Enough Already!

My last two rides on Cricket have been frustrating, to say the least.

I love that mare and I know she loves me. But when is that just not enough any more?

After a few good rides in which there was no hint of headshaking, the twitchies are back with a vengence. They started creeping back last Thursday. In my lesson on Sunday they were pretty vigorous and last night they were in full force.

I am almost at my wits end. This is the most intense detective game I've every played. If only the answer were as simple as "Colonel Mustard with the candlestick in the study."

In the midst of the frustration, there are some good things. In my lesson on Sunday I started riding with a more foward seat. Not so far that I was perching on the pommel, but a little forward of the Parelli Balance Point so I was more evenly weighted from front to back. As soon as I came a little forward, Cricket reached and stretched her back. She relaxed into the walk and then offered the sweetest upward transition into a relaxed trot. Rising to her rhythm was absolutely effortless. When she did shake her head, I felt more confident and balanced on her.

The funny thing about her increased headshaking is that she's blowing more. I don't fully understand the opposition between the stress response of her headshaking and the adrenaline release of her blowing.

We've had an unexpected change in her feed routine. Due to a bad bag of hay pellets, she's been getting straight alfalfa hay pellets and not just her timothy hay pellets. I wonder if there is any relation between the recurrance of the headshaking and the abrupt change in her feed routine.

Well, we are about to adjust her feed routine once again. I'm going to try a new supplement that increases her intake of magnesium. I am hopeful this will help the stress response.