Things that go bump in the Night

Our rides have been odd lately, some are good and some are bad. This week the trend has been hearing something go boom and Gram losing her mind. I cannot blame her as she had 3 days off, and it was so cold she probably didn't go outside much. When I got on Tuesday, she was a bucking bronco... Something in the barn made a noise and Gram went from maturing horse to ticking time bomb! Leg on her side meant leap in the air. Her back felt like a ball of nerves. Wednesday wasn't much better either. Last night we finally had a great ride... The only problem was that I heard things the ENTIRE time!

Last night marked the first time I rode with no one else in the barn. At first I thought that someone else would come, so I think that was what started me hearing things. At one point a boom happened... it sounded like someone knocking on the metal slider doors, and then knocking something large off a shelf. There were a few crashes. This of course is pretty standard in a metal building full of 4 legged creatures, but in my head I thought there was an intruder. In this instance, I was actually the one that felt like a ticking time bomb. Eventually I got over my thoughts that someone was breaking into the barn. As soon as I did, Gram and I were able to get to work. In the walk, I started with lateral work; shoulder-in, haunches-in, half pass, turn on haunches. Then I picked up the trot, I skipped the rising, but still just let her stretch over her back for a few minutes then went into canter. I tried to get more jump in the canter and then we were ready to get to work. I started asking for half passes in the trot. At first she protested, we had a conversation and the entire time I thought about how much I got after her. I tried to make it quick and then move on, and she reacted in the most positive way. She gave up her protest and we got some great half passes at the trot. I over shot the centerline on purpose in order to make sure she was listening. Then we tried the canter half pass which were actually better than the trot. My final test was to ask for counter-canter and simple changes across the diagonal. Both went well, so I called it a day and praised her for her hard work. I guess hearing things that go bump in the night aren't always a bad thing!