I am seriously considering making an appointment with an animal communicator. (Don't judge me! I have some friends who have had mind blowing experiences with some of them!)
I went out to the barn, despite the fact that I knew I would be by myself due to the horse show today. I set up some poles in the arena, randomly really, no big plan on them. I called my boyfriend and told him if I didn't call him by a certain time to have someone come check on me.
I pulled Amber out...she just stood there, didn't move a muscle. Kind of eye-balled the parked tractor when we went out to the arena, but was as chill as she usually is.
I had decent attention from her during our ride. A little forward in the canter, kind of wanted to clinch the bit and ignore me in a could of places, or just break to trot. In other words, fast or nothing. But I was able to collect her in places. What can I say? But she wasn't a spastic mess like yesterday.
She also stood very still in the wash pit when I hosed her off and didn't even think about trying to kick.
I'm starting to think that a huge factor here is consistency. She's a young horse and she needs an outlet for energy. Regular and routine exercise is a key for her. And I can't really expect to leave her alone for a week and then expect her not to be a challenge and be silly when I come back. Obviously it's not hard to re-focus her, but the stop and start could have some bad long term effects. So maybe it's just a matter of keeping her in a consistent work out plan to release the energy she has and also keep her in the mindset that she DOES indeed have to work.
Despite her willingness to work she still likes that gate. But I can tell she understands that working well for that 45 minutes to an hour means she gets done faster and gets lots of treats.
Still considering getting the ulcer meds - as suggested by Jean. Kind of putting the chiropractor as a first priority though because the one leg dragging more than the other isn't "just her", it isn't "just being lazy"...something's out of whack. And I could see in Katie working her yesterday that it's that right hind that's always off.
I too have had some exceptional experiences with animal communicators, so I am with you on that. The only warning....Amber may not know what's wrong with her, so you have to be prepared to ask the right questions. The communicator will only know what Amber tells her, and like a child, she may not be able to easily explain what is bothering her.
ReplyDeleteSo if Amber says something like, "Well, sometimes I feel like I'm going to fall down and I get scared," that could mean simply a training balance issue or some physical reason that she feels a leg or part of her body is not supporting her. "Sometimes I hurt." Where? What hurts? How does it hurt? Tricky business, but a good communicator can usually help you sort it out--especially if that communicator specializes in horses and understands some of the basic issues.