Bear!

I think that is what Rusty and I were watching in the woods this afternoon. Well, I was trying to see what he was seeing, because it really got his attention! I've seldom seen him so wound up -- he was high-tailing it and standing frozen sounding the honk-snort that horses do. A herd alarm system??

That put an end to my thoughts of riding him for a third time today.

Why would I ride him three times?

First time was normal feel him out and warm him up, thinking if all went well in the western saddle, I'd try the Bates Isabell on him. He had some vertical life but not a lot and afer 15-20 minutes of walk and trot with some canter, we headed back to the barn to change saddles. His walk, by the way, was really lively and felt wonderful! His trot was a little bunched up but he stretched out some (I was using inside rein to invite a bend as he trotted and predictably, that brings his head down and forward) and I was eager to see how it would go in this other saddle so that was enough.

The footing was weird -- broken up shallow crusty icey snow stuff over uneven frozen sand. I think he was uncomfortable with that today.

So, dressage saddle. With grab strap, thank you very much. Walking was fine. Trotting was extremely bunched up and short strided and man oh man did he move into some major bucks today. Time and time again. Eegads. It took me a few times to find my bucking balance in that saddle and a couple of times I wondered if I was going flying beyond my ability to come back to the saddle. Yuck. More than I care for frankly.

I kept wondering why all the bucking today?! This was not just his usual bounding and bouncing, this was bucking and kicking out with effort. My conclusions are limited. I had hoped to ride him again in the western saddle to confirm or rule out the Bates saddle as the culprit. But remember the bear? Yeah, that energized Rusty well into my self-serving Stay-On-The-Ground survival mode.

Possible causes for the bucking:
- saddle interferes with his shoulders (and I think it does but darn! I love how the saddle feels to ME);
- footing unbalances and/or hurts him;
- the bear was lurking in the woods all afternoon unnerving Rusty;
- separating from Kacee who is in heat unnerved Rusty;
- the moon is practically full.
Any other educated suggestions or wild guesses?? Sigh.

As much as I criticize those who oooh and aaaah and promote the appearance of very frightened horses, I admit I enjoyed the visuals of Rusty in his fear. I was very glad he had no rider while this was going on. It was interesting to see his athletic maneuvers in action, instead of just feeling them while riding. Ya know, he might excel as a cutting horse. He clearly has more energy than he's using on a regular basis.

It's due to snow tonight. Maybe that will soften and even out the footing in the arena. I can hope?

I did get to watch him bucking and kicking out during his bear fear moments. It left me thinking it's not all about the saddle -- it's a lot about the crusty stuff he's moving through. He's been called a Prima Donna and in my less accepting moments I would call him fussy! In any case, it looked like, as he was upset and bounding around, he was also kicking out like something felt wrong about his back feet. Nice if it were simply the saddle fit!

After the bear left the area and Rusty settled, I brought Bo up to the arena. That gave me a chance to work with both briefly, then with Bo alone. Rusty was curious and approached me while I was focussing on Bo. Interesting as I was setting it up so Bo could approach me rather than stay stuck in his pacing mode. Bo made some changes, then I took Rusty back to the barn and returned to spend more time with Bo.

It turned out nicely, with clear evidence that he's calmer and listening more. I introduced backing one step at a time with head low. He is a great learner! I am looking for ground work ways to help him carry himself more efficiently. Left to his own, he travels upside down. No, not literally, but with ewe neck and tight back. This is something I could address from the saddle, but I don't plan to ride him much due to our size differences. Well, he's about the same size as some Icelandic Horses I've seen ridden by moderately sized adults. But I think ground driving would help him, too. Yes, I'll start doing that with him.