I surprise myself sometimes with how dumb I can be. I went to saddle Ace up this morning and I thought that the front of the panel on one side didn't feel quite right, but I just thought I'd have a look at it later. I mean, how idiotic is that at this stage of his recovery, I ask you?!?!?
Anyway, I got on and walked around for a while and not surprisingly he was wary of the feel of the saddle and he didn't really loosen off and was dawdling around the arena. I flicked him a few times with the whip, just gently, but then he decided that he simply could not cope with an odd feel from the saddle AND me flicking him with the whip and started to hump.
It wasn't serious and he wasn't trying to get me off, just to tell me to leave him alone I dropped the whip and he immediately relaxed and went on to do some nice trot 8s, with change through trot and then change through walk. Followed by trot around the arena track, which was a first since he came back into work, and then some gentle unpressured lengthening, also a first. I asked for one canter transition on each rein, the first for that too, but I only cantered a few strides because that was all I wanted.
It seems to me that the amount of tail thrashing that he is doing is reducing steadily. But it's also clear from his demeanour that he is not yet ready mentally to be asked to do any serious work in a more adult frame, because he tenses up as I pick up the reins. So I'll be sneaking that up on him by degrees, like I did today, by starting the trot deep and low and gradually shortening the reins and picking him up with each change of rein.
It is a great help that he is so very, very different from how he used to be when hacking out. That and the feel of his back when I massage it let me know that he is only holding back on the arena through fear and not through pain.
Basically today, I got away with it, but what on earth was I thinking of taking such a risk with an unbalanced saddle? In my defence, the difference is slight, and I currently have the airbag under pressure test to see if it has a hole in it or if it was just the tube leaking over time, which they can do.
It is now raining heavily and forecast to last 12 hours, which will make hunting tomorrow unlikely. We'll have to wait and see.
C
The fact that Ace settled down and gave you some nice work despite the saddle is another milestone.
ReplyDeleteThe bad habits he learned during the years of pain are going to take a little time to cure. You'll just have to treat him as a problem horse until they do. It's clear to me you have both the skill and experience to get his reschooling done pretty efficiently and then get on to moving him along to a bright future.
Every post just gets better and better.
It says volumes about his new attitude, doesn't it Jean?
DeleteC