Bye to the Bit

Hope clenches her mouth to the bit.  I am water flowing around the obstacles.

Hope for Tomorrow goes on a walk with trimmed feet

When Leanne arrived for her day at the farm, we started out with Hope for Tomorrow, aka the Princess, after Leanne and Alex cleared a trail of debris up in the woods.  I had trimmed Hope’s feet during the trail clearing, and I’m happy to report that her angles are finally within the outside, but normal range both front and back. We took her for a walk down the drive – all the way to the mailbox, and the road!

A car drove by us part way down the drive – within sight…no problem.  Then, the car doubled back, as it was a horse-owning neighbor (Duke’s owner who let me ride him across Mount Cushman with her, and the woman who trailered Hope to her new home).  She stopped and chatted, asked me who my blacksmith was…I felt there was a tinge of admiration in the question…I hope so.  Then, she remembered I was trimming myself, I could feel the reappraisal.  She commented on Hope’s topline – said it looked good, and that she overall was looking good.  From my neighbor this is high praise.  She rides in Cross State, has worked in a major fancy dressage barn in Massachusetts and she knows horses and horse flesh. 

Hope just started to become agitated – new area, new thing (being spoken to out of a car by the road), and they said good-bye, and we started back up the drive.  Each new experience that pushes the boundaries, creates a bit of stress and agitation, is worked through together.  Confidence is created one small experience at a time.  Hope came up the driveway more agitated than usual.  Seeing my neighbor reminded me of the first trip up the driveway, certainly Hope picked up on that as well.  However, she did better than I thought she would, and I realized how far we have come in this past year. 

As the drive is gravel, I was glad to see no evidence of tenderfootedness.  Her muscles still have tight tense spots, regular massage, exercises, and new angles will alleviate that over time.

Buddy gives a lesson

Leanne got a lesson on the lunge at the trot.  She and Buddy did very well.  With no reins, and an excellent sense of her body position, Leanne began feeling the feel of the rising trot.  Before she gets reins back, we’ll work on hand position awareness while posting and see where we are.  My challenge will be to keep Buddy one step fitter than she needs for her lessons – she’ll be riding over hill and dale sooner than she may think.

Saying good-bye to the bit

After the lesson, I began explaining to Leanne how we were going to circumvent, for now – forever – future uncertain, the whole bit problem.  I’ve been researching all week to find a bitless bridle that I wanted to try, but I didn’t succeed.

I was inspired in part by this post at High Mountain Horse blog: Tack and Traditions, and by several over at Equine Ink, who has several excellent articles outlining the pros and cons of different bitless bridles, and who has also started a products review place for equestrian products.  This one on the Micklem Multibridle, for instance.  Being fairly impatient, and in the past having stripped off pieces of bridle – the browband, for one, and replaced it with my own creation, I got out my old scrap fabric, denatured an old halter to scavenge metal bits, and transformed two of my bridles into bitless in an hour.

Leanne helped me in the construction, and I sewed fast and ugly so that we could try the prototype on Buddy before she left.  Buddy loved it, and backed for me better than he ever has.  I hope to post pictures up later today or tomorrow. I finished Hope’s bridle after the test ride, and redid Buddy’s browband so that it won’t pinch his ears…no need for ear pinching.

I may up grade to leather at some point, but for now, I’m up and running and the future looks brighter than it had.