Tuesday, April 16, 2019
Thanks to my neighbor, Frank, for the photo of me working Sunni with long lines while Rosie hangs out on the side. Both girls got their workouts, it’s the beginning of getting them into shape for cart-pulling days ahead.
This year, instead of hauling horses over the mountains to our trainer for sprucing up, I’m taking on the work of reacclimating them to harness and handling. Constantly working the ropes and keeping a horse moving correctly takes strength, in my case it also means swallowing dust.
In long-lining, the trainer uses two 30-foot ropes to simulate rein handling while driving a horse. The near rope guides the horse to move in a circle, and the off rope allows the horse to move out and maintain a wide circle. While sitting behind a hitched and moving horse, a driver’s hands and elbows constantly are busy and guiding. Long-lining an exercising horse requires a handler’s similarly active arms to guide and control.
I’ll long-line as often as possible considering our somewhat unpredictable weather and my part-time job schedule. These experienced horses need only a week or so of this routine before they’re ready for hitching. Sunni will restart her conditioning workouts in the neighborhood. Rosie’s somewhat higher energy takes slightly more handling, and we’ll practice in the workout arena before moving on to local streets.
Dear Friends, our pets with jobs love working, and they keep us young. Diana
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