Summer seems to be rushing past. Though it’s still June for a few more days, we’ve turned past the solstice and the weather has also turned from the hot dry days we had in May and early June to the gray rainy days we typically get in August. In fact, all spring and summer, we’ve seemed to be at least a month ahead of our typical weather: May seemed like June, June like July, and now late June like August. If this were truly a seasonal shift, the next step would be yellow leaves, dark nights, and impending frost. But it is still June and we have all of July to go before August’s slow descent to fall.
Today it rained again, and I came home in drizzle to find Sam standing at the fence, gray from rolling and from kneeling in the dirt at the edge of the fence to get at the grass beyond. His forelock hung in strings, plastered on his face, and his coat was thoroughly wet. From the run-in shed, Mattie peeked her dark head out to see if I was bringing hay. She had been hanging out in the back of the shed all day and her coat was dry. Sam, on the other hand, seemed like a kid who likes nothing better than to splash in mud puddles.
Sam is showing his age a bit this year. His back seems to have dropped slightly. His prominent withers seem even more so and the saddle that fit him well a couple of years ago, now puts pressure at the back of his withers, where they gradually slope into his back. He’s now using Mattie’s saddle, and I am preparing to measure her for a new saddle. He also is growing in a longer coat in the spring than he used to. I’m reading up on Cushing’s, though he seems OK in every other respect. He’s already on an insulin resistance diet, since Mattie is.
After last fall’s spectacular bucking fit, which sent poor Trish flying, I am not letting other people ride Sam. I started out the season longeing both horses quite a bit to bring up their fitness levels, and I have taken half of the summer lessons on Sam.
Sunday, we went out to Colleen’s new horse facility—her dream place. It was raining and I took Casey and Mikeala from Horsemasters with me. Casey rode Mattie, which was good for Mattie’s training, and I rode Sam. With Colleen in the center of the indoor arena, Sam kept one ear cocked in her direction. She’s their vet, and they both have a high level of respect for her, as do I.
We worked on flexing at the poll. Sam has a rubber neck, so he can bend two ways at once, neither of which happen to be the direction his rider wants him to take. But he knows what to do when I ask him correctly. At one point, we practiced moving laterally into the trot, then asking him to move out. He bent his neck into collection and engaged the bit just right and stepped out into a full working trot. I couldn’t see it, but I could feel how his back was working and he was stepping under himself and moving with energy. Casey told me later that he looked great.
I’m hoping for him to have a good summer and that he and I trust each other as horse and rider. After such a long and varied life, I think Sam wants to just have one person to relate to, and I am honored that he is trusting me.
Now, it’s feeding time. He’s standing watch for the approach of hay, his coat soggy with rain. He’ll whinny if I take too long, a sweet contralto whistle. He stretches and bows as I approach and waits with his head bowed while I bring the flakes of hay. I’ll scratch him on the withers and neck, then head over to the other side of the corral to feed Mattie.
A few more June days, then July.
Mattie's Pillow 