Non-lesson with Keane
Took Keane over to MRF for a lesson I'd scheduled for 1:00 pm. Hey, it was a holiday yesterday (thank you, veterans) and I wanted to take advantage of being able to ride during daylight hours. Only, everyone else had the same idea, so, by the time I got over there, about 500 other people were tacked up and ready to ride as well. Michele had tried to call to warn me before I left Christine's with Keane all loaded up, but to no avail.
I got there and all the crossties were in use, except for the one set down by the exit of the long row of stalls. I hauled in my gear, unloaded Keane and hooked him up to the ties, and watched him for a minute to see if he'd melt down with all the activity going on and the unfamiliar surroundings. Usually I tack him up in the wash stall. But, he was fine, and other than a few neck craning moments when horses walked off to the arena, and a car pulling away (from those end crossties, with the barn doors open, you can see all the activity in the parking lot: cars and trailers coming and going, people riding their horses from the indoor arena to the outdoor ring, etc.), he was good.
I tacked up and started leading Keane around in the aforementioned parking lot, and Michele came out after finishing the lesson before me to let me know that she'd tried to call me and let me know that the indoor was a madhouse. I told her I'd wait a bit to see if it cleared out any, and I'd try to lunge Keane at the very least. Because of daylight savings being over, I haven't been able to do much with Keane after work now that it's dark when I get out, and there are no lights in Christine's ring yet. I'm sure Keane would have been fine and settled down once I got in there and started working him, but I was already nervous from not having worked with him all week, and it didn't seem like anyone was finishing up in the indoor any time soon.
So, I walked him around outside for a while, then managed to sneak into the wash stall to untack him quick before anyone else showed up to use it. At least I got him out and did something with him, even though it wasn't what I expected. Keane was exposed to some new situations, like all the activity bustling around him while being tacked up in a new space. Like I said, I'm sure he would have been fine to lunge and ride once the arena cleared out, but I decided to listen to my nerves and reschedule a lesson for Friday evening. It's much quieter at night over there anyways, most boarders ride during the day even on non-holidays. It was just that much busier because of it.
I decided to switch my lesson to Tuesday evenings, and I'll truck in on Fridays and maybe Sundays (once the footing goes over at Christine's) over the winter to spread out riding time so I can keep Keane going and hopefully not have to start over again in the spring.
I got there and all the crossties were in use, except for the one set down by the exit of the long row of stalls. I hauled in my gear, unloaded Keane and hooked him up to the ties, and watched him for a minute to see if he'd melt down with all the activity going on and the unfamiliar surroundings. Usually I tack him up in the wash stall. But, he was fine, and other than a few neck craning moments when horses walked off to the arena, and a car pulling away (from those end crossties, with the barn doors open, you can see all the activity in the parking lot: cars and trailers coming and going, people riding their horses from the indoor arena to the outdoor ring, etc.), he was good.
I tacked up and started leading Keane around in the aforementioned parking lot, and Michele came out after finishing the lesson before me to let me know that she'd tried to call me and let me know that the indoor was a madhouse. I told her I'd wait a bit to see if it cleared out any, and I'd try to lunge Keane at the very least. Because of daylight savings being over, I haven't been able to do much with Keane after work now that it's dark when I get out, and there are no lights in Christine's ring yet. I'm sure Keane would have been fine and settled down once I got in there and started working him, but I was already nervous from not having worked with him all week, and it didn't seem like anyone was finishing up in the indoor any time soon.
So, I walked him around outside for a while, then managed to sneak into the wash stall to untack him quick before anyone else showed up to use it. At least I got him out and did something with him, even though it wasn't what I expected. Keane was exposed to some new situations, like all the activity bustling around him while being tacked up in a new space. Like I said, I'm sure he would have been fine to lunge and ride once the arena cleared out, but I decided to listen to my nerves and reschedule a lesson for Friday evening. It's much quieter at night over there anyways, most boarders ride during the day even on non-holidays. It was just that much busier because of it.
I decided to switch my lesson to Tuesday evenings, and I'll truck in on Fridays and maybe Sundays (once the footing goes over at Christine's) over the winter to spread out riding time so I can keep Keane going and hopefully not have to start over again in the spring.
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