Jupiter Updates

After a very successful first two weeks, Jupiter's owner hired me back for the month of June, scheduling four sessions a week. This week featured a lot of firsts for the adorable baby buckskin.

As I mentioned in my updates on Booger, it has been raining pretty much non stop this week. The good news is that the barn Jupiter is at has an indoor. It's a small indoor, but it does the job. It also features a lot of obstacles and distractions, partially due to the therapeutic riding program that utilizes the property. There are mirrors, cones, ground poles, a handicap ramp, etc. It's a lot to look at!

I have to say that this barn is a very good location for a reactive young horse like Jupiter. With boarders and lesson students coming and going, therapy horses, schoolies, and a quarry next door doing regular dynamite blasts, it's the sort of place that sort of forces a horse to cope with his surroundings.

We graduated to a real bridle.

On Monday, I took Jupiter in the indoor while the rain beat down on the roof. It was only his second time being in this indoor, ever, though I imagine he has been in indoor arenas before. To my surprise, he wasn't the least bit bothered by the mirrors that line one entire wall of the ring. He was a little concerned about the cones and the ground poles, but quickly learned how to navigate around them. He also eyed the mounting ramp suspiciously at first.

Because it was raining, I had Mike with me the first night. Jupiter has already grown fond of the 'cookie man'.

I started off by lunging Jupiter in the indoor. He adapted quickly, and I even played with pushing him into a flashier, more forward gait. It didn't take long for him to get over the 'scary' end of the indoor, and I eventually let him off the line to do some free lunging. As always, he was awesome at that, listening to my cues and changing gait and direction on command, even though we were in a much bigger space than we've worked in previously.

Just as I was getting ready to climb on board, the main instructor at the barn came over and asked if I would mind sharing the indoor. It was pouring outside, and she had a lesson scheduled. Of course, I told her to come right in. She was working with a horse who is in the process of being certified for the therapy program, so he takes things right in stride.

Jupiter only seemed distracted by the other horse for a moment before his attention was back on me, so I decided to keep working. I walked him over to the mounting area, and he was alarmed by how high up in the air I was. After some sniffing and thinking, however, he realized that I was just doing the usual shtick. After some thumping and leaning, I put a foot in the stirrup and climbed into the saddle. Jupiter flicked an ear and glanced at Mike.

For the first time, he offered a walk without hesitating. He quietly circled the indoor. Then I brought him to a halt in the middle and let him watch the other horse trotting and cantering with a rider on board. Jupiter was not at all fazed by being ridden with another horse in the ring. Hooray!

Indoor arenas are NBD.

Deciding to end on a positive note with two new under saddle experiences, I hopped down. First time riding in the indoor: check. First time ridden with another horse: check.

The next day, Mike came back with me a second time. This time, we had the farm to ourselves. The weather was still dreary and wet, so we went back in the indoor. By then, Jupiter was pretty comfortable in there, and I barely worked him before getting back in the saddle.

That night featured another great big first for Jupiter: his first time trotting under saddle! He had a beautiful walk around and around the arena, and then he just sort of offered it. He would only do a few strides at a time at first, but he gradually built confidence and trotted for longer stretches each time. I'm sure he's still learning how to balance a rider at the trot, but he was a very good boy. That has to be a strange feeling for a young horse.

Once again, I quit on a good note and put him away.

Wednesday morning started with clear skies for a change. I got lucky and had the farm to myself again. This time, I decided to work Jupiter in the main outdoor ring. I had lunged him in it previously, but hadn't actually ridden in it yet.

To my dismay, the entire ring was full of big honkin' puddles from several days of rain. There was one right smack in front of the gate and there was no way to get in or out without going through it. Figuring that Jupiter didn't have any prior experience with puddles, I was prepared to save that battle for another day and just work in the indoor again, but not before giving it a good, honest try. He did sniff and think for a moment, but he actually splashed across with very little hesitation. I was delighted.

I let him warm up, first on the lunge line and then off of it so that he could see where all the puddles were and gawk at all the jumps and cones, etc. I also wanted to wait for the quarry to finish with their scheduled blast. I'm a pretty brave rider, but I draw the line at riding a baby during dynamite explosions!!!

Once again, I climbed on the mounting platform. This time, Jupiter wasn't the least bit bothered by my newest perch. I hopped right on board and he walked around the entire ring like a pro, calmly following the fence, doing figure eights and changes of direction, and stepping over a ground pole.

We did a little more trotting as well. He was eager to pick it up in the bigger arena, but still only held it for a little while at once. We worked our way up to trotting an entire lap in each direction, then called it a day for riding.

Once again, I tried to address the bathing issue. After a long time, I was able to get Jupiter to tolerate the hose on both sides again, but it was quite a process. I wound up emailing his owner to discuss further. My concern is that the set up is really less than ideal, and I don't want to end up hurting the horse. If I line him up just right we wind up making good progress, but I spend more time positioning him and reorganizing than actually working with the hose. There are tie rings on the wall for the more experienced horses, but I think that would just end in broken bones, a risk I am just not willing to take. Jupiter really needs a three-sided wash stall with rubber mats to handle the degree of fear he has regarding the hose.

The good news is that we've been able to make a lot more progress on the fly spraying end of the spectrum. He's better on his right side than his left, but I can now spray him safely in his stall with minimal drama. I'm hoping he'll be ok with the spray bottle in a few more sessions, and that it will help bridge the gap for bath time. One day at a time, though. One day at a time.

Thursday was my final session for the week and we were in the indoor on our own again. This time, we had a different audience, two therapeutic riding volunteers from Denmark. The boy has been watching my sessions with Jupiter since the beginning, and has been very impressed with his progress. This was the first time he saw me ride and he exclaimed that he couldn't believe how far the horse has come already!

This was 6th time being ridden and he was trotting around and around the indoor, relaxed and forward and happy. I was beaming. I'm secretly excited to canter, too, but we're still a little way away from that, I think.

This week, I'm hoping the weather will continue to cooperate so we can spend more time in the big outdoor. Jupiter is still a bit of a wiggle worm, and we've only done minimal steering, which leaves us a lot of things to work on for the next several sessions. Plus, I'm continuously brainstorming how to tackle the wash stall situation. I really just need a third arm with a permanent hose attachment that's not tethered to anything. Why has genetic engineering failed me?