Naughty, Naughty

After feeding the other morning, I went to visit with Zoe in her stall.  I brushed her a lot (she's shedding) and when I was done she was wanting something more.  She stopped eating and just looked at me (not typical).  So I grabbed her halter and thought I would take her to the round pen and do 5 minutes of work.  Maybe she was bored.  On our way out, Star started to call for her.  She got worried.  As we entered the round pen Tyson called to her and she called back.  Ahhh, maybe she was in heat?  Didn't matter to me, she is usually very good despite her heat cycles.  We started round penning and man did she want to run!  I only asked her to trot and she got to running!  I slowed her down (with my voice commands) but I could see she was aching to go faster so I gave her the command.  I didn't ask for it long because we've been out of work for so long and I didn't want her to get sore.  We did a little more work and then I caught her up again.  She seemed relaxed; licking her lips, head dropped.  She wasn't breathing hard or sweaty, obviously in better shape than what I thought after being out of work for a long winter! 

We walked out of the round pen and then she perked up again.  Star was STILL calling and it was very worrisome to Zoe.  She likes to be talked to so I started to talk to her and decided to go for a walk around the property, checking some fences along the way.  She was interested but very distracted by Star calling to her.  At one point she was so distracted that she bumped into me so I sent her out on a lunge circle (I had a long lead rope) and she shaped up.  So I thought we would call it quits at that point and turn her out.  We headed back through the barn, where Star was still calling, and back out to the turn out.  As I unhooked the lead Zoe spun around and ran past me almost knocking me over!  The barn was completely open, nothing to keep her from running out into the driveway, yard or street!  A slight panic attack occurred on my part, and then I realized that she only ran to be by Star.  So I quickly shut the front barn door so she couldn't run out there and possibly get hurt or hurt someone.  When I went to get her she bolted and ran out the back of the barn.  To the arena.  I took that as a hint that she needed to be worked more...

I got the lunge and lunge whip and headed out the arena, shutting gates behind me.  This naughty mare wasn't going to blow by me anymore - except she did but this time she wasn't going anywhere!  I put the whip down and then she decided to see what I was going to do.  I caught her and could see she was "up".  We got right to work on the lunge line, W/T/C transitions up and down.  Star was still calling.  Zoe was focused on me at this point but was still obviously worried about Star.  We changed directions and did the same W/T/C transition work.  She was offering some great trot work, canter was messy.  She kept cross cantering, where her front would be on the right lead but her back legs would be on the opposite lead.  If I urge her to go faster, she will fix herself.  When we got some good transitions and lead work done, I called it a day.  This time she was breathing heavy and had sweat on her neck, but she was licking her lips and her eye was soft again.  I cooled her down and put her away. 

I figured if Zoe was this naughty that Star might need some time in the round pen or on the lunge too...



Until next time!



Quote for the day:
"We may brave human laws, but we cannot resist natural ones."

-Jules Verne