Happy Mare
I wish I had pictures of how happy Dassah was yesterday but I was too busy riding to care. Plus, Dassah-mare had been de-blanketed and spent a couple hours in the sand-box driving dirt, dust, and arena crap into her hide. So the clean-up job I gave her when I arrived for my lesson was NOT picture appropriate. She is exactly like that Peanuts kid with the blanket. Did I ever tell you that once I found her with dirt IN her ears?
Here's why Dassah was so happy - she had her teeth floated on Tuesday and the dentist did an amazing job. He's hysterically funny and wonderful with horses and their nervous nancy owners. (honestly, when has being nervous EVER HELPED?) A vet did the floating last spring with power tools and sedation which I thought would be just fine but the new dentist said her teeth were a wreck. A pointy toothed wreck. He spent a good 20-30 minutes on her mouth and Dassah took it like a pro. No sedation, just stood there in her stall with me holding a loose lead rope. She didn't balk once. I still don't understand how horses can stand to have their teeth floated with rasps and files - I would rip that file right out of my mouth and wing it at my dentist. FILE THIS, you nimrod!
I rode her right before the float so I had a good baseline for my ride last night and wow, was it a difference. The ride before the float was....nice... it was okay. It was the same, she was "enh" and I was "well, yep, par for the course" and she was, "enh, whatever dude" and I was, "hey, hellooo, you hoo I'm here, why are you so ambivalent about this?" Don't get me wrong, she listens really well, she's just...there. Plus she is typically a little bracing and stiff in the mouth and pokes her nose out real far.
and then whoa. The ride after the float was unreal. Her whole demeanor had changed! She inverted when I asked for collection so my trainer had me widen my hands and give her some room so she wasn't so claustrophobic (which we do often). She was so happy I swear her ears were flopping. She rounded and pushed from behind and it was glorious! Her nose tipped when I asked, she used her neck, and we looked like, errr...felt like tangible grace. The angels were singing, the sky was blue, and dark chocolate flowed from streams.
The other girl in my lesson remarked with praise that Dassah looked so happy and my trainer kept exclaiming how good she looked, how pleasant her attitude was. I had such a soft mare, it was unbelievable. I also noticed that she didn't rub her face the whole night - usually she'll stop randomly and rub her face on a front leg but last night, there was no face rubbing. Usually we're trotting along, getting ready to do some lateral movements and she'll put on the brakes, yank her head down, and rub, rub, rub. Now that I think about it, she always rubbed on the same side.....sigh. I am so inept sometimes.
Last night though, she just sighed these beautiful happy sighs and trotted around like a happy lady. no rubbing, justs of snuffling and sighs.
She got lots of rubs and pats and, "GOOD GIRL!!!!" and she was all like, "no shit Sherlock, I AM a good girl. You've just got wool for eyes and cotton for a brain." Which I begged to differ as I know the dentist checked her and found nothing between those ears.
Obviously I live in oblivion since if I take all cues together, such as dribbling grain (which she's always done so I thought it was normal for her), bracing, rubbing her face, not flexing at the poll, it's clear as day she needed a good mouth exam and floating. :( whomp whomp.
Here's why Dassah was so happy - she had her teeth floated on Tuesday and the dentist did an amazing job. He's hysterically funny and wonderful with horses and their nervous nancy owners. (honestly, when has being nervous EVER HELPED?) A vet did the floating last spring with power tools and sedation which I thought would be just fine but the new dentist said her teeth were a wreck. A pointy toothed wreck. He spent a good 20-30 minutes on her mouth and Dassah took it like a pro. No sedation, just stood there in her stall with me holding a loose lead rope. She didn't balk once. I still don't understand how horses can stand to have their teeth floated with rasps and files - I would rip that file right out of my mouth and wing it at my dentist. FILE THIS, you nimrod!
I rode her right before the float so I had a good baseline for my ride last night and wow, was it a difference. The ride before the float was....nice... it was okay. It was the same, she was "enh" and I was "well, yep, par for the course" and she was, "enh, whatever dude" and I was, "hey, hellooo, you hoo I'm here, why are you so ambivalent about this?" Don't get me wrong, she listens really well, she's just...there. Plus she is typically a little bracing and stiff in the mouth and pokes her nose out real far.
and then whoa. The ride after the float was unreal. Her whole demeanor had changed! She inverted when I asked for collection so my trainer had me widen my hands and give her some room so she wasn't so claustrophobic (which we do often). She was so happy I swear her ears were flopping. She rounded and pushed from behind and it was glorious! Her nose tipped when I asked, she used her neck, and we looked like, errr...felt like tangible grace. The angels were singing, the sky was blue, and dark chocolate flowed from streams.
The other girl in my lesson remarked with praise that Dassah looked so happy and my trainer kept exclaiming how good she looked, how pleasant her attitude was. I had such a soft mare, it was unbelievable. I also noticed that she didn't rub her face the whole night - usually she'll stop randomly and rub her face on a front leg but last night, there was no face rubbing. Usually we're trotting along, getting ready to do some lateral movements and she'll put on the brakes, yank her head down, and rub, rub, rub. Now that I think about it, she always rubbed on the same side.....sigh. I am so inept sometimes.
Last night though, she just sighed these beautiful happy sighs and trotted around like a happy lady. no rubbing, justs of snuffling and sighs.
She got lots of rubs and pats and, "GOOD GIRL!!!!" and she was all like, "no shit Sherlock, I AM a good girl. You've just got wool for eyes and cotton for a brain." Which I begged to differ as I know the dentist checked her and found nothing between those ears.
Obviously I live in oblivion since if I take all cues together, such as dribbling grain (which she's always done so I thought it was normal for her), bracing, rubbing her face, not flexing at the poll, it's clear as day she needed a good mouth exam and floating. :( whomp whomp.
Comments
Post a Comment