amber update

[leviskipperette]

well amber is coming along great. she hasnt reared once. she has great ground manners, lunges, tacks up, gets groomed, and rides great. she neck reins, walks, jogs, and lopes. she doesnt mind leaving the other horses and goes off on a trail no problem, doesnt bat an eye at anything that jumps out at her, cats, turkeys, skunks.

she gets really irritated about flies though, more than any horse ive worked with. she throws her head around and even bucked a few times to get rid of a fly. i dont blame her though, they can be pretty nasty, and ive yet to find a fly spray that actually works.

she doesnt like backing up or going down hills, and will usually flip her head when backing up or try to sidepass down hills. i think these are probably signs of pain which her past rider saw as her acting up so she just kept pushing her which would be why she used to rear. she doesnt mind backing up or going downhill as much bareback though, but she still has a hard time, so i think the saddle doesnt fit her as well as it should. but until she loses some weight i dont think theres a saddle to fit her, i dont mind bareback at all though. i have talked to the owner about having a vet out to look at her back.

here are a few photos of her and me. this was before she started showing signs of pain. since then ive been using a bareback pad which she likes better, or just going completely bareback which i like better.

walking
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b275/leviskipperette3/horses/amber/ride2.jpg

trotting
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b275/leviskipperette3/horses/amber/trot.jpg

getting a little speedy
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b275/leviskipperette3/horses/amber/trot2.jpg

from behind kinda, shes got such a butt on her, what a qh
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b275/leviskipperette3/horses/amber/ridetrot.jpg

and cooling down bareback
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b275/leviskipperette3/horses/amber/bareback2.jpg


i dont need the whip any more either, she just needed some reminding the first few rides. now she moves off if you kiss and touch her with your legs. shes learning voice commands too. so far weve got woah, walk, and trot working pretty good.

:)

[Jessey]

She is looking great, she is so lucky you realised it was pain not playing up, it def sounds like the saddle as she is so much better bareback.
Best of luck witht he vet, let us know how you get on.

J x

[lisae]

She looks great! Have you tried Swat, it's a paste that seems to work well in small areas such as ears and rump where the horseflies attack!

My younger mare came galloping up to me in the pasture the other day, and whipped her butt around at me- not like her at all - but there was a two inch horsefly on her and I swatted it for her! Too cute.