joflasher | Random updates to the tune of *yawn*

Apparently my rear-view mirror is on strike. I was driving home from the barn yesterday and it fell off. Just..fell off. *thump* No more mirror. Weird. I never realised how much I used the thing. I miss it, especially in Route 95 traffic during the morning commute. Time to find some glue.

We finally managed to hook up with Mike and Margo and go out to Sakura's (sushi place in chelmsford). We've been trying to get those two there for about 2 months now. We also drug Simon and Ahn along and much raw fish was eaten. I got to try all sorts of new maki that I would normally never order for myself.

A foul bunny has been raiding my flower beds. I planted a bunch of delicate looking annuals and over the course of a week, all the blue ones were nibbled down to the bare stalks. The purple ones weren't touch. The maroon ones were left in peace. The blue ones...gone. Not a single blue one left. Foul bunny, I know it was you. I caught you doing it so don't give me the cute innocent twitchy nose act. Grrr. I have a suspicion that he's to blame for the current state of my basil plants as well.

*yawn*
I need more sleep and less sinus issues. I always always always have a runny nose but today its worse than normal. Too much swimming lately. Chronic sinusitis, my ass.

I started actual bridle work with Tequila this weekend. I started last week but it was very low key. I just put it on and left him walk around free. I wanted him to figure out what he could and couldn't do with it in his mouth. He loves having things stuck in his mouth and seems to think the bit is just a harder chew toy. This week we worked on turning and backing. Besides the one rearing fit because he thought he should be allowed to eat grass when we were working, it went very well. He's so much more prone to resorting to outright violence than the last stallion I trained. Any little thing that upsets or thwarts him results in a hissy fit of epic proportions. Forget the nasty looks or the ears slicked back, he jumps straight to the rearing and kicking.

I'm looking forward to the day when he's comfortable enough with the bit that I can put a drop noseband on him. I'm tired of the constant biting problems. Everytime he gets bored with what we're doing, he "livens it up" by trying to nail me. It doesn't matter where. He's gone after everything from my feet to my face and I'm just tired of it. He gets chased away, smacked or growled at and then comes right back and does it again. He obviously thinks its a game and I'm tired of playing it. I'm just not scarey enough to stop him using traditional methods. I've watched him do the exact same thing (including trying to bite feet) to his turnout buddies, take both hind feet to the chest, fall over and still come back to bite again. If he's willing to take that kind of damage, no little swat from me is going to discourage him. I've talked to a couple different trainers and they all say the same thing ... get a drop nose band, tie his mouth shut and just don't allow the game to start. They said its a common teenage stallion behavior and he'll grow out of it after awhile but until then, its just better to avoid the problem. I think I agree. He's come close enough to biting me in the face for me to be worried.