Sunday in November! The only time I get to take a ride on my beloved Curly. I also had to gather acorn tops for a 4H project in the late afternoon, so I put the saddlebags on Didder and decided to kill two birds with one stone. Actually three birds, because the Labs accompanied us, and Sunday is their only day to join us in the November woods also. I put both my regular reins and my short roper reins on AhD. Denise told me that she just loves her roper reins on Reese, so I thought I'd give it a try. AhD is very feisty when not ridden regularly, so my focusing on acorn patches and my frequent mounts and dismounts were good training for both of us.
I made him stand on the metal bridge while I looked for a patch of acorn tops here. Is he cute, or what? He was really hoping that the acorn tops were a treat for him. :)
After I had gathered enough acorn tops for an army and had my face licked 1,000 times x 3 Labs, Didder and I came back to the house and had a bareback session in one of the pastures. He was still ready to challenge me at every lead change. I cantered him up a small hill a few times; he kept giving me that studdy "whoop-whoop" noise in his gut and tossing his head. I love my pony to pieces, but I have finally figured out that when I ride him less than 2-3 times a week and we do not have other horse company, that I do not enjoy all that spunkiness he has to offer. Does anyone have any good advice for this fellow RACer?
Sunday in November! The only time I get to take a ride on my beloved Curly. I also had to gather acorn tops for a 4H project in the late afternoon, so I put the saddlebags on Didder and decided to kill two birds with one stone. Actually three birds, because the Labs accompanied us, and Sunday is their only day to join us in the November woods also. I put both my regular reins and my short roper reins on AhD. Denise told me that she just loves her roper reins on Reese, so I thought I'd give it a try. AhD is very feisty when not ridden regularly, so my focusing on acorn patches and my frequent mounts and dismounts were good training for both of us.
I made him stand on the metal bridge while I looked for a patch of acorn tops here. Is he cute, or what? He was really hoping that the acorn tops were a treat for him. :)
After I had gathered enough acorn tops for an army and had my face licked 1,000 times x 3 Labs, Didder and I came back to the house and had a bareback session in one of the pastures. He was still ready to challenge me at every lead change. I cantered him up a small hill a few times; he kept giving me that studdy "whoop-whoop" noise in his gut and tossing his head. I love my pony to pieces, but I have finally figured out that when I ride him less than 2-3 times a week and we do not have other horse company, that I do not enjoy all that spunkiness he has to offer. Does anyone have any good advice for this fellow RACer?
Susan, is there any possible way to lunge him? Reese doesn't have the energy AHD does, but at times when he is feeling good it has made the difference between a great and not so great ride. Recently, Tracy took Zig out of the corral first and went riding around the yard....Reese isn't used to Zig leaving him (it's usually the other way around) so you could tell he was distracted a tad bit about "where did zig go?" So I put him in the round pen for a little warm up as I always do before our ride. My usual laid back, respectful boy was NOT a happy camper! At every reverse he would squeel and toss his head..I made him work harder...it didn't take long and he was over his little hissy fit and back to work mode. It was just the mental exercise he needed to make for a safe ride. Seeing his mind switch to acknowledging my authority gave me confidence and put him back with me as his partner. For a while we will have to revisit little distractions like this....but for the most part our lunging is pretty uneventful and just a reminder to him..plus gets his legs limber and body warmed up too. I also get him light with legs and mouth before I ride too. Any form of being braced won't help me on the trail. If you don't have a round pen, I would strongly suggest investing in one. It has been priceless for us.
ReplyDeleteWhen Linus gets full of himself I go back to some of the basic (cuz that's all i know!) Parelli exercises to make him use his head and occupy him mentally. It settles him fast and if he keeps acting out, we keep going back to it. He usually figures it out pretty fast though that it's time to behave! Good Luck!
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