The best way to quell pre-performance jitters is to go to the barn. While horses make some people nervous, they are my sanity. If I’m upset, just touching Isis is usually enough to calm me down.
I dragged my dance instructor today to the barn. She didn’t mind because she also has horses. (In fact, her mare is my mare’s aunt.) We had about two hours before we had to head back to prepare for the performance.
We brought the girls in to the paddock next to the ring. I pulled Isis out first. Of the two of them, Isis needs more conditioning. She is in good weight overall, but is out of shape. I groomed her and free lunged her.
My instructor came into the ring with me. I showed her how Isis free lunges. Rajiyyah, not to be outdone, curled her tail over her back and strutted. If I told Isis to trott, Rajiyyah would trot with her tail over her back. Snort, bounce, bolt — she would take off at a gallop and then slide to astop on the other side of the paddock. I had to get Isis to walk for a while until Rajiyyah calmed down again. Silly, silly kids.
Isis such a joy to work with. All I have to do is think something and she does it. It is fun showing people how Isis thinks. Not only thinks, but you can see her calculating. My old gelding would follow me when I walked around the arena. He stayed right next to me, or immediately behind me. Always close. Isis watches me as I walk around. She look at me, looks at where I’m headed, and then takes the shortest route to that spot. She is a thinking partner.
The chiropractic treatments are definitely helping. When she trotted, her back and hips swayed. She had good reach and motion while she was moving. She looked relaxed and not stiff. All in all, excellent. Poor kid was really out of breath after a 30 minute work out. Before the surgery, she could gor for three times that without breaking into a sweat.
Isis also had a cut on her foreleg. Cleaned that off. Nothing major. A ding that is healing. Isis always takes longer than anyone else because you find things that have to be cleaned or doctored. (Put her in a rubber room and she would injure herself.) I didn’t have enough time to work Rajiyyah so we curried her. She was in heaven.
Yay sanity before madness. So happy to see them today.
