Are they hot?

Poor Gilly is all alone now that his buddies are away at training. He seems a bit spooky and is always on the lookout when he is in the loafing shed.

My trainer, Heather, sent me an email report on the other two horse's progress. Both can really go, but are they hot or just spunky?

Sparkler is being bucky. Here's what they figure. It seems to happen when she is hot, sweaty and tired but should get over it once she is in shape. Banjo is hard to catch, (tell me something I didn't already know) but he is stopping better. He just has a lot of energy.

They have been on trails, fields and lately the road, where they've been good with cars. I will just need to keep working with them when they get back.

I Knew it!

There was a reason for Sparkler's crow hopping/bucky behavior! I think we proved it.

Dawna came out tonight to do some bit fitting. I've not been sure whether to ride through her behavior or not. If it's just that she's learned I'll get off when she kicks then I need to do ride it through. If there's a reason for the behavior, that's another thing.

The first thing Dawna did was work on a big knot in Sparkler's neck, massaging it out. We walked her some and she was fine. Then I put on her sweet-iron snaffle bridle and within a few seconds of walking she kicked out with her left leg. We tried a JP-type bit on the headstall and she seemed to take it well walking her but holding onto the halter underneath. To be sure, though, we put the reins on and bang - as soon as I picked up the left rein, the leg kicked out and she bucked with both feet. It sure looks like something in her mouth -- activated by pressure from the rein -- makes her buck.

What to do? We tried Dawna's side pull but ran out of time to really test it. So I'm going to get one -- a Liz Graves model, very reasonably priced. There's no bit! If this theory is correct, it should solve the problem. Stay tuned!

Some interesting links related to these topics:

• Liz Graves sidepull
• What is a sidepull
• Equine massage