Hoof Blogs

Flossie's 224th Lesson

FLOSSIE'S 224th LESSON

I phoned Des an hour before I left home to let him know I’d be riding late this morning
because it’s the only time Norm could fit my ride into his busy work schedule this week.
I arrived at 10:15 just as Des, Gary, Hannah, (Gary’s daughter), and three others were
leaving so Gary could race one of his geldings on the track in Redcliff.

Pat was down to shoe a few horses, but I had the entire track to myself. I rode from
11:45 to 12:45 and would have gone longer if it hadn’t been so hot. I was playing around
with some techniques on how to get a horse to change leads that I had read about in my
Pat Parelli book, “Natural Horse Man Ship”. I wanted to try more ideas he suggested, but
as I said, it got too hot to be fiddling around like that in the middle of the paddock
with the sun blasting down, so I decided to save it for another day. Maybe when I can
ride earlier and not in the hottest part of the day.

The power machines were back, in fact, one of them was the one that was parked in Des’
paddock over the holidays. They were working on the new road again but they weren’t
anywhere near the track. We could see them and hear them and Flossie treated that area
as though she had something to be concerned about, but she never balked and I had a fun
time keeping her gaits slow. She circled well for me, too, once she warmed up and even
seemed to have forgotten about the machines altogether.

She didn’t even give me a problem when we passed the huge wooden structure Gary’s
building so the horses can swim in the dam. It was never there before, and, normally,
new things like that throw Flossie for a loop, but for some reason she didn’t bat an eye
at it today.

Flossie took her carrots with her usual gusto and behaved like her usual self. When I
first entered the paddock and approached her, she came right to me. She seemed to
appreciate the hose today when I had her in the wash rack. I spent more time with her
than usual since it was high noon and 85 degrees.

Norm came for me just as Des, Gary, Hannah, and the rest had come and gone. The horse
they took to the track didn’t place so everyone was feeling down. What a lot of effort
goes into a race horse; it’s a shame when it doesn’t do what it was bought to do. Gary
won’t keep this horse now. He’s always buying and selling with the hope that one day one
of his horses will become a champion.

It would be nice if it happened one day.