Friday was a huge suck fest all the way around. Got the stalls cleaned, then set out to ride Tiki man. I stuck true to the plan and put on the dressage saddle despite a pretty substantial headache brewing. Took him to the ring, and all STARTED out well. After I spent a solid 5 minutes walking both ways and picked up the trot, it became apparent he did NOT want to go forward. I squeezed him with my spurs, and all he did was suck back and give an irritable swish of the tail. VERY unusual for him. As I went both ways and did some big circles, he just felt stiff and resistive; I did NOT try to do anything harder or more complex. I did try and get him in FRONT of my leg. Used the spurs again, and he sucked back to the point that he actually bucked a little. I smacked him with my hand, used the spurs HARD, he yanked his head down and bucked again, and I SENT him forward into a little hand gallop. It was ugly; I was upset. I did NOT get into a fight. Once I trotted after the hand gallop, I breathed in deep and patted him. Spiraled both ways at the trot, cantered on the 20m circle, and called it quits. I theorized that maybe he was a little sore from his jump school Thursday? Don't know, but I DO know that he was not his usual willing, kind self.
After putting him back in his stall, I went to put his blanket back on since it was pretty nippy, and the booger bit the HE&& out of me:( Laid his ears back, bared his teeth, and came at me HARD. He got me right above my left elbow; got a pretty big bruise there. I unleashed he&& on him for about 5 seconds and made him regret coming at me:( I was down enough that I was questioning what I was even doing. I work FIVE days a week to pay for his board, and for what? This week, I have had NO desire to ride at all. I only did it because I know he and I NEEDED it. I am STILL sick, and all I want to do is come home and relax. So I'm working my tail off to support this horse, that I don't want to ride right now, and that I can't afford to compete. I guess it bugs me that he doesn't even care enough about ME after 3 1/2 years to not BITE the he&& out of me. I LOVE him, and he could take me or leave me. I know it's not personal and he is not a person, but it still makes me kind of sad.
Then to top it off, my farm equestrian team failed to qualify for our Regional finals yesterday. This is the FIRST time my team hasn't made it to the "finals":( My middle school "school" team did, but not my farm team. And to add insult to injury, it was requested that I NOT bring Tiki as an IEA horse to that Regional finals. Sigh. Come on, just hit me some more, I can take it ...
Sounds like he's a bit down too. Sorry you've had such a lousy week. I hope thing pick up.
ReplyDeleteWhy did they request that you not take Tiki to the regionals?
Hang in there...hope you are both feeling sunnier real soon. xx
ReplyDeletehugs! :( Sorry for the rough time!
ReplyDeleteHugs :( I don't have much to say but as for the nasty attitude, maybe he was having a bad day and sore like you said. Horses don't usually act nasty out of no where without any reason. Keep your chin up! Don't worry. Things will get better!
ReplyDeleteYou're not alone. I finally actually want to ride again, but my horse is lame. That's fun to pay board for, right? ;-)
ReplyDeleteIf the behavior from Tiki persists, you might want to get him looked at by someone (maybe a witch doctor? no idea). Odd behavior like that is usually a sign.
Thank you kind bloggers for your sentiments. I know my melancholy will pass, my horse bit me because he was irritated by something beyond my control, and I do what I do because I love it.
ReplyDeleteJae, they requested I not bring him because they don't like him. He doesn't clock around like a dead head hunter, so they don't want him. Just feels like an insult to me; I work SO hard to make him STUPID easy to ride, and he's SO easy the kids can't ride him.
Jen...you know how I feel about the whole IEA horse thing...they want $$$$$$ horses for the bad riders to screw up and most of the riders and trainers, etc dont appreciate the nice horses that DO show up. They also enjoy putting horses in classes the horse is not signed up for and them talk badly of the horse when the rider doesnt do well. Which is why my horse will never do another IEA show.
ReplyDeleteYou know Tiki is not a lovey dovey pony...but I agree...if the problem persists I would get him checked out...barring teeth and biting is not OK and is not normal for him.
Cheer up...I have your birthday gift!
Have you had his back adjusted lately? I was thinking his behavior both under saddle and in his stall points to discomfort, since he's not usually so grumpy. I'm thinking either back pain or ulcers. His recent stall rest may have led to some other issues.
ReplyDelete