Ace wasn't feeling much like work today and neither was I. I had a terrible night's sleep and was sick this morning. I've no idea why but I took it easy and we had a session mostly in walk. He was setting when I tried 'longer and shorter' in trot, so I took it back to jog/working trot/jog instead and that kept him loose and supple.
Then we tried to herd some sheep off the field, but it made him so excited when I turned him quickly to canter and head them off when they made a break for it that he bucked, smacked my face with the back of his neck and stood on the spot jumping up and down. I just about stayed on, and decided he is not destined to be a sheep horse!
He has a couple of days break now while I am away, and he deserves it after all he has been through lately.
C
Oh dear...or oh sheep! Obviously Ace is not a farm worker type. Once again, rather too much like Tucker. That would be his reaction too.
ReplyDeleteSome horses just have that excitable temperament. Anything out of the norm sets them off. Others are more contemplative and ready to accept new things after a bit of thought.
I'd wager that when you are sitting on Ace and he is experiencing something new and strange, you can feel his heart starting to thud under you...and then, of course, there is that quivering sense of foreboding within his tensed muscles and raised head.
Not my favorite feeling.
The 'ankle pump' heartbeat! Not fun, is it?
ReplyDeleteC
on tonight's evidence, he needs lessons from Monfils, who clearly is a sheep horse!
ReplyDeleteGet him to drop a word in Aces ear will you Claire?
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