Hoof Blogs

Flossie's 71st Lesson

FLOSSIE'S 71ST LESSON

It was a bitter-sweet lesson this morning with Flossie. She not only didn?t want to walk off
when I first mounted, but she balked several times throughout her lesson. I had to really
wail on her with the crop to get her going each time. I?ve been thinking about getting
myself a pair of spurs, and after today, I?ve decided for sure.

Get this; when I did get her going, she gave me the slowest, smoothest, steadiest gaits;
both at the pace, and at the canter, and in both directions. We did some sweet circles too.
In fact her mouth was wet when I pulled the bit off her. She likes to go around in circles
when she?s on the bit; she co-operates fully. If I?m off, or allow her to go off, she gets
flustered and uncooperative. Luckily I was riding much better this week.

I thought she was afraid to pass a blue tarp that was in the grass on the other side of the
paddock near the road, but when a man stopped his car to pick it up for me, (he saw me
trying, but I couldn't reach it), I shook it at Flossie and threw it over her neck and
she didn't even bat an eye. On the ground, however, was another story; so I kept trying
to get her to walk up to it. I took her up to it on foot at one point, mounted, and asked
her to walk by; she refused until I spanked the daylights out of her.

Gary has a mare with a colt a few weeks older than Bambi?s turned out in the paddock with
Flossie, Bambi, and Bambi?s colt. I took lots of photos.

Gary has a horse in Magic Harry's old stall, not the same horse that was in there last
week, who has an infection on his neck. He had been inoculated andit's now ulcered. I
want to cry. Gary doesn't even care. (According to Des).