The Pony Monster and updates on Greta Golightly

Greta is The Fame Monster (she told me to tell Lady Gaga to BACK OFF because The Fame Monster has ALWAYS been Greta's title, and she told me to tell Juicy Couture to back off of Her Royal Juicyness as well, because that has also always been Greta's title, along with many other that are quite originally her's.... or so she likes to think heehee) but this guy....

This guy is THE PONY MONSTER! I don't know, it just sounds cute. We also call him The Beast (he's like 16.2 hands, maybe 16.3... he's a big jump from 15.3 Greta... of course I'm 5'10" so it's all good)



Don't be fooled by his big body and flowy (but braided up on the other side in this picture) mane and tail and big hooves and Friesian resemblence... the boy is like a big puppy. It's been a while since I've been in great contact with a goofy gelding personality, being that I am so used to Greta Girl and her sweet and charming but still mare-ish behavior (and let me tell you I adore it, I really can't get enough of it, it makes life more fun!) but it's nothing I don't mind. It is cute... up to a certain point :)

But I do like Odin. He is the other English (and Western) trainer's horse, and he is a great learning experience because his dressage training is much more fresher than Greta's, so I can get a feel of what things are supposed to feel like, plus his owner (let's call her L) is kind enough to give me little tidbits while I'm riding him that I can apply to Greta. It really is a great situation and a big confidence boost that a fourth-level rider feels confident enough to let me (a humble training level rider haha!) ride Odin almost every day of the week.

Odin is a 7-year-old Morgan/Shire cross gelding (but he always gets "Are you a FRIESIAN???" from many of the boarders, and would you believe that there is ONE other horse out there who IS a Friesian and his ALSO named Odin.... fantastic... but I don't get them confused, because Odin is distinctively Odin.)

As for Greta, THINGS ARE MOVING ALONG!!! I've been getting some very good help from boarders and instructors in my DIY quest and today was just amazing! It was really only walking and trotting, but I did get her to pick up a canter from the walk! It wasn't beautiful, but it was there, and there was maybe a stride of trot (it didn't even feel like a whole stride) before she picked up the canter. She got it!

She also had a lovely canter-trot transition (from the two times I did canter her, once in each direction, but the nice one only happened once, oh well!) in which I'm starting to get the feel of timing my aids to Greta's footfalls, which helps tremendously in getting her to bend around my leg and step under herself more and in things like leg yields. The same technique is supposed to be used for walk/canter transitions, so I thought I'd mess around with it, rewarding her even if she picked up a trot or a faster walk, at least she moved off my leg right? But I read that it's supposed to be easier to mess around with earlier in the game rather than later, so... yeah, I tried it :)

Also, I have started her over cavaletti (but shame on me I got so focused today that by the time I was out of focus, it had been almost and hour and a half and I didn't want to throw something new at her when she was already tired) and I want to continue that because it help build her topline, which now that we're doing things right, I realized she does have a topline along her crest, but as far the muscles that suspend the neck and back... they're non-existent. Yeah, we need to fix that :)

Also, I'm going to learn how to use side-reins.

And I'm setting up a weekly schedule, which when finalized, will be posted :)

And Greta has decided that she's going to be a rough and tumble kind of girl now, so she's been getting into bar fights out in the pasture. A kick mark here and there is nothing to worry about, but when she gets them in inconvenient places (like just below her V.O. and rectum where it's just a small blip of raw flesh in bacteria central that can get infected so easily!!!) that's when it sucks. She also got a ugly-looking cut right behind her chin at the very bottom of her jawbone, but when palpated I realized it wasn't swollen nor was it deep at all. It just looked bad. But I definitely keeping and eye on both wounds, and both get scrubbed out with Betadine scrub before and after a ride to make sure no sweat gets in the wound and they stay clean, and then some antiseptic Privasan ointment over them to keep stuff out. Neither of them caused her any discomfort when she moved or ate or when they were touched even lightly, so I'm sure they just look worse than what they really are. Like a skin knee or a busted chin. Ouch.

So far, they look like they'll be fine, but if anything starts to look swollen or infected, the vet will be able to but dinner for a night because they will be making a housecall! Jeez, Greta!

But anyway, maybe video tomorrow. I will see!

Greta Golightly, aka Her Royal Juicyness The Fame Monster, says Thanks for waiting on us my lovely little subjects!

I suppose if Lady Gogo's followers are called her Little Maresters, and Lady Gaga's are her Little Monsters, then Greta's will be her little..... her Little Gretsters? I don't know, I kind of like y'all being called her Little Subjects, because I know I feel like one sometimes hahaha! (More on that next post!)