I've been slacking, and it shows. I've been taking it real easy lately, using the weather as my excuse. It's been rainy, so I've only gone to the barn to dust Gwen's feet with powder, and then used the mud as an excuse to go home. It's starting to show. Gwen's body condition has gone from decent to pretty sad (not in an under fed sort of a way, just a general lack of conditioning). She's RBI, so I *know* she's not exercising herself out there!
I feel bad about this. It's part of my job as her leader to make sure she is getting the best care possible, and physical fitness is important. She's not getting any younger, which is starting to hit home lately, as I watch her develop physical symptoms of age. I know that, if she were properly conditioned, she would look and feel a lot better. So, today I did a bit of reading on conditioning programs, and how best to condition a horse. Since Gwen and I don't do anything strenuous (we don't compete, for example) I'm not worried about getting her into top showhorse form. I just want her to have decent muscle mass and healthy stamina.
But how do I balance her physical need for exercise with her mental desire to stand still? Of course I could make her move, both on the ground and in the saddle, but that could result in the destruction of our relationship. It certainly won't help it. At this point, I think the best approach is going to be short bursts of intense physical activity (my idea of "intense physical activity" for Gwen is cantering 3-4 laps online, or once around the arena... probably not very intense for most?), followed by slow/low intensity activity or rest. Hopefully, this will fulfill both needs, physical and mental (physical to move, mental to not move). But, we'll see how it goes.
Of course, I plan to take things VERY slow. The last thing I want to do is injure Gwen physically, or push her too far mentally. We've been pretty connected, the last few times we played, so I'm not as worried about upsetting her, or pushing her past her threshholds, but I will definitely be looking out for her emotional well being first. Our relationship is more important than muscle tone!
Anyone reading this... any thoughts on other ways I can condition Gwen without upsetting her mentally?
Now, on to the second part... my Awesome Dream!
OMG I had the most amazing dream about a horse last night! I was at Fort Sam Houston riding stables, which is located on Fort Sam Houston military base. (I rode there for a year or two, when I first came to Texas, before I moved to my current barn). Anyways, I'm at Fort Sam stables, watching a girl about my age ride this absolutely beautiful bay mare around in the arena.
She's this gorgouse, leggy thoroughbred/cross looking mare, chocolate bay with a white star on her forehead *sigh* so pretty.
So I'm standing at the side rail, with the girl's mom next to me, watching her ride this horse around the arena. Suddenly, the horse spooks violently. The rider falls, and the mare bolts off at a gallop, broken reins flapping, and saddle missing (not sure how she lost the saddle... it's a dream after all!). While mom/everyone else goes to check on the rider, I manage to catch the horse. She's trembling and obviously hopped up on adrenaline, so I decide to play the "You better run!" game with her. (By now, the horse is wearing a halter and a lead rope... dream remember. But it's not a rope halter, just a traditional halter with a long nylon lead).
So I play the game with her, and she goes tearing around in a circle around me. I do my best to avoid things like cavaletti and cones, and eventually we're in a space where she can run and not trip. She goes barreling around this circle for two or three laps, and then slows down and comes in, trying to connect with me. I immediatly fall in love. I mean, this horse is BEAUTIFUL, and she's looking at me all calm and trusting and cute...!!
She's still tense, but not freaking out, so I walk her back over to mom and rider, who have both made it back to the arena fence by this point. Rider is fine, just a little spooked. I ask her if she's considered selling the mare. She says no, but she was thinking about it now. She looks at her mom, who says they can definitely discuss it. In the dream, I know that I know these people at least a little (probably met them at the barn before, talked, but we're not friends or anything.). I know them well enough to know the girl's been having problems with the mare, and it's not getting better. The mom asks for my phone number so we can hash out the details.
At this point in my dream, I go on this weird epic journey to look for a piece of paper, all the while leading this RBE mare around behind me, thru a barn that turns into a train... it gets weird. Anyways, I find a napkin, somehow get the horse stabled (at least, I'm not leading her anymore) and head back out to find mom/girl again.
I know the horse is going to be expensive (like, REALLY expensive, cause she's obviously well bred), but I've decided I can make it work by taking out a short term loan to pay for her (I'm not even sure you can do that, but hey... it's a dream). I make it back to the mom, and we start discussing price. Before I can actually by the horse, tho, I wake up (Aw man!)
I know that it would have worked out, tho, and I would have bought the mare. *Sigh*. It's one of those dreams that makes you sad when you wake up and realize it wasn't real. I am desperately in love with this dream horse, now. I've always wondered if I would like an RBE, and I think I have my answer, lol!!
She didn't have a name in the dream (or, at least, I never learned it) so I've decided to call her "Prophetic Dream" in the hopes that I find her someday. She's actually replanced my childhood dream horse, as my new dream horse! Yeah, I'm a kid at heart like that ;)
If only dreams were real!
J
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