My Weeks At The Stables

[Gabby Woodlark]

Today (29th)

The Galloping Gurls paid a visit. A very unpleasant visit.

Sarah and Julie... Well, the name Sarah sounds way too nice, so I'm changing her nickname to Adriana.

Anyway, Adriana and Julie came to ride. Adriana had the guts to ride Blinker and Julie on Lightning. Basically, the horses that the other hates.

Adriana rode Blinker Western, and Julie rode Lightning bareback.

Adriana is dressed up in boot-cut jeans, plaid t-shirt, and completed with a cowboy hat. It was hilarious.

Turns out Adriana is entering a barrel race, so she wanted to practice on the most barrel-green horse there was, which was Blinker.

Blinker HATES barrels like they are the devil spawn. So MD asked me to ride in case Blinker had a meltdown and needed me there to calm her. So I rode Love's Last Curse, aka Curse. He is a 9-year-old Thoroughbred gelding who is/was a racing champion, hence the long name. What I mean by is/was a racing champion is because he won first place at a local show that a rich dude hosted, and still wins first place, but won sixth at a bigger race.

So I rode the high-strung Thoroughbred, Adriana on the calm/now timid Morgan mix, Julie on the frisky grade horse, and some other girl on the lazy Gypsy Vanner (Dakota).

Things did NOT go well. Blinker freaked when she saw the barrels, so she moved away from them as far as she could. Lightning trotted when she wasn't supposed to, making her sweat and her shoe almost fall off. Curse being as feeble as can be. Dakota going as slow as possible.

MD canceled the lesson early and gave me extra work in her anger.

Okay, horrible day.

Ugh.

-Gabbs

[KingstonDressage]

Sorry this happened! I was always super careful with who I let ride Bean. Horses can be super sensitive to new riders and especially objects (like barrels). It wasn't very responsible of Adriana to be riding Blinker despite knowing his fear of barrels and sensitivity to Lighting.

Some tips to help desensitize Blinker to barrels:
-Start on the ground, no tack, just a halter and lead. Blinker will feel more comfortable and looser as you introduce him to these barrels. Be quiet and patient and let him go as he needs.
-Approach slowly and calmly. You don't want Blinker to have a bad interaction with the barrels because that will last in his mind. He will automatically associate barrels with his bad experience. To prevent this from happening you want to be calm and super patient.
-(Mounted) when you reach a stage where you are comfortable to ride him near them, walk him closer to them slowly. Do not go faster. Horses have side view because they are considered prey, so you'll want to stand sideways to the barrel, so he sees them clearly. Give him pats and verbal praise to help him feel more comfortable.

The key to sucess with this is time and patience. It takes lots of patience and hard work but it's possible!

Good luck!

[Gabby Woodlark]

Today (30th)

Another person who wanted to buy Blinker...

I was walking Blinker around and trying to get her used to the barrels. She did decently well. At least she didn't freak out and immediately start sweating.

A couple of kids were watching me because they were friends of MD and liked watching her lessons.

One of them, a red-headed boy who is around 12, whispered something to MD. MD said (Louder so I could hear), "Well, you'll have to ask Gabby."
The boy shrunk back in embarrassment and MD called me closer. "This young man wants a horse of his own. Do you know of one he could have?" I could tell she was trying not to say Blinker directly because she knows I would never sell her. "Hmm... None that I know of." I said.
MD nodded and I continued my lesson.

-Gabbs

[Gabby Woodlark]

Sorry this happened! I was always super careful with who I let ride Bean. Horses can be super sensitive to new riders and especially objects (like barrels). It wasn't very responsible of Adriana to be riding Blinker despite knowing his fear of barrels and sensitivity to Lighting.

Some tips to help desensitize Blinker to barrels:
-Start on the ground, no tack, just a halter and lead. Blinker will feel more comfortable and looser as you introduce him to these barrels. Be quiet and patient and let him go as he needs.
-Approach slowly and calmly. You don't want Blinker to have a bad interaction with the barrels because that will last in his mind. He will automatically associate barrels with his bad experience. To prevent this from happening you want to be calm and super patient.
-(Mounted) when you reach a stage where you are comfortable to ride him near them, walk him closer to them slowly. Do not go faster. Horses have side view because they are considered prey, so you'll want to stand sideways to the barrel, so he sees them clearly. Give him pats and verbal praise to help him feel more comfortable.

The key to sucess with this is time and patience. It takes lots of patience and hard work but it's possible!

Good luck!

Thanks!

-Gabbs

[Gabby Woodlark]

Special thanks to KingstonDressage for giving me tips on how to help Blinker with her fear of barrels!

Today (1st)
After church, I drove to the stables. I led Blinker around the barrels (Not mounted) and let her sniff the barrels as we went past. MD had a cold so she couldn't watch me.

After an hour of just walking around the barrels, getting closer, and moving them, Blinker acted like she had known them personally (lol). She would try to get as close to them as she could, brushing against them. I think the tips worked too hard

I tried it mounted, but then she was freaked out again. I worked her on the ground for thirty minutes before my mom called me to tell me lunch is ready. I put Blinker back and drove home.
The struggles of living with parents-

-Gabbs

[Gabby Woodlark]

Today (2nd)

My birthday is in two days!! I am so, so excited! I am finally going to be an official adult since I am turning 18. Now I can be the same age as my fiancé for a bit!

Anyway... I started a new job at Give Fuys Fergers and Bries (lol, you know what I mean) today. Rn I work as a ‘burger flipper’. Which means I have to run back and forth from each stove to flip the burger patties. And if a customer complains about their burger being burnt on one side, or raw on the other, I take the blame. If I go two weeks without a complaint my boss said she would promote me, yay!

If y’all want to know why I got a job this late in my life, the reason is:
My family is richer than the average family (Def not saying we’re million or billionaires!!), so I didn’t have to worry about working until I was at a pretty older age. I didn’t have to worry about a car, since my mom drove me everywhere. But at least I got my drivers license before I turned 17 (Record broken in my family). But now my family is laying the burden of paying for my own car and for my part of wedding on me. They said they would pitch in if I am close to my goal, which is helpful.
I need a nap before school starts (It’s 4am lol), so byeee.

-Gabbs

[Gabby Woodlark]

Today (2nd Again)

So every Monday I work at MD's.

Today I rode with Mackenzie and Julie.
I trotted Dakota bareback without falling off for once!

Afterward, Julie asked if I gave Dakota a treat. I said definitely. She asked if I was sure in a mean tone. I nodded again and said I would never lie about horse-related stuff. She rolled her eyes "Well you have before...Whatever." Then I walked away.

Ugh
-Gabbs

[KingstonDressage]

Special thanks to KingstonDressage for giving me tips on how to help Blinker with her fear of barrels!

Today (1st)
After church, I drove to the stables. I led Blinker around the barrels (Not mounted) and let her sniff the barrels as we went past. MD had a cold so she couldn't watch me.

After an hour of just walking around the barrels, getting closer, and moving them, Blinker acted like she had known them personally (lol). She would try to get as close to them as she could, brushing against them. I think the tips worked too hard

I tried it mounted, but then she was freaked out again. I worked her on the ground for thirty minutes before my mom called me to tell me lunch is ready. I put Blinker back and drove home.
The struggles of living with parents-

-Gabbs

I'm glad I could help! When I was trying to transition my spooky hunter into Eventing, he had an awful fear of water! I read so many books and blogs and eventually, it worked out!

[islandhill]

...

I had to train an ex-barrel racer for low-level eventing once, and he was TERRIFIED of water...it took so long for him to be desensitized to it XD It's good you were able to read up on it and train your horse accordingly! Patience is key, I try to do as much liberty training as I can, especially with the greener horses. Ginger (my current project) is terrified of anything that moves so...VERY fun on the cross-country course on a windy day!

[Gabby Woodlark]

A couple days ago (4th)

So on the morning of my birthday I had a ‘Oh, wait. I’m an adult now. I have to get a house, buy a car, pay taxes, get married, get a stable job, be PERFECTION’ moment. So I basically had a panic attack just because my dumb butt thought I would have to move out that very day

Fun day, though!

I opened my one present (From my fiancé bc my parents refuse to get me some since I’m an adult now ) and it was a very cute fox plushie. (My second fav animal, first is horse duh) It has black ears, a white body, and sparkly blue eyes. If y’all think I’m cringe bc I still like plushies at my age, you have a right to think so. Bc most people think I am like 14 or smt and am obsessed with plushies but claim to be 18.

So yeah.

Annnnywaaaaay... So I got a fox plushie, blah blah, then I went to some AWANA thing my church did. Most AWANA programs only do it for kids that are 12 and under, but my church thinks it’s unfair for kids who are older, but still enjoy the AWANA program.

So each kid graduates from AWANA when they turn 18, so they had an award ceremony to celebrate me and two other people bc we were moving out of AWANA

Well I got the Timothy award since I turned in all 4 of my books, completed. I have no idea why, but the other people didn’t get the Timothy award, even though they did the exact same thing as me.

So now I had 20 or some people approach ME telling ME congratulations for being the ONLY ONE to get the Timothy award.

Crazzzzy.

Then after that, me and my friends drove to the stables to pamper Blinker and get away from all the looks and stares and congratulations. Don’t get me wrong, I am a extrovert, but just the feeling of being watched makes me cringe and get embarrassed. Sure, I should soak up all the attention and just face it, but I’m a weird extrovert. I am not an introvert, I know that for sure, but I’m not a pure extrovert either...is there a name for that, anyone?

People don’t know this, but I get shy if I am the center of attention for 20 or more people. Oddly specific, you might say, well, it’s true. 19 people? Totally chill. 20? Sweat pouring down my face.

It just triggers my anxiety. Most people would call me just an all out introvert, but I enjoy people’s company. Isn’t that the definition of an extrovert?

Okay, enough of this. Gotta crash before my thumb falls off. (My dog bit a hole into my thumb. It throbs, but for some reason it isn’t bleeding. I’d rather have it bleed than have to stare at a literal HOLE through my thumb.)

Goodnight or good morning, Gabbs out.

-The now adult Gabbs