It's been an interesting month with Poetess. For the first time in the almost four months that I've owned her, she displayed signs of being in heat. Not terrible, not screaming, not peeing on everything, but very wiggly in the cross ties, a bit kicky when having her belly curried (that behavior got squashed immediately), distractible in her work sessions, and then a bit flirty with the gelding in the next pasture when he came to the common fenceline. I'm glad it's Fall and hopefully there won't be too many more heat cycles to deal with until Spring. It's been rather a while since I owned a mare and had to deal with heat cycles and riding.
She was very good and still for the farrier when she got her feet trimmed this month, which tells me that our practicing having her feet held paid off. I've still got her barefoot, but she is a little tender still on gravel so I'm wondering if we need to change her foot care as we head into winter with it's potential for frozen lumpy uneven ouch-inducing ground. Not sure I want to put shoes back on, especially going into the snowy/icy season, but maybe letting her feet grow a little more between trims. Or painting the soles of her feet with turpentine? (Which is typically pretty effective despite being messy.) Or seeing about trying a different farrier? The one I've used with her so far is one that comes to that barn every 4-5 weeks to do another horse there, so that is the schedule we've used. Finding a farrier in my area that is willing to travel for just a horse or two has proven much more difficult than I thought it would be.
With the cooler weather, I finally took some turnout blankets to try on Poetess and figure out if I have anything that fits her. The 72s that Camaro wore definitely don't even though she is (supposedly) only two inches taller than he was (although I think she's grown: I'd love to get ahold of a measuring stick and see if she's more than 16 hands now). The 78 I have was definitely too big. The 75 medium weight Weatherbeeta fit just about perfect. So I call her a size 75/76 (depending on brand). And of course the mid-weight is the only thing I own in a 75. Luckily I found a decent sale on uninsulated turnout sheets, so ordered her a purple one in a 75. Now she's got a 'rain coat' for the wet Fall weather. I'm hoping to find a lightweight liner that I can put under it when the weather turns colder but not cold enough to put on the mid-weight. I don't want to invest too much in blankets that fit this year because I suspect with regular work under saddle next year, and hitting the 5-year-old filling out body-wise point she just might be a size 78 next Fall.
She longes in the bridle pretty well now, although I put the halter on over it for the long walk to and from the arena and so that I can clip on a lead rope when I go to change sides that the longe line is hooked to the bit at. Want to avoid a loose horse repeat at all costs. That was terrifying and embarrassing (for me, not her).
Because she's longeing pretty well, but I want her more relaxed and stretching through her back before adding a surcingle and side reins, I've started using a pole for her to step over during part of our walk and trot times. When she's paying attention, she doesn't touch it at all. When she's not, she occasionally knocks a hind hoof. She's getting the hang of that, although the very first time I asked her to go over it at a trot she trotted up, jumped over it and landed in a nice canter. I had to laugh, it was so textbook perfect if I was teaching her to jump. Which I don't plan to (I promised DH back in 1992, after we got engaged, that I would give up jumping because he was afraid I'd crash and be killed or paralyzed). But apparently she has potential for it.
After a couple sessions with one pole, I added a second, on the opposite side of the circle, and she seems to like that. At least, once she's done about two circles in trot, I see her start to stretch a little more as she nears a pole and goes over it. Her head comes up on the other side, but down again as she spots the next pole. It's a start. I'm in no hurry to saddle her up and jump on. I'd rather have her loosen her back and go in a relaxed carriage before we add my weight to her. There's more poles we can add to keep things interesting.
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