And now it’s the day before everyone leaves for Bromont, and I do mean everyone. There is a mass exodus this year and people are going to be fairly scarce at Balsam Hall this week. As a result, it’s time for Benny and Rummy to have a break, not that I feel they need a break, they most certainly don’t. They have been working mainly on the lunge using a Pessoa. Both had, understandably, nothing much in the way of muscle over their backs, and there’s not much use trying to sit on top of those non existent muscles and think I am going to get anywhere. So they work four to five times a week on the lunge and once or twice under saddle. This program is working really well for both of them and I am happy with the top line that is starting to develop on both of them.
You can see that he is developing a little more top line.
As Benny and Rummy have become stronger their work ethic has changed. Rummy has always been body tense. Not brain tense, he is a good learner and has a great attitude but he reacts to aids of any kind, with a great deal of holding in his back muscles and I swear he holds his breath too. Among other things, this made him difficult to build up in his body, a bit of a catch 22. He started out a little frantic to lunge, always trying to anticipate what we would like and moving away from a cluck or a movement of the whip with an anxious hurried step, very similar to what happens under saddle. He is SO concerned that he is doing everything quickly enough. The lunging sessions have helped him with this, especially trotting over poles which used to cause all sorts of body anxiety and now causes none. He will probably continue to be lunged at least twice a week in the pessoa for the next couple of years, as his body slowly lets go it’s tension. As his back comes through and we start to see some moments where he has developed some swing to his stride, it is obvious he is going to be a really extravagant mover once he puts it all together under saddle.
Benny has always been the opposite. No tension of any kind and everything loose and gangly and very slow. He has always needed a lot of encouragement to lunge with enough energy to produce something approaching coordinated movement. Well guess what, Benny is growing up and he is starting to feel rather good about himself. His butt has always been way up in the air since we bought him, but in the past few weeks he has started to catch up with front end, and as this has happened, he has developed some little broncs on the lunge that are downright impressive! This bodes well for his jumping ability, but as he is floating high as a kite on the end of the lunge line, it occurs to a person, to fervently hope he never tries any of those nifty moves out under saddle. He is getting bigger by the minute, not so much in height but in size and girth. He is going to be a big big boy. He is still a lover, when you are catching him, mucking him out, tacking him up, anywhere within reach, he nuzzles and cuddles and loves you to bits. Mucking him out its a bit of an issue, you try mucking out a horse that is attached to your ear by it’s muzzle.
Anyway, it’s an exciting time with both of them and I wish we didn’t have to give them time off but Bromont week is going to be a busy time and they may fall from the schedule.
Everyone is primped, galloped, jogged, gone over with a fine tooth comb…ready for Bromont tomorrow. Zephyr has promised not to run away with Selena in the show jumping, Woody was a star at training camp and Bentley is ready to rock. I am sorry I am not going to watch them, I love Bromont. Today Zephyr and Bentley will probably lunge in the pessoa. It’s not allowed under FEI (although I believe there is talk of that changing), so today is the last day we can use it, they will lunge over raised poles spread on a semi circle to raise and open their backs. They will do more than just lunge, probably a little flat school or a hack to round out the day. Selena will ride Woody. Her last ride at home. He is going well and after his week of lessons with Clayton Fredericks the team coach, I doubt she will press him very hard today.
Kate and Whistler return from their successful first event together.
Yesterday was ‘Eventing in the Park’ in Ottawa. We had a great day. Kate Sykes with Watson’s Whistler won the first event she has ever done, nice way to start eventing. Alex Morgan was 2nd in the Senior Training and Anne Marie Duarte was 5th on ‘Rather Boldly’. The weather was appalling and we withdrew two of our horses that we didn’t feel would benefit from a run in the rain and the mud. One was upgrading and we didn’t see it as a good upgrade day, and the other was finding the footing a little slippery and it was making him anxious. Better to practice a little ‘mudding’ at home with those two rather than make them anxious at a show. Everyone at the show was soaked through to the skin. Having said all that, we were all happy to see the rain, it was enough of a rain that some soaked into the ground which we desperately need.
