My absenteeism

Immediately after I fully recovered from whatever hellacious cold I had, life knocked me right on my ass.  Finally, I'm hobbling along again.  We did not make it to the intro ride.  Bummer but I just was not up to it.

Ruby is good, though she was a little starved for attention for a while.  I wanted to ride but I wasn't sure how I would react if she wasn't absolutely perfect.  Not fair to her at all, so I didn't ride for a week and a half or so. When we did ride again, she was, of course, perfect.  She enjoyed getting out and spending time with me.  We had a great time.

Waiting for Heather and Candy, Ruby kept looking pointedly down the road.  "Let's go already!"

Two days ago, I figured we should probably start learning some actual lateral movements. When she was moving straight sideways when asked, we practiced opening and closing a 'gate' (two jump standards with a rope strung between).  The first time, she didn't get it at all. The second time, she focused on the rope and seemed to get the point.  We stopped for the day.

Today, we just did some lunging.  I need to start building her topline.  It is so much better than when she first arrived, but not enough to make me comfortable.

One of the better, recent pictures I have, taken on Sept 10. Not a protruding spine, but not much muscle development either.

The only surcingle I have access to puts too much pressure on her withers, so I'm going to start looking for a used one with wither clearance.  Maybe something like this.

In other news, I finally know who Ruby's sire is!  I never had any grand illusion that he was some world-class stallion (and he isn't), but it's nice to have another piece to the puzzle that is Ruby's mysterious past.

Photo of WS Royal Sultan, shamelessly borrowed from allpedigrees.com.

Now I know where Ruby got her withers.  He hasn't done much, if anything, that I can find but he is a beauty.  If Ruby was born in 2000/2001 like it appears, he bred her dam as a yearling or two-year-old.  Not impossible, but not the norm for responsible, knowledgeable breeders either.  I don't care too much - whatever the circumstances were, I'm glad Ruby is here.

One more thing...something that bothers me.  On Monday when I went to take care of Ruby, I noticed that someone had braided a bit of her mane.  Her hair is wiry enough that it was still mostly there and obviously not a tangle.  Ruby is not a horse that enjoys scratches and cuddles, so I find this to be bizarre. And, it totally creeped me out that I don't know if it was another boarder or some random person who saw the pretty ponies and helped themselves to an unwelcome visit when no one was around.  It doesn't really make sense for it to be another boarder - they have their own horse's mane to braid, so I'm leaning towards 'other.'  I'm feeling a little paranoid about the situation.