More about Joe - he is learning stuff all the time, but to give you an idea of just what he DOESN'T know, I spent a few extra minutes grooming him today - including tidying up his mane, trimming his bridle path, putting dermal aid on his mane...... just regular stuff, but he was "incredibly" alarmed by all of this, he even pulled back on the tie ring I use and scared himself. He is just not used to anything that is different. But I know that the only way to get him used to it is to continue doing it - which I did and he was fine and quiet at the end, but he is truly not used to so many things that I take for granted with most of my other horses!
So then, I rode him and he was good :) I lunged him for a few minutes, but I think that the day is almost here that I won't need to do that anymore - he is ready for me to just saddle him up and get on (at least I think so)....
When I got on and rode him and he was pretty good but since I went to the Ian Tipton clinic, it reminded me about some of the softness training that I used to pay more attention to and I know that Joe is a bit sticky with this, so I have been focusing on it. We did that for a few minutes and then he seemed a bit "bucky" swishing his tail and jumping around a bit (not a lot!), but I got off anyway, looked him all over, saw nothing and so got back on - he did this twice and I couldn't see anything.... so we continued on and he was fine. Now, if we had been further along in our training session I might have thought it was resistance, but it was only a few minutes in,,, so it was something else. Anyhow, whatever it was, he got over it and we went on to have a really nice ride.
And then, he did it again! When I got off, he gave a low whinny to me - ohmygosh he is sweet!
Shelly in Summerland, BC Canada
The whinny is so awsome!!!!! I think it is so cool to watch them learn that something new isnt going to do them harm....and they fact they trust you to do it is such a hug to the heart!!!
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