Still Time : Stop

Sorry for the radio silence, I just got back from a week in FL and the Blogger iPad app is not fun to deal with, so I opted to take a break from blog stuff. The vacay was also a good time for me to recuperate and reflect on all things horse, though I finished the majority of my over-analyzing the night of the show.... Let's just say that my unplanned dismount caused me to question some things, namely if Limerick might be a little bit too much for me to handle. I don't remember how much I included about him in previous posts, but he came with a solid background at recognized events and had competed pretty successfully at training level. Therefore, I expected to get a relatively well-seasoned and experienced eventer, not the big ol' nervous baby that I was greeted with at our first show.

However, before last Sunday's show, I had never experienced any overtly dirty behavior from him and in the (almost) year that I have had him, he has NEVER stopped at a jump. We've had the occasional run-out, but I blame myself for those as he could sense that my heart/brain wasn't in it and politely opted to veer off course... Last Sunday I had to face a side of my horse that I had never seen before. For those of you who watched the video, you saw that he refused to get in front of my leg and tried with all of his might to do the opposite of what I was asking. You could tell even early on that he had no intention of jumping the course and was backed-off from the get-go, despite my best efforts to drive him on. Then, we got a few feet from the 100% not scary fence, he slammed on the brakes, and dropped his left shoulder. I was a total goner. Luckily, I was okay and landed on relatively soft grass! What the video did not show, and what I unfortunately missed due to my angry sobbing, was Limerick's rather expressive exit. You saw a brief glimpse of the buck/gallop away, but little did you know that he proceeded to give TB's a run for their money by galloping and bucking around for a good 3 minutes while numerous people tried to catch him. Not only did he put on quite the show, but he also tried to mow down all of the people who got in his path... not at all the sweet, loving, goofy horse that I know and love.

promising beginnings

I discovered that I lean at the canter... uh oh

asshole.

that hind end was workin'

we had a lot of these moments =|

Time to rewind. The day started with promise, as we loaded and unloaded calmly, got tacked up, and headed to dressage without much excitement. The dressage warmup was fab and he seemed incredibly relaxed and ready. Boy, was I wrong. We entered the ring and it was like something snapped inside his brain. Gone were the softness, the obedience, the submission that I experienced in warmup. Instead, Limerick suddenly had his sassy pants on and acted like he would rather be anywhere else in the world. Let's just say that we were hardly the picture of calmness or relaxation. This attitude continued until we got back to the trailer, where he calmed down noticeably and sort of returned to normal, though he was still a nervous nelly.

Next, we tacked up for stadium and headed to that warmup. Once again, Limerick seemed calm and I felt like we were ready to go after some really great fences and probably the best walk-canter transition I've ever gotten from him. Yeah, we may have been showing off just a little ;) We stood around for quite a while (the show was terribly organized), headed into the ring, and I guess you all know the rest. Following my dismount, E hopped on and was graciously allowed to take him over both the stadium and XC courses. He even had some ridiculous moments with her up, definitely tried his sassy pants moves, and then sort of gave in and decided that it would be easier if he just did what she wanted.

Limerick says "Me no go."

Sassy much?

He was not happy that she made him work

For the rest of our time at the show grounds and the rest of the night, I received what I'm going to call an outpouring of support from everyone in my horsey life! E sent me this gem:

Hillary made me tear up with her text messages, Collyn was understanding and kind, Kimmie made me laugh with her typical oddball humor, and S texted me about how proud she was and how much progress we have made :)

Oh and in case you were wondering, E does not think that Limerick is too much for me to handle. The plan is to put this behind us and keep marching on. Given Limerick's extremely bizarre and uncharacteristic behavior (and NASTY bowel movements at the show/in trailer), I have been instructed to treat him for ulcers. The other part of the plan involves going everywhere we can get ourselves to. Schooling shows, field trips, XC, just going to different farms. We're going back to square one and sort of treating him like the baby he pretends to be, aka getting him used to going off property as much as possible.