I'm a little redhead...

...small and stout. Look at my pinned ears, I squeal should you doubt. When I get all worked up, hear me shout: "Just leave me alone and put me out!"

Suggestive as this photo may be (although, we are all adults here, at least I think so...) it's a pretty perfect representation of Stella the past few days.

The weather is getting cooler. There is less grass to eat, thus pasture time is far less appreciated or productive. Yesterday I put Stella out in the morning when I went to do chores, and she just stood there at the gait for a while in silent protest. She finally walked off to nibble at a measly-looking patch, albeit with a little attitude.

She's been back in work regularly for over a week now, but her energy levels continue to skyrocket. We go into the arena or the round pen and she automatically anticipates that I'm going to let her loose (a bad habit I may have unintentionally taught her...oops). When she hears the "ping" of the snap on the leadrope (or at least that's what SHE thinks it is...) she goes flying backwards only to realize Oh, hey, you're still attached to me. She likes nothing more than to anticipate, so if she thinks she's got the answer, damn anyone who tells her otherwise. This has proved the biggest training challenge: she gets super frustrated when she does something she thinks I want and I correct her. It's like the anxiety meter bursts and all the sudden I've got a raging ball of mare on my hands.

I'm going to say this isn't a terrible thing: it means she's willing to please, and it means she wants to work. What it also means is I have to find a way to get her to tune into aids AS I GIVE THEM, not anticipate what she thinks is happening. This happens both on the ground and in the saddle, and so far I haven't found a good system that calms her and puts her head in a better frame of mind once she gets going. I can definitely see the TB coming out in her: the longer she works, the hotter she gets...

Is part of this me? Yeah, I don't doubt that. I've been a ball of anxiety myself lately. Personal issues and emotional problems have followed me to the barn where they don't belong. I can't help it, but I clearly need to do a better job at trying to separate out the two, because she isn't handling it very well. I also (seriously...) think a lot of it is the arena and farm itself. She has been more nervous and antsy here than at either of the other two farms I've boarded her at. This particular farm is pretty well known amongst most of us for being a high-stress, high-tension barn. It's not usually very pleasant to be around. Stella and Ernie both recognized that. (I'm talking about the main barn, btw, not the co-op barn...)

To the drawing board I go, for now at least.