Crap Weather = Energy

I started to feel slightly more ambitious over the weekend (and guilty for not doing anything all week while I was off). The weather hadn't improved - it didn't stop raining until Sunday night. But after 4 or 5 days of cold and wet you kind of get used to it. Kind of.

I don't want to get used to snow in September!

So on Saturday afternoon I bundled myself up in some Kerrits fleece breeches, a merino wool shirt, and topped it off with my winter coat. I also threw Phantom's Rambo Duo top layer in the car just in case her other blanket was too wet.

Phantom and her buddies were all huddled under their shelter. Although her neck was wet, she seemed happy enough standing there. Which totally changed when I brought her in, and drama queen that she is she started shivering. I blow-dried the one side of her neck that was wet and left a cooler on her while I groomed. She was a bit antsy while getting ready, even pawing very dramatically - and then she peed in the aisle (which she almost never does), so I'll give her the benefit of the doubt that she was doing the potty dance.

I did notice that her butt and tail were rather tucked up and decided lunging before riding would be smart. She wasn't overly silly, but was definitely a bit more forward than she normally would be on the lunge. Eventually, I hopped on.

Grover, the Gray Flannel Kitty, happily curled up next to me on a heated blanket watching Netflix on Saturday nightl. 

OMG. Was her back ever tight. She started off in a walk with teeny tiny quick steps. And it didn't get a whole lot better before I picked up a trot. At which point it felt like I was riding a ping pong ball. With a time bomb built inside of it. Oi.

The goal for the ride became to just get her moving around and try to avoid bolting. That's her go-to move when she has an excess of energy - she kind of scoots/bolts out of usually one specific corner. I think she thought about it a couple of times so I admittedly avoided that corner somewhat.

I managed a whole 15 minutes of trotting without getting pinged out of the saddle and decided to call it a day. Phantom had far too much stored up energy and she has never been one to release it through a ride. She is far more likely to just get more and more wound up, especially once we've cantered.

Phantom was dressed up in winter gear on Saturday night. I'm pretty sure she appreciated it.

On Sunday I rushed her over to the arena to let her run around before someone else brought their horse over. I knew we didn't have long, but she will expel energy far easier when she is loose versus when she is on the lunge line.

Phantom definitely had lots of energy to burn. It wasn't the silly type of energy, just the want to keep going type of energy. Not that she does laps around the arena or anything - she generally does the gallop down to the opposite corner and stop thing. Then I walk part way down and shush her out of that corner and she gallops down to the next corner. I usually get just as much exercise as she does.

I knew another horse was going to be coming over in a few minutes, so I hoped to get the worst out of her and then put her on the lunge line. Apparently I just revved her up. When the other horse came over, Phantom wouldn't let me catch her. She'd stop in the corner, wait for me to start walking towards her, then gallop down to the other corner. I eventually tricked her by putting my hands in my pockets and pretended to bring out a treat. Then she let me catch her.

Standing in a shelter for 5 days means way too much energy.

She obviously had lots of go still in her so I popped her on the lunge line. Again, she wasn't silly, just had way more go than she usually does.

The crap weather ended on Sunday night. Hopefully she will spend some time outside of the shelter and get some self-exercise so I don't have to deal with this energy again!