Medina

Not a Kaimanawa, but still deserving of her own post! :-)
Big challenge for her this January as I sent her away to learn how to be a riding horse!  I did a certain amount of research into who to send her to (so many options and opinions out there) and someone came back with a space, so off she went!  I visited once or twice per week to see how things were going and all seemed well, though she did have grazes on her face from the halter/bridle.  Was this a natural part of the process or was this guy a bit rough? I wasn't sure...

She seemed settled enough and really looked SO good under saddle ... and she accepted him riding her, and he didn't seem rough on her when I was there, so decided I was just a worried mum!  :-)
I couldn't wait for the time I would visit and be able to ride her!  He said she had been just fine to start, and was going well, so my turn finally came!  My poor heart was racing and I was so excited ... then on we got... no problem!

Wow!  What a feeling! After all this time to be able to actually ride her around like I did her mum ... just awesome!  The day came when I was able to ride her out down the road too - we had 2 rides out with company (included trotting!), before I brought her home.  The day I had the float there to bring her home didn't dgo so well however. While I was loading my gear into the truck she pulled back from where she was tied up, and was then "taught a lesson" in how thats not what is meant to happen. She went over backwards, downhill, landing on her hip, had bloody grazes in 4 places around her muzzle from the halter, and I was near to tears.  I couldn't wait to get her out of there!  Was this what kind of temper she had been subjected to when I wasn't there?  I didn't know, had no way of knowing, and didn't want to think about it.  I wanted to get her home and get home myself before I fell apart. 

Once back in her own paddocks Medina spent about half an hour making sure everyone knew she was back to regain her position in the herd, which was really comical to watch, then everything returned to normal.  I treated her grazes with cream, and resumed riding her.  I felt she wasn't relaxed however, and she seemed stiff, so had a chiro visit. Her back was so very sore, it was a wonder she didn't buck me off!  Lucky I had read her body language and understood her, rather than forcing her to work through it thinking she was just playing up! She also had a massage therapist visit (twice), and seemed better but it was short-lived. We had a massive "event" when the neighbour pulled a rattley bang crash chook house off his trailer just as we were riding in the paddock!  Medina went 90 degrees to the West, and I went 180 degrees South!  She stood on my leg on the way over me, since I sort of landed underneath her, and it is still healing! That happened on 31st March!  Since then I've had Steve from Savvy Touch visit 3 times and each time she gets a little better and more rounded in her topline. She seems better after this last treatment, and he was able to manipulate her hips more and stretch her legs better.  Between the fall, and the flipping over back in January, she's not had a great start to her riding career - and neither have I!!!!!  I've turned her out now until after the Winter to allow her time to heal more, as I don't want to create a "riding=pain" mindset for her. It is possible that there was an injury present before she went away in January, and the whole process has aggravated it... In Savvy Steves words "possibly the trigger that let off the loaded gun" ... but its really hard to tell and hard to know. She seemed fine, and I'm not aware of any major accidents should could have had ...  Its all been a rather upsetting time, as I had so wanted to get on and go for lots of rides before the Winter set in. Instead, more time passes with no riding ... how I miss the good old days on her Mum ...