Gia session 67 and 68 - picking up where we left off!
This past Friday marked one month since Gia was first sick. The vet had said to give her the entire month off just to make sure she would be back up to speed. So, on Friday I wanted to ease her back into the idea of working again. I had Danielle work with her on coming back into the barn, grooming and walking around the farm checking out various "scary" things. I didn't want to put her under real pressure yet, and I wanted to see how her behavior would be. A month off can go one of two ways... However, Gia did fantastic! Her attitude was great! Danielle really put her to the test with some of the scary obstacles in the woods, and Gia was nervous, but she handled it, and seemed to enjoy getting the attention again.
So, on Monday, I put her back to real work. The girls brought her in to groom and tack her, and she was very polite for them. I brushed her face and forelock, and she seemed more accepting of that. Once bridled, I took her out in the arena to lunge her. She was not fast or explosive at all, which was quite a surprise. We worked on obedience to commands, and she did very well with that. She did get distracted by horses moving around in their fields, so I continued to work with her on the lunge line, getting her attention, until she could go a full circle in each direction without acknowledging others.
Then I hopped on. I won't lie. I was a bit nervous. Not shaky or scared, just unsure how the ride would go after having a month off. A little like how I felt the first time I got on her. The first time I get on any horse. However, she surprised me again. She was definitely looky - trying to check out the horses in their fields again. But, each time she pointed her ears on them, I made her turn until she was paying attention to me. A few times, I felt her coil up like she was about to spring, so I would circle to defuse the bomb, and it never went off. By the end, she was able to trot a figure eight using the entire arena without getting distracted, and even moving off my leg a little, like we had the last time we rode together. I let her finish with a nice, relaxed walk, and we tried a little stretching down. I did not want to canter, since it was her first day, and I probably won't canter all week. I'll start that up again next week.
After I hopped off and she was untacked, I worked with her with the clippers again. We pretty much picked up where we left off there as well. She did allow me to get pretty close to her with the clippers running and no twitch, but she wouldn't let me touch her with them. So, I put the twitch on, then brought the clippers back to her and started clipping her muzzle. Once she relaxed, I removed the twitch and continued to clip her with no problems. I probably could have done her whole face, but I wanted to save a little for the next time. I finished up with some mane pulling, and she could have cared less about that.
It felt so good to be able to ride her again, and I think she enjoyed being able to go back to work too! She was at the gate to meet me this morning, asking to work again, but I told her she would have to wait until tomorrow ...☺
So, on Monday, I put her back to real work. The girls brought her in to groom and tack her, and she was very polite for them. I brushed her face and forelock, and she seemed more accepting of that. Once bridled, I took her out in the arena to lunge her. She was not fast or explosive at all, which was quite a surprise. We worked on obedience to commands, and she did very well with that. She did get distracted by horses moving around in their fields, so I continued to work with her on the lunge line, getting her attention, until she could go a full circle in each direction without acknowledging others.
Then I hopped on. I won't lie. I was a bit nervous. Not shaky or scared, just unsure how the ride would go after having a month off. A little like how I felt the first time I got on her. The first time I get on any horse. However, she surprised me again. She was definitely looky - trying to check out the horses in their fields again. But, each time she pointed her ears on them, I made her turn until she was paying attention to me. A few times, I felt her coil up like she was about to spring, so I would circle to defuse the bomb, and it never went off. By the end, she was able to trot a figure eight using the entire arena without getting distracted, and even moving off my leg a little, like we had the last time we rode together. I let her finish with a nice, relaxed walk, and we tried a little stretching down. I did not want to canter, since it was her first day, and I probably won't canter all week. I'll start that up again next week.
After I hopped off and she was untacked, I worked with her with the clippers again. We pretty much picked up where we left off there as well. She did allow me to get pretty close to her with the clippers running and no twitch, but she wouldn't let me touch her with them. So, I put the twitch on, then brought the clippers back to her and started clipping her muzzle. Once she relaxed, I removed the twitch and continued to clip her with no problems. I probably could have done her whole face, but I wanted to save a little for the next time. I finished up with some mane pulling, and she could have cared less about that.
It felt so good to be able to ride her again, and I think she enjoyed being able to go back to work too! She was at the gate to meet me this morning, asking to work again, but I told her she would have to wait until tomorrow ...☺
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