Well how very, very interesting.
Ace was alone close to the house this morning when I woke up so I rushed into the boxroom and got two bute, put it in some Morrisons muesli, added some sugar to make sure he ate it and rushed into the garden to feed him it over the wall. He almost spat out the first mouthful and then decided that it was food, so it was worth a bit of an odd taste, and managed to finish it before the other two realised that he had something they didn't.
It was a great day to try our test of whether his behaviour in cold weather is due to any pain. It was intermitently raining, hailing and snowing and varyign between 2.5 and 6 degrees.
The answer was unequivocal. He is two different horses, depending on the temperature. When it is cold he sets his back and is reluctant to either swing forward nicely or bend. He bucks and kicks out in protest when you make him, and he sets onto the bit. He canters to evade a proper trot and he will not stay straight on a straight line.
When he is warm, he is a totally different animal. Quiet and kind, seeking the bit and staying in a much better balance.
How very odd!
I stayed out there until he behaved. I explained to him that we ALL hate this weather, but we still have to work! I smacked him when he bucked, I sent him on when he backed off, I held on when he pulled at my hands but I didn't pull back. Every now and then I stopped (once because it was simply impossible to continue in the hailstorm!) to let him stretch and back off mentally from the stress he was giving himself. It took a lot of time and a lot of persuasion, but I finally got what I was asking for - a nice relaxed trot figure of eight with a good change of bend in self carriage.
He can do it, he just has to learn that it's not optional depending on whether the sun is shining!
C
Truly strange. As long as you can win the battles, it's OK. Wonder what it is that sets him off like that? Bit of a "hothouse flower?"
ReplyDeleteThe weather does sound miserable. I'm not sure I'd be willing to work out in it myself. Then again, I am not one of your horses....*LOL*
It's a mystery Jean. With 2 bute in his system 6 hours before, it certainly wasn't pain. He just seems to hate the cold. I can't say I blame him, but he has to work through it, he lives in Britain!!
DeleteZippy was similar,but he was definitely cold backed, whereas Ace is just miffed all over at being expected to work when the temperature is less than 10c.
The problem is that he really is like two completely different horses and I have to react on the day to the horse that I have under me.
Sometimes that needs a disciplinarian approach and sometimes a collaborative one.
C
Just an additional thought here. When I was having training issues with PJ years back...before I discovered acupuncture...I tried bute and it made no difference whatsoever. Apparently, it had no effect on his muscle soreness.
ReplyDeleteIf the cold gets into Ace's muscles, so to speak, maybe he just needs a longer warm up. Hence the lungeing works. Could be metabolic or something.
Quite a few horses just down tools when the weather is bad. We had a TB mare who tucked her head in and tried to go back home if we were out in heavy rain.
ReplyDeleteMy horse doesn't exactly like the rain either.
There was a Junior Eventer - Tina Gifford?? - whose horse hated the rain and he did his European Championship dressage test in the rain, hence for once he kept his head down, and he went on to win the competition.
Solarium before you work him ?
ReplyDeleteAt the pro yard where I kept my dressage horse all the horses went under heat lamps before they were worked.
Or equissage ?
Judith/Suzanne you have hit the nail on the head. I'm going to post about it later but it turns out that instead of ME wearing a flak jacket HE should have been in an exercise rug!!!
ReplyDeleteC