Winter Music

  Today was a great day!  I worked Lyric in the arena again today. We just did our pillar work and I think she was more relaxed today in her brachiocephalic. She was a little lower in her head and it seemed like her pectorals were firing better. I still only got a few licks and chews, but still... getting some. We also did some pillar 2 and 3. She's slowly getting the hang of it. We also walked over the cavalettis again and then, I pulled the poles off the liverpool and made it just a tarp and poles on the ground. She walked up to it and smelled it and then walked right over it. Then the other direction, because there was a lot of poles piled up, she took a minute to consider it, but then walked right over it. Yay! Good girl!       We also practiced at the mountin g block. I walked her up to it, parked her next to it and climbed up. She didn't care. I even leaned over her back some. She was like "okay, whatever, I've already been backed crazy lady". :) True, but...

 Yay! I didn't have to start work til 10:30 this morning so I was able to sneak in a short pillar session with Lyric this morning. (I still had to leave at (9:45 and slept poorly so I slept in a little bit). I took her into the roundpen after breakfast and we did pillar work. Maybe we're making more progress. We're starting to get a tiny bit of pillar 3 and she's getting better at backing up. Although she's still not entirely sure to back up when I press on her chest. She just kind of leans it at first. And because I don't have to use much pressure for pillar 1, it's hard to tell if she has a good relationship to contact or she's just avoiding it entirely. Sigh. Oh well. We'll just keep plugging away at it. I'm just not convinced we're getting it quite right because she's not releasing like crazy. Just small little licks and chews every now and then. Maybe she's just stoic? Maybe we're not quite getting it? Hard to say. She seems ...

 Today was a great day! All the horses were turned out and they all seemed to be behaving. Lyric got fly boots on and while she was a little flinchy at first, she figured them out quickly. And her swollen leg looks way better. I don't think it's the SMZ's; I think it was just more being stocked up from being in, but... she'll get the course. Luckily today she ate her *SMZ's soaked in water with a peppermint* in her grain, so yay! I took Dan for a ride this morning and after we got back and I had lunch, I decided to work the girls. They were all up at the hay barn, so I decided to work in the arena.  Pillar work in the arena I grabbed Lyric first and she was good. She walked right in and sniffed around a tiny bit but didn't seem to mind. Luckily the spotty heathens were kind and hung out at the gate the whole time. We just did our pillar work, static and with walking. She seemed to be getting the hang of it, but still, not a ton of licks and chews. I'm worrie...

  So, now that Dan is off stall rest, I can breathe again and do things other than clean stalls and walk him. :) Which means, now it's time to get serious about getting Lyric going. Plus, she's had two weeks or so to settle in. She's being treated for ulcers and is gaining weight. She will get her teeth done on the 28th. So, I figured that I would do pillar work until then, and work on lunging some and maybe even pony her off Dan at Ashland to introduce her to things at Ashland and on XC. But first we'll start at home. :) Then, after her teeth... it'll be October and then I can pretty much start riding her! If I do two rides a week, that should keep me following the 15 rides or less before Dec 1st. But, that means that we've got to get serious about our pillar work and get her thoracic sling built up! She still looks so awful to me!  But today we did our homework! And I think she's been cheating a little bit with the pillar work. It's hard though because...

This morning Lyric came in with a booboo on her hock. Not bad, but it's a little puffy. So we didn't do much today. We just worked on our pillar work in the round pen. She was good. We also tried to start lunging a bit. She's getting the hang of it. I just started lunging her in a small circle around me with the lead rope and she's getting it! Then we walked around the trailer turn around area again and she was a bit calmer and braver. Baby steps!

  So Lyric seems to be all settled in. Dan's on stall rest again (luckily only 9 days this time) so they've been taking turns. Lyric stayed in all day with him. Man, she is a piggy pig! At night she and Fleck went out, but this morning, her and Fleck were BOTH in her stall hanging with Dan. She's cleaning up her food and now currently eating what my other guys eat. I think she's put on weight, but we'll see if she can maintain, especially when the grass dies down and she starts working.    This evening I decided it was time to do some work. We went to the roundpen and practiced our pillar work. She's super at it. Although she doesn't require much pressure to relax her brachiocephalic, which makes it hard to really work on her response to pressure. But we are. It's also weird how easily she relaxes her brachiocephalic given how ewe necked she looks in her race photo and how quickly she gets worried and loses her confidence. I took her around the trailer t...