one step at a time

Doozy is so different from Charlie in so many ways. Obviously she's younger than he was when I got him --- 5yo vs 7yo. Plus, Charlie had maybe lived a little more life, racing 33x vs Mondeuse's 13 (if you count her last race where she never even made it into the starting gate...).

ok so maybe the real reason i wanted doozy out in the big pasture was #betterpictures

But honestly, I think it's mostly just who she is as a person. She's just a different type. Charlie's always been pretty zen about the world around him, and his place in it. He's obviously the gravitational center of the universe, and that's pretty cool. 

So when he is spooky or reactive or upset, it's generally a pretty triggered response and he can usually recover.

early mornings in early fall are the BEST

Doozy, on the other hand, seems a little less secure about her place -- esp perhaps, her expectations about anticipation. She's not exactly spooky, but she's not super confident either. Kinda has a feeling like she's always 'waiting for the other shoe to drop.'

still not totally confident that the rest of her small group will arrive -- i promise, dooz, the bay ladies are on the way, they just eat breakfast a lot slower than you!

With that said, tho, she seems eager to follow directions and have a leader, and seems to quickly learn through repetition and practice what's expected of her. But I'm finding that we have to take that sort of "low key repetition" approach to just about everything significantly new to Dooz.

painted ladies!
also lol@ doozy coming immediately when stella calls her

For this week's example: We're learning to leave the new big pasture and group. Sure sure, Doozy had long since learned that she could leave the barnyard paddock she shared with Stella, despite Stella's shrill protests, go for a groom and ride, and then return home in an entirely predictable fashion. 

ok basically any east facing view was pretty spectacular on this morning - say hi to Merlin!

But ya know. Now we're repeating this whole little song and dance from much farther away - the pasture way down the driveway. 

Which means that as Stella hoots and hollers at the injustice of her friend leaving, all the other horses in pastures and paddocks lining the driveway join into the chorus - and by the time we arrive back to the barn, Doozy isn't exactly in what I'd call a "learning frame of mind."

west facing views weren't bad either, pink skies!

But that's ok, right? Like if we go back to my earlier post on "irreducible complexity" and "least common denominators," being led away from perceived safety and security and toward the unknown is.... a situation that will repeat again and again and again in Doozy's hoped for career as a sport and show horse. In other words, it's a skill worthy of its own practice.

winter is definitely coming tho

So rather than soldier on after first realizing Doozy was having problems #coping, I shifted gears: Just brought her into the barn. Fed her a nice little grain snack. Then returned her to the pasture (but this time with equipment upgrades of rope halter and gloves, bc safety tools improve everybody's experience!). 

And that was that! We repeated that process again throughout the weekend, just... leaving your friends somewhat unwillingly, but arriving in safety, and then SNACKS, and then back to the friends again!! Not a bad gig, right? I assure you, Doozy dug into her snacks on Day 2 of practice with much more gusto than she could muster on Day 1, lol.....

fall is charlie's favorite season tho

Tho... this change of plans did leave me with a somewhat awkward time gap to fill, since I had planned on riding.... 

and we can do little walkies even if his feet are still a little sore

BUT LO!! There is Charles!! Lol.... homeboy hasn't been ridden since my friend was in town for the marathon, and I haven't personally sat on him since around the dental impression fiasco two farrier appointments ago.... 

lord knows he loves being the center of attention!

He lost a couple shoes after that point, and then was sore again after his latest trim and shoeing. I just don't know. It doesn't make sense for him to be lame still, but our options are basically to, "wait and see," or "well, you could go down the diagnostics rabbit hole (beyond what we've already done), and spend $10K to eventually still be told to 'wait and see.'"

"i'm a good boy" - charlie, for sure

And I just don't know. His feet look pretty perfect from the outside right now, and we're getting into the time of year that's a bit less hard on his hooves in general. Less stomping at flies, softer ground. We'll see.

took it upon himself to inspect all the jump ring equipment while i set fences for my friends

But I do love sitting on him <3 <3 Even for just little walks. And we actually managed to do that two days in a row this weekend!! First for the aforementioned gap ride since Doozy was a mess, and second with a group of friends who wanted to go up to the jump ring and have a little fun!!

the long walks up and back from the jump ring are totally #worthit if he gets to hang out with the gang in the center of the ring while they all do fun stuff

On another day and time, that would have been a good opportunity to do some work on expanding Doozy's boundaries.... But, eh, on this day Charlie was the perfect fit <3 

He wandered around loose for a little bit while I set jump heights for everybody, then happily chilled in the center while everybody did their thang, behaving basically as the perfect platform for me to sit upon while grabbing videos LOL.

plus i'm pretty sure he'd follow punky through fire lol

He also just generally has good juju and vibes for other horses in the ring --- like another barn mate on her 4yo who was testing a trial saddle and also did her first canters with the baby horse, both leads!! Might have been a bit harder to do that with Dooz in the ring, LOL.

oh charles, we really love ya, bud!

So ya know. It's kinda an interesting place to be in right now. I think past Emma would have been more frustrated or felt more let down that neither horse can really go out and do the things. 

But I dunno, I honestly feel pretty good about things. There's still no reason to think Charlie won't eventually resolve his hoof soreness. And Doozy might be learning in smaller steps and increments than Charlie needed, but she's definitely still learning and progressing and giving me a pretty great feeling about it every step of the way. 

For now, it's enough!