We learned about massage therapy. Yeah, kinda weird, but yeah. Anyways...

Massage therapy is one way to treat sore horses. A few weeks ago, another horse I ride (Honey), was walking fine with Erika (one of the people I ride with) but then would trot and you could definitelysee the stiffness Honey had. Even is you were a greenhorn. So, yeah, she was pretty stiff.

Back to the main subject, massage therapy. The equine massage-person (don't know how to spell the proper term) will come and watch your horse walk, trot, and canter and then do the same thing the opposite direction. The massage-person will then give you a form to fill out with her. She will help you pinpoint different areas where muscles are definitely stiff. She will then massage your horse all over but will work extra hard on the stiff areas. We learned a few techniques, but you have to be certified to be a true equine massage-person. And Thistle, the horse Melissa massaged, kept swinging his head back and forth and making sure that I didn't get to see Melissa at all

I had a ground lesson yesterday because it poured rain probably half of the day. We learned about massage therapy. General had a massage... I think a year ago. Melissa was showing Alicia (my new horseback riding partner) and me a technique, and the horse she was massaging (Thistle) kept swinging his head back and forth and moving so I couldn't see. It was kinda funny but annoying at the same time. I'm at school typing this, so I have to go now.

 

More later.

Okay... Yesterday was odd...

After grooming and tacking up (and of course encouraging Kip to give riding his all), I lead Kip to the ring. I lifted the saddle flap and grabbed hold of the stirrup leathers to notch them on the right hole. And then guess what? A huge tree limb falls and a large stentorian boom was heard. Kip almost reared but I held him down. Ugh! We (Alex, the person I ride with, and I) trotted our horses back in and hitched them to the crossties. Then we went inside for a ground lesson on jumping clinics. At 6:30 (when my lesson ends), we went outside and untacked our horses. They were put out to pasture and then (muddy as heck) I left.

Ugh, yesterday was killer! It drizzled, but it came down like stinging needles. The cool air added to the misery, too. For the hour I was supposed to ride, I had ground lessons the first thirty minutes (where you learn about the horse off the saddle, like feeding habits and stuff) and rode the next. I couldn't ride in a straight line!

Phew, I'm tired. After working a four hour volunteer shift at the Greensboro Children's Mueseum (plus the additional accidently-scare-a-toddler) and then working two hours at Wattswood, I'm tired.

Okay, since this is a journal about horses, I'll talk Wattswood. I did laundry (fun), organized the clean clothes, picked out hooves, organized halters and lead ropes, lead Honey out of her paddock, cleaned out the hay loft and took out trash. Doesn't seem like much, does it? Oh well. I was tired from the four hour shift at the children's mueseum.

P.S. I walked aroudn teh a giant teddy bear in front of me and acted like I was the teddy bear. I tapped on my friend Emma's shoulder with a teddy bear paw, waved, and with a gruffy voice said, "Hi!" The little kid who was playing with her backed away slowly into the nearest corner. Emma eventually got him to laugh.

Friday, I didn't do so well horseback riding. Kip (the horse I ride) had bronchitis a week before, so he was still recooperating. He had ridden in a lesson right before me and was not prepared to ride back to back. I was supposed to ride Noel (whom I don't even know what she looks like) but I didn't know that until I started riding and my instructor told me so. So I rode Kip, who was as slow as all get out. I tried to get him to speed up constantly, but I couldn't. He didn't even want to trot for me! When we went to jump (I don't canter over jumps yet), he would stay at a very slow trot and no matter how hard I wanted him to go, he didn't. A thought of hope entered my mind as he sped up just alittle after the jump. So for a couple of times, I cut the turn towards the jump short, making my instructor fuss more. Ugh...