Tornado - in coming!!

Ok, we don't get tornados out here, but after the week I've had it may have well have been one. Off to the Back Country Horsesman of California Rendezvous in Merced at the County Fair, Youngest One and I trundle off with the Kit mare along for Matt Sheridan to work in his clinic. 

Signups had "stalls" @ $20/night, so I packed shavings and buckets and stall stuff...  Rolled in around 8:30PM on thurs. and what? no stalls, they had them, but even the event organizer (not a horse person) wouldn't let me use them.  Little Kit was gonna get more than her one or two lessons this weekend....  Turned her out in an arena with 5 other stock all owned by the same guy. She immediately picked out the smallest burro out there and started cutting it from the herd.

 By this time its a long way past my bedtime and my friends said they keep track of her for me, and off to the hotel I went. Nice place, Kelly was already there.  The Booth we vend for the AV Unit of BCHC was set up and ready to go, so we turned in.

Friday AM: Youngest one is still in a wrist cast from his latest scooter advetnure, so bag the cast/duct tape/shower for him and then the rest of us and off to the fair...  Picked Kit up out of the arena, and she was a little pushy and sorta haughty about the fact she got to track that poor little burro all over hell and gone all night long.  Brought her over to where Matt would be clinicing, and found a stand alone pen for her to be in.  Did I mention she's only been with buddies or in a separate pen next to somebody before?  Food & water out for her and off to the booth to check on Kelly and Youngest one.  They are doing fine, so nervous mother that I am, I head back out to check the mare.  She's fine and Matt still isn't here, back to the booth to try and help there for awhile, but really not focused on what needs doing. 

Matt rolls in and wants me to go ahead and saddle the mare and tells me we plan on riding her both days (oh great, now  I can make a fool of myself twice in one weekend).  He starts on the first horse and I stand with the mare outside on a halter line.  About an hour later, JC the first mare is done and he calls me in explaning our background and his work with us thus far.  We start off just circling and bending left (bad side) on the halter from the ground, much like he finished up with JC, but she is not the same horse we had last weekend at his place.  Resistant, and non-compliant, and not trying very much.  Matt takes over and tries to get her working, but still no really  change.  The decision is made to "lay her down. "

First thought - my saddle and tack will be dirt filled, yuck.
2nd thought - it all washes, if she needs it, go ahead.
Next - oh call Kelly out of the booth to watch, too. 

I have only some idea what this entails, and Matt asks me, "It will probably take about 45 minutes for this mare to decide to lay down for us, are you ok with that?"  He's the trainer, so I agree and step out of  the way and watch the man work his magic.

In the next 45 minutes, he danced with this mare and was safe with her until she chose to lay down for him.  He had a tough time, the mare has had her way all her life and no one has ever asked this of her before. She went through all the stages, fighting him, sulling up and getting mad, etc.  She even went as far as to flop herself down, and then raise her head and look at him as if to say, "Is this what you want and can I get up now?" at which point she'd come up swinging for Matt with her head or her shoulder or a front foot.  That little mare was not about to choose to lay down and (the important part) let down emotionally.  Matt was right, at about 45 minutes, she finally laid down and shut her eyes and just rested there calmly.  Stretched out like a big dog sunning herself in the pasture.  When he was done, he just let her rest and get up on her own - took about 3-4 minutes for her  to regain her feet. She first sat up like a dog and looked around like "mmhuh, well, looks like they don't want hurt me after all." She caught her breath and got up to her feet, and just stood there. Matt gave her patts and turned her over to me and said, "She's gonna need a bath." The crowd was good, Matt asked that when the mare went down that they please stay quiet and for the most part they did. Everybody clapped and I led her off and the mare who has only had one bath her entire life stood stock still (not even tied) while I washed the entire  mess (saddle, horse, pads). I tied her to the trailer, undressed her, and turned to watch Matt's remaining stock work.

That was emotional for all of us; I was a nervous wreck hoping Matt wouldn't get hurt, YO who videoed most of it, was worried for the mare and his mom (who evidently was a little pale through the whole thing), Matt was working hard to stay safe and keep the mare from hurting herself or him, Kelly was watching to make sure it all went down well and to know what she'd have to deal with when we got home,  and I was just a wreck worrying about the mare, Matt's safety, my tack, the mess I've have to clean up after, how she'd turn out, would it make a difference, will I be able to transfer this lesson on to me, not just Matt. Gosh the list was endless.

Afterwards at dinner, YO asked Matt, "So Matt do you dance that well with your wife?" Got a totally blank look from Matt, YO explained that it looked like he was dancing with the mare this afternoon... Matt did an aw shucks kinda move, smiled and said, "No, I'm a horse trainer, not a dancer." 

BTW we highlined all Matt's horses (even mine-I borrowed one)  <-- Another lesson for Kit.  Tied overnight.  Another tale for another time...  Off to bed.