First of all I had a lovely hack on the most relaxed horse that Ace has ever been out on a hack. Still spooky, but in a much, much quieter way than ever before. I am counting the entire 23 months I have had him in that.
This morning was the first time that he did not move out from under the lights as soon as I released the rope. He just stood there, and I had to move him to do up the girth. I think he's worked it out how nice they are!
After Ace I rode Woody. Sometimes it is very difficult to distinguish between the fact that he is a backward thinking horse to hack who does not want to leave the others; the difficulty that he has understanding that "forward to the bit" and "please don't jog, walk" are not complete opposites and really can be done at the same time, and whether he is feeling grit on the bad pieces of road with his feet.
What is not difficult to distinguish is that he is completely sound and taking more and more weight into his heels as the days go by. Today I really don't think that anyone looking at him standing on the yard, no matter how experienced in spotting body and foot issues, would see anything but a completely normal horse.
Tomorrow will be a first. Because I am working on Friday I intend to school him tomorrow, which will be the first time that he has worked for two days in a row. That will be interesting, to see both how he reacts, and how he copes with the work.
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More good news for Ace. Getting him out on hacks is so good for his overall fitness and, more importantly, his brain. Glad he is becoming a fun ride.
ReplyDeleteWoody? Some horses just don't think "forward" when they are unsure. I have a feeling as he feels better and better on those feet and with his "new" body that he will gain a little more enthusiasm for hacking. Chance may be the first horse I've ever had who goes faster and more enthusiastically on the way out than on the way back. I haven't had any real "backwards" hackers, exactly, but I do recall that PJ didn't take to it as happily as some. But the more we went out, the more he liked it. Hopefully Woody will too.
I think the body issues are as much to blame as anything Jean, he is the same on the arena, pretty much.
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