This message is from: "Dagrun Aarsten" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Hello all listers,
Well, here is a last update from my Fjord life in San Jose. I came back 3 weeks ago after spending a wonderful Christmas in Norway and some time in Italy. Dear little(?) fjord Tinn is doing fine. He had a nice long Christmas vacation in the mud, getting good care and some groundwork by owner Ruthie, but no riding or driving for a while. So now he is back to work (and he even seems quite happy about it), but only weekends since we have no lit arena and it gets dark before I finish work. In a few months that is going to change! I've also spent quite some time with fellow lister Brigid and her 3 fjords - which has been great! The first time she let me ride Tommes, who was an absolute angel but a little "heavy" and slow. I was exhausted after 5 minutes and had to take a break. He even gave me a little canter but I think I was working harder than him! He is a really nice horse, though, with a big, rythmic trot when he decides to move forward:-) Then Brigid got on and I made an attempt to instruct her and I think we both enjoyed it. I have stolen most of my methods from Mary Wanless, and the good thing about them is that they give instant results! We worked on Brigid's seat a little and suddenly Tommes was moving beautifully, I could see it and she could feel it. So the second time I went with Brigid she let me ride her turbo fjord - Knute. What he does best is running - and fast! After some groundwork I decided to get on..he seemed nice and calm and didn't seem to mind me getting in the saddle... then, 0.1 seconds later he was at full gallop! No question of having time getting my feet in the stirrups - I was just hanging on and hoping he wouldn't fall in the corners! Luckily he is quite athletic with impressive balance so he didn't even trip once. I didn't attempt to stop him until he slowed down by himself since I imagined pulling the reins would make things worse. After a while he slowed down, and I rode him around just like a "normal" horse, starting and stopping and trotting and he was an angel. He is the most sensitive fjord I've ever ridden, and I really enjoyed it. At the end I dismounted and mounted again, twice, and he didn't move at all, unless I asked him. Good boy. A day or two later, Brigid rode him and he behaved well again. So before going again this weekend, I had high hopes for him :-) This time (today) we tried having Tommes and Knute in the arena together, assuming that it would be calming for Knute to have another horse around... Well the theory was good :-) I tried finding the perfect trade-off between getting in the saddle quickly and sitting down softly not to scare him. But this time I was too slow... and he was gaining speed before I was in the saddle...and turning left at the same time...so I was going over his right side. My attempts to hang on only scared him and made him go faster, so I decided to drop off politely, landing quite hard on my hip and thanking my helmet for protecting my head from what could have been a hard impact. Knute 1 - Dagrun 0 Turbo fitted or not, being a fjord, Knute stopped immediately and looked around to see what happened to me! He is so sweet. I limped up to him and we decided to let him run off some steam free lunging while I was catching my breath. Tommes joined in with some impressive acceleration and bucks (who would have thought he could be so fast!). When they decided to calm down, I was ready for my second attempt. This time it was better. He stood still while I mounted and walked off slowly. Then I probably did something (breathe?) that made him take off again. Everything was looking fine, he was clearing corners at his usual speed until I felt the saddle starting to slip...towards the outside. After some fast thinking I decided to stand down heavily in the opposite stirrup. This could have been a good plan, but Knute, being an extremely sensitive horse, interpreted this as a signal to change direction...boy can that horse turn fast! By this time I was leaning to the right trying to push that stirrup down, so with him spinning around to the left, I was an easy victim :-), hitting the dirt again. Knute 2 - Dagrun 0. After that, Brigid took Tommes out to see if Knute would concentrate better by himself. And I spent 1/2 hour leading him around and pretending to get up, leaning in the stirrup, and even hanging over his back. Brigid has this great strap that goes from the saddle around the horse's right front leg, to keep the saddle from slipping when mounting. I decided that if he took off again, I could push down the left stirrup and this would keep the saddle from slipping. Brigid joined in with her clicker and rewarded him every time he stood still while I lifted my foot, hung on the saddle etc. I got halfway up and the down again several times and he did well. Finally I decided it seemed safe to get all the way into the saddle. Unfortunately my body was a little unhappy after my two falls, so I got instant cramps in both thighs when sitting up in the saddle. And moving around to get comfortable is NOT an option with Knute:-) "Brigid, keep feeding him so he will stand still! Cramps cramps!" It worked. After a while my cramps loosened up and we started walking around. He was very tense but didn't run off. Every time he stopped he got a click and a piece of carrot from Brigid. Finally we were riding around on our own, and he got more and more relaxed. We did some trotting, too, he prefers harness-racing speed but he slowed down and listened and did great. When he was totally relaxed, I got off, got on again (no problem) and called it a day. Dagrun 2 - Knute 2 - a good day all in all :-) Coming back home I had big problems managing the 20-foot walk from the car to the door. And I haven't moved since, but it was an interesting day:-) I'll remain horizontal for the evening, watching the Norwegians grab some gold in the olympics. And tomorrow I'll ride Tinn if I'm not too sore. Wishing you all a great weekend, and happy fjording! Dagrun in San Jose, Ca
