Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Found: One crazy horse

I went to visit Ms. Denali tonight. I was in a rush since my job has had me CRAZY this week. I just wanted to go out, groom her, and do a little work in the round pen. Denali, well she had other ideas. Remember how I said she was missing?? WELL GUESS WHO'S BACK!!!
She did really well the entire process. I took her out to the round pen and asked her to walk (because she was eating grass) and it was like I lit a fuse. She took off at a quick trot. I asked her to stop, and she went into a canter. I asked for her to trot, and she took off into a gallop. At this point I realized that her mind was not with me. I chose to ignore her because any motion that I made towards her made her go faster. I stood in the middle and didn't look at her. She ran for at least 5 minutes. I wanted to kill her. I chose to ignore her since I knew she wasn't listening to me, and I didn't want her to learn that she really COULD ignore me. I decided I was going to leave the round pen and walk away. As I was walking out she stopped. This is where I should have made her run again until she was tired. I just didn't want her to break anything.

At this point Princess Demon Ponykins Devil Horse was dripping in sweat. I took her in to cold hose her legs. She started to freak out about the water. She kept shaking her head and so I unclipped her to see what she wanted. She took her head and put it right into the hose, so I let her drink from the hose and then finished her legs. They looked good, and they felt good, but I still wrapped them up. JUST IN CASE. My poor trainer, I know I drive her nuts.

One of our barn cats died today. My trainer found him crying, and took him to the vet. He had a blockage and something else going on. He left behind a brother and a sister and a very sad trainer (mom.)

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds to me like she may not be getting enough out time or else too much feed. She wasn't being bad, just telling you that she had too much energy and no place to put it. But then I don't use a round pen and never see much point in running a horse in one anyway - but that's just me and how I work.

Sorry about the kitty. We have two barn cats and they're both adorable.

Unknown said...

Sounds like something set off Denali's fuse. Last week during out walk session Panache decided the hay bales on the ground were horse eating monsters, spun, and bolted about 50 yards. I could have killed her! At least the canter felt ok though. Next morning I put her in the little lame horse paddock and what does she do? Canter and buck, canter and buck... in a 36'x36' pen. Sigh... what can we do when they think they feel good enough to do everything again?

smazourek said...

Could she be in heat? My mare can get uber nutty and fast when she's hormonal.

Sorry about the kitty, I think that every good barn has at least one cat.

Kristen Eleni Shellenbarger said...

I get so mad when they burst out the craziness and then amp it up like that! lol. Well, good news is she feels good. Round pens can be good for somewhat controlling their antics. People forget that these ottbs will run and run and run and then test a fence and boom-gone for the hills. Turnout would be great for her..does she get it?

Gingham said...

BAH! they are the same mare! Pia was a demon-child-buck-monster yesterday too! I mean, she was adorable, but just very, very "elevated" like levitating..

Sidenote: that pic is of a creepy horse statue outside the Denver airport.. NO idea why the eyes glow red, but they do. Apparently the statue fell and crushed the artist during the "creative process." I guess even inanimate horses go a little crazy....

Brooke (FBX Adventures - In Parenting) said...

I guess I should mention that she is in heat! Bwah!! Denali is out from 9 am to 8 pm in a pretty big paddock. Enough room for her to kick up her heels. She just really likes to put on a show, so her show yesterday was called, "Hey, Hey! Look at me!"

Laura, I totally know the feeling. Trying to tell her to take it easy and to not kill herself is hard. She thinks that she is fine. I think that was part of it. She started to trot, and that felt good, she started to canter and that felt good, so she decided to gallop which also felt good. She just needs to take it slow.

I think Pia and Denali are long lost sisters!!

Rebecca said...

"She started to trot, and that felt good, she started to canter and that felt good, so she decided to gallop which also felt good."

One of those times when you wish you could speak a shared language, right?