The long and Winding road

Wow...it has been an incredible journey for Legacy and I over the last couple months. In May we attended a clinic that left me wondering about my own horse handling skills. In my gut I wondered if it truly was all attitude or if something else was really the cause. We worked through some respect issues Legacy had, and I attended yet another clinic in mid June, about 4 weeks from the first clinic.

In the second clinic, I had my eyes opened.....though I had worked through what I was told was "all attitude" I still wondered if there was something else going on...and my gut was right.  In the June clinic I found Legacy to be "off" because of pain issues. The shoeing job had she had, right before the May clinic was revealed to be a mess!  The shoer had put in a "high nail" and muttered something about it would not matter....well, it did matter. By the June clinic, it mattered enough to make Legacy "off" and that particular day, she had a swollen tendon.  The clinician and I also went over all of Legacy's tack and fitting of her harness. The result was the brand new Gig Sliding backband harness saddle (that I thought worked so well) was digging into her ribs and as a result, she had built up more muscle on the right hand side, than the left.  Legacy also had another sharp tooth, resulting in a couple sores in her mouth..no wonder she was cranky !!!!!  So,  Legacy has had off to heal, her muscles now match again, right and left side, she got her teeth worked on, and I made the change in her harness saddle...and we are back on our journey of learning. Instead of deciding that one clinician was right, the other one wrong, I decided to would blend my training into covering all points that were made to me. Oh, and a new bit was bought for her too....I have much work to do. Legacy and I are back to work now, long lining and driving. And..I have a whole new respect of listening to my equine, and listening to my own gut....

I have wanted to do a photo shoot in our wheat field for a long time now...finally the wheat was ripe and ready. When I did this type of photo with another horse "Princess" she willingly followed her handler into the tall wheat....I expected Legacy to do the same...but instead there was an ever so small resistance about going into the sea of wheat with a strange handler. We continued and I took photos..and Legacy got another lesson on trusting her handler, whether it be me, or someone else. Learning volumes in Legacy and my long and winding road. I have missed not posting on RAC....now that we are back in motion I can join in the fun of posting again.....