Woody Woodpecker had a challenge this morning. The wind was absolutely howling in from the east. It had even taken down a tree, admittedly quite rotten, overnight. And big bad meany me told him that he had to go out for a hack.
He was a big brave boy. A little nervous but nothing that wasn't justified, and we did a proper 40 minutes hack, mostly walk, which on the flat I think is equivalent to an hour. I am surprised about how fit he is for a horse who has been laid off on flat land for a long time. I expected him to be exhausted by being out on my hilly acres, but he wasn't. He is well ahead, in terms of work he can cope with, of where I thought we would be at the ten day mark.
He has also worked out that I am his person, here to stay, and is talking to me and being very sweet. Two of my friends whose opinions I rate highest are very, very taken with him and say he is a superb horse. I'm a little biased, but I do agree :-)
I meant to ride Ace this afternoon but in the end I just couldn't be bothered to go out in the cold and the wind. Tomorrow will do. I need to work out how we are going to progress with our schooling when what makes him go spooky is being asked to do precision work (turns, transitions) at set markers. Will it work just to move him away from the spook-spot and ask for the transition or turn at a different but equally precise point? Will we just have to wait until he is older before he will accept it? Will he ever? These and other questions still to be answered.
Everyone is tucked up warm in the barn as I write, eating haylage. They still have the option to go out into the field down the new path that I made them this summer. Somehow I don't think that they will be taking that option until dawn!
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Maybe Woody kept himself fit by moving around a lot in a pasture. It would certainly be better than living in a small paddock or inside. He sounds like an uncomplicated horse - a nice break from the idiosyncrasies of some other characters that have frequented your barn.
ReplyDeleteHe's a teddy bear!
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I am most impressed with Woody's level head and charming personality. You are one lucky mom to have gotten him!
ReplyDeleteThinking of Ace and the spooks. One potential theory is to put him in ahoulder-in as you approach the spooky thing. You, as well, need to focus on the exercise, not the spooky thing. If you put your eyes on the barrels, that alerts him to "spooky thing coming up!" It's not easy when you know the horse is going to react to the "thing" whatever it may be, but the less you react the better. The shoulder-in turns his eyes away from the object, maintains the forward, and gives his brain something else to think about.
Then again, maybe you have already tried that. *sigh* I am losing track of what we've already discussed here.
That wind sounds wicked. Hope the whole winter doesn't blow like that.
He fights shoulder in Jean, it's one of the things that makes him buck and rear, not to be allowed to turn towards the spookspot.
ReplyDeleteYou are right that it is worse unless I look away though!
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