More on Rachel and Grandma and an Arabian Horse

Part 1 of Rachel and Grandma and an Arabian Horse

Next week is the Daffodil Arabian Summer Show. Since Rachel hasn't been able to show most of this show season due to the Arabian geldings injury at the first horse show of the season, I was really hoping the pair would be ready to go to this horse show. This is the last show in our area but it is also the where Dandy and Rachel made their debut in the show ring last summer.

The morning of our open house, Dandy was taken back to the boarding barn that is right down the road from Rachel's house. Up to that time, I had only ridden the horse a couple of times but had been working him regularly in the long lines. Those workouts had been going very well. The horse appeared to be sound.

Once he got back to the boarding barn, it was Rachel's responsibility to continue the horse's work in the long lines each day. She was supposed to call me and let me know how the sessions were going so I could decide when to begin riding him. If we were going to be able to participate in the Summer Show was still up to the vet who was getting regular updates.

Rachel's communication skills are not good. That was part of the reason for the assignment to call me. Rachel worked the horse each day as directed but totally dropped the ball when it came to calling. Even after being reminded each evening, she still didn't touch base with me. As a consequence I put off going to the barn until she decided to hold up her end.

The whole process seemed to meet with some resistance and I was beginning to wonder if Rachel was losing her interest in the horses. After a lengthy conversation one day, it looked like we were finally on the right track. The phone call reports began and I was prepared to go to the barn when my truck broke.

I couldn't believe the timing. But instead of putting off riding the Arabian horse, I told Rachel to begin riding him hunt seat. I knew she wouldn't ride him collected enough for us to know how his injury was healing but at least it would give him some work with the added weight.

While Dave and the mechanic worked to get my truck back on the road, Colleen called the show secretary to see if they would let us be a little late on our entries without charging us post entry fees. Colleen had as much trouble getting an answer as Dave did finding the correct parts for my truck. It seemed like the odds were against us getting to the show at all.

Finally at the beginning of the week, I was able to get to the barn, even though my truck was still laid up. Dave didn't have to work and his errands were all done so I took his car. I had Rachel get there ahead of time to get the Arabian horse tacked up and ready to ride.

I had hoped to be surprised by the horse's condition. Rachel had taken a lesson on him which Colleen had described as good so there was a possibility that he might have gotten a decent workout.

Instead I found him to be stiff and resistant. He wanted to be long and to nose through the bit in his downward transitions. The list goes on. But the good news was it all seemed to be more lazy than it was because he was hurting. It was easy to see that he had taken Rachel for a few rides instead of the other way around.

While I'm not happy that Rachel's riding had deteriorated, I was relieved that Dandy was not sore. With a lot of flexing and bending it didn't take long to get the Arabian horse using himself correctly.

Then it was Rachel's turn to ride. I wanted to see what I could do to get her riding back on track. I decided that Rachel didn't really understand the warm up exercises she had been given. It was time for lessons Grandma's way.

To be continued...........

Part 2


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