July 5, 2011 - In which Rory sends me to the tack shop

I need a new helmet.  Due to Rory,  but not quite in the way I expected.  The day started off okay. I brought Rory in and gave him a good grooming.  There were a lot of mosquito bite bumps on his left shoulder, but didn't seem to be itchy.  He was very well behaved on the cross ties, except for the irresistable lure of the cross tie.  I caught him with one in his mouth when I came back with the saddle.

Rory started bucking and didn't stop

I tacked up, put his boots on, and then his bridle.  We started inside with a bit of longeing.  Rory was very energetic and trotted off with a nice forward stride.  The first time I asked him to walk he didn't want to slow down and I had to reel him in to a smaller circle to convince him I was serious.  After that he listened even on the larger circle.  It was a different story when we changed direction.  Rory put his head down, humped his back and bronced around the circle.  I pushed him forward and he bounced even harder.  Not even a sharp "Get up!" Convinced him to stop.  If we hadn't already had some good work on the left rein I would have wondered if the saddle pad had a wrinkle or if the girth was pinching him.  As he bronced the back of the saddle was lifting progressively higher off his back, and it looked like it was sliding forward.  I got him to halt without too much trouble and asked my friend to hold Rory for a minute while I checked the saddle.  I'm using a folded towel over Rory's withers to widen his shoulders enough to make the saddle fit well enough to use.  I refolded the towel to make it a bit thicker, resettled the saddle and did up the girth.  Once I got him going on the longe again Rory was his usual willing self, even cantering a bit.

Rory spotted Toyto and bolted

We went out to the sand ring and I longed a bit more.  Rory tended to fall in on one part of the circle and I had to push him out a little harder than I do inside.  He was looking for his buddies who were out of sight in the shelter, but quickly settled and was listening to me nicely.  I changed direction and all was well until Rory suddenly leaped into canter, pulling me forward.  I tried to run to keep up with him but he went too fast and pulled me off balance.  I let go of the longeline and went ass over teakettle ending up with the back of my head crashing into the ground.  Fortunately I was wearing my helmet, something I don't always do for the longeing when it's hot. I'm glad I put it on today.  Modern helmets are designed with padding that crushes without springing back to slow the head as it comes to the ground, reducing the amount of bounce back, which reduces or eliminates the impact of the brain against the inside of the skull.  I had a stiff neck, shoulders and arms for a couple of days afterwards, but thanks to my helmet no headache.

Me going heels over head as Rory bolts towards Totyo

I rolled up onto my feet fairly quickly, before Rory reached the corner of the ring closest to Totyo.  I suspect that Rory saw Totyo walking out from behind the shelter and took off to go and see his friend.  Totyo squealed and bolted along the fence with Rory a split second behind when I had gotten partway over.  I ran towards the fence, raising my arms and holding the longe whip right up in front of his face.  There was a moment I thought Rory was going to run past me anyway, but he slammed the brakes on and spun away before running back to the corner.  Totyo turned back a moment later as well. When I got close Rory backed out of the gap and turned away from Totyo.   I was close enough to pick up the end of the longeline and bring Rory back to me. 

Back to work as if nothing had happened.

Joey watches as Rory walks around the ring.

My head was aching a bit, but not badly so I took Rory back out into the middle of the ring and longed him again starting on a much smaller circle.  Rory settled quickly and I pushed him out onto a larger circle.  He kept an eye on Totyo, but listened to me.  Totyo and their older buddy wandered over to the hay and started munching.  I wasn't sure if I would be able to keep enough of Rory's attention to ride safely, but decided to take it one step at a time and start with some mounting exercises. 

Rory stood still as I mounted and dismounted several times, so I picked up the reins and asked him to walk.  At first I kept a close eye on Totyo, but as Rory showed he was paying more attention to me I shifted more of my focus to him.  Totyo came partway over to the fence a couple of times, but found the process boring and went back to snooze beside his old buddy.  With Rory listening well I dared to ask for a little trot, and when Totyo showed little interest dared to trot for longer.  Rory was very good and when I made sure to separate the turning aid from the forward aid he steered really well.  I asked him to trot with a little more energy and he responded nicely and maintained the trot for several trips around the ring.

 After all the longeing and trotting in the sand Rory got tired before our fifteen minutes were up.  He tried to stop a couple of times, and I did have to push a little to get him to trot again.  I got him to trot most of the way around and asked him to walk before he tried to stop again, then called it quits for the day.



A very nice, calm trot.