It's been awhile since I've posted anything of substance but life, as usual, got in the way. So what's up? The usual- riding and working with Max, trying to deal with water damage in one of the bathrooms in my house, surviving Thanksgiving and the usual BS.
On the horse front, I've been trying to work with Max to improve his group dynamics- after the crap he pulled at Morro Bay on the trail, I've been working on getting his behaviour under control. It seems to be a weird variety of barnsour combined with his wanting to be "the chief".
Lately I've also been working Max with a drill team that a friend of mine heads up. It's actually worked out pretty well and Max is, for the most part, used to working in close formation with other horses and following my commands. He's even used to getting bumped and jostled in formation and that's also good. He's even responded well after getting nearly kicked and bitten on a couple occassions by other horses- we managed to work those issues though. Given some more practice, he may be even ready to participate in his first parade. Cool.
On the trail, I've been working with various patience exercises to include stopping periodically while returning the stables. I'll stop, wait a few minutes and the proceed forward if he's stayed still. If he starts dancing, we then turn around and go back about 100-300 feet back up the trail. The idea is that acting up just gets him further away from his goal of getting back to the stables while acting calm and standing still will earn him an earlier return to the stables. At least that's the theory.
I've also been working on mounted charges and keeping Max under control. This consists of roll-backs, collection, and controlled canters alternated with various transitions. Also, part of the program is making Max stand still- which is sometimes hard because he's anxious and buzzed up. The trick is that I need to stop riding him once he comes to a halt. It's kind of tricky but we seem to be making progress.
As for my house, it all started with an aging toilet that stopped working properly. I went to replace parts and then realized that things were a bit more serious when the bolts securing the tank to the toilet base fell off, completely used through. I then decided to replace the entire toilet and after completely detaching it from the sewer connection, discovered extensive water damage. So I had to strip the linoleum floor and subflooring which was a nasty job that took an entire day. I still have to figure out the finances to replace the subflooring since it's pretty poor. So now we're down to one toilet. Thankfully, the shower and sink are still functional. I'll be installing tile for flooring once everything is done- I don't want to deal with this again (at least as long as I live there). Home improvement- oh joy!
More later....
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