurs I was wearing were enough to get his attention, and he was
being just as responsive to me as he’d been when I first
entered the arena. Plus, in the last two weeks, Liz has ridden
him four times now and I’ve noticed that he’s NEVER
as responsive for her as he is for me. Because of all he’d
put her through just then, I was concerned that she would not
let me ride him through the exercises myself.
After the other two horses had gone through the patterns, though,
she waved me over. First we did some figure 8’s using diagonal
aids, then some shoulder-outs, then weaved a line of cones using
lateral aids, and finally rode a perfectly straight line between
two cones by using only leg aids. He did great on all of it, and
Liz commented that I’d done a wonderful job getting him
‘broke to leg.’ She was probably also surprised that
he never balked while I rode.
Finally, she had all three horses go around on the rail again
together so people could compare the different gaits. Zephyr foxwalked
much more consistently than the day before; the work on grass
had done wonders. But he seemed grouchy towards the other horses
when they got too close, so I was glad when the session was over
and I could take him back to the barn.
We gave him hay and water, then loaded our stuff from the camper
into the truck, hitched up the trailer, and returned to the barn
to load my tack. When it came time to load Zephyr, he balked for
the first time in almost a year. I did some groundwork with him
for two or three minutes, then tried again. He refused again but
when I opened up the divider he stepped right on. Weird, but OK,
whatever. I’ll just be sure to take him on a few really
short trailer rides to do fun stuff soon… the last two times
he’s been on the trailer he’s gone for a 17-hour one-way
ride and a 7-hour one-way ride, and they weren’t even to
go to a nice fun trail ride! They were both clinics. I think he
just needs some more fun in his life.
The first part of the trip was uneventful but I accidentally
got off for gas at the SAME DARN EXIT in Southern Maine. And this
time, after we drove out of our way to find the gas station, they
were both CLOSED. So I had to pay a toll to get back onto the
highway WITHOUT any gas… by the time we reached the next
Turnpike Plaza I had less than a gallon left. I was pretty mad,
both at myself for getting off at the same exit (how did I manage
to do that??), and at the gas stations for being closed. Not only
that, but somehow I missed the exit for I-95 that I usually take,
and had to stay on I-495 which takes longer.
We pulled into the barnyard at 2:30 am. I let Kortney stay in
the truck and sleep while I unloaded Zephyr and settled him for
the night. After I put him in his stall, I gave him a flake of
hay. I was glad to see that when I came back to say goodnight,
he willingly left his hay to give me a kiss when I asked for one.
I guess all was forgiven now that he was home again.
Arthur, the barnlord, told me that when they went to feed breakfast
at 3:30 am, Zephyr was up and looking for them. But after he got
his hay he laid down in it and ate, then fell asleep in the middle
of a big mouthful, with a bunch of hay still hanging out between
his lips. When it came time to go out to the field at 7:00, they
opened all the stall doors as usual and he came trotting out;
then when he hit the long, straight aisle of the back barn, he
galloped down it and out the door. Apparently he chased everyone
around for quite a while, galloping and bucking, and otherwise
carrying on. I, on the other hand, stayed home sick from work
and slept all day.
The video I referred to is here.
If you have trouble watching it just update your video playing
software (usually Windows Media Player). Sorry, I don't think
it will play on a Mac.
