Quick Update: That Damn Horse

I manage to get a hold of the vet today, and she is unable to come out until tomorrow at the earliest.  In the meantime, she asks me to take video of Walker lunging so that she could assess it.  This is fine.  This should be fine.

Except when I get to the barn, he is not only fit as a fiddle and sound, but he's angry because he's been sound and kept in.  I proceed to lunge him anyway, and while I admit that he is still off enough to warrant my concern (after all, the question still remains as to why he was lame), he's generally looking pretty good.

Now, before I lunged him, I decided to socialize with the three women out there with their horses.  They proceeded to sell me on the Clinton Anderson program 100%, and I must admit that after watching the crazy, unbelievable things they could get their horses to do (like simply wag their finger in front of the horse and the horse will back up half way across the arena), I am pretty sure I will be doing this program.  One girl has only been riding for a couple years and has only had her horse since February.  She can already get him to do all of the Beginner movements (and I assure you, these movements are not "beginner" to any normal barn's sense of groundwork).

So after they do all this fantastic stuff with their fancy, super broke horses, I bring Walker into the arena.  And of course, why would he behave when he can have a meltdown on the end of the lunge line in front of everyone who is now watching what my horse can do.

Well I'll tell you what he can do, folks.  If I wag my finger like this, he will ignore it.  If I wag my whip like that, he will leap four legs off the ground into the air.  For kicks and giggles, he will even rear, and for the grand finale, he will not be concerned at all that he is on the end of a lunge line and mid trot, he will fall to his knees and roll in the sand.

I mean don't get me wrong, Walker was never a saint on the end of a lunge line, but my main problem lunging was always letting the speed demon get it out of his system.  He would run like a madman, throw in the odd buck, freak out - but he never reared, and he sure as hell never rolled!  He also managed to rip the lunge line awkwardly out of my hand and now my middle finger is throbbing and gushing blood.

He may not be lame today, but after that performance, he's bound to be lame tomorrow!