Awwwww, not in the rain mum!

Ace was not impressed with the weather conditions he was asked to work in this morning.  I guess he associates cold and wet with back pain,  and he was kicking his hind feet before I even put my boot into the stirrup. But I got up anyway, took my stirrups and asked him if he would like to walk to the gate where he was pointed. He did. Ten quiet and gentle steps, a halt and dismount.

I took him back to the mounting block and went to get on again and he tried to kick my foot with his hind leg. So I stood poking his side with the toe of my boot. One, to tell him off for what was an unnecessarily aggressive expression of his fear of pain. Two because I may make a mistake any day and stick my toe in his side and he must not overreact if I do.

He looked surprised, as if he had simply forgotten his manners and was a bit embarrassed to have had to be reminded. He stood still for me to get on and again sauntered to the gate perfectly relaxed.

His fear of pain on the arena is quite marked. I check his back first, then lunge, and have his stomach loaded with acid neutralizer, so I do think this is just fear.  I have no worries at all about riding him out on the road next week, but we will have some relearning to do before he lets go of his fear of schooling.

This is why I do everything twice. So that he does not think that he has narrowly avoided pain by telling me that we are leaving the,arena after the first time. Tomorrow the mounting block will be twenty paces away from the gate and we'll do it all over again.

C