I took Ace out for a hack and he was much more confident than usual - until he saw the fire-breathing, horse-eating sheep hurdles being unloaded from a trailer so that some guys could do some work with some sheep. I think I have him worked out now, so I just sat and waited him out. And so did the men, bless them! He spun about ten times, but each time I continued the spin and he found himself back where he started. Eventually he took a deep breath, literally, and summoned up enough courage to sidle past it all. I was very pleased with him, he really did make an effort to be brave.
After that I cancelled my planned hack on Jazz and schooled instead. I think you'll understand why! I put a Liverpool bit on him because I wanted to nail these flying changes without him snatching at the bit. It was very successful and he didn't fight it at all. After a few attempts I got a double change on one side on both reins, so then I turned them all out and went to get the shopping.
C.
As long as you can sit Ace's spins, I have decided it's best to stay on. It does sound as if he really does get scared of things, but experience should help that.
ReplyDeleteAs for Jazz...he is progressing super well at the changes. Tempis are not far in the future.
How interesting - to sit out his panic and have the confidence to let him work it out for himself. Something intuitive tells me that will build his confidence in you and acceptance of the environment faster than if you forced the issue.
ReplyDeleteUmm, what are sheep hurdles?
Well they do sheep racing around here and they put up hurdles for them to jump ..... :-) they are portable lightweight metal fences that lock together (think crowd barrier lite) so that they can create a pen wherever they want to work sheep.
ReplyDeleteAce is genuinely scared but will gather enough courage if you let him wait five minutes. Jazz, on the other hand would at the same age gather enough courage if you waited 50 minutes, but he would also rear and climb the banks if you remember back then. I spent many a "happy" hour waiting for him to understand that daffodils are not carnivorous.
C