We've done it!

After several sleepness nights in case it didn't work, and 14 hours work on the part of Superhubby, we have a solution to Jazz's lorry issues. I'd have love to have done it some more gentle and gradual way, but he was so dangerous that it simply wasn't an option. This is how he looked this morning. There is a rope over his withers (thank you Michaela, it was absolutely invaluable and it was your idea) plus two at the chest, one to stop him going forwards and a lower one to stop him getting his knees up. The partition is heavily braced where you can see it at the top on the nearest side. On the far side, which has to open, there is a sleeve over the pole preventing him from pushing upwards and releasing the sprung leg. All eight legs have similar stuff, that's what all the work was about. That and reinforcing the shelf from the inside with masses of steel. I think you can see from this photo just how scary it was having him go beserk in such a confined space. Imagine him with both front feet on that shelf trying to beat it in - (well succeeding actually!!) :-0

He was testing from the moment the doors were being shut, before the ramp even went up. He gave it a real go, plunging and trying to jump through the ropes. The one over his withers stopped him from going up and from getting his neck back to give himself a run up. It worked perfectly. There was rattling and straining, but nothing moved and Jazz knew he was beaten. He must have tried about eight times in all, then, as I expected, he gave up. His only protest after that was to paw a lot and bite the shelf (;-~ ?) I was able to leave him alone for short periods, wait until the pawing stopped, and then go back in when he was quiet and I could reward him for being good. Talk about Superhubby and I being relieved. If it hadn't worked, we had nowhere left to go! Not to mention what injuries to horse and lorry "hadn't worked" might have meant :-0000

Now we can get out to the farm ride with friends and have some real fun together and he can learn what life is all about. I'm so chuffed, I can't tell you.

I rode him afterwards and MY was he in a bad mood! Not surprising I suppose. He kept going to the door and standing there as if I would get off and let him out. He seemed a bit resentful that all it earned him was a kick or a flick with a whip, but he did what I said with reasonable grace. He did finish nicely after 20 minutes or so.

Tia was super in walk and trot this morning, really good. She had mental issues again about the canter transition. She seems not to be able to work out where to put each of her seven legs :-) Anyway, I refused to get into a pulling match, which she likes to do now and then, and we got a couple of really quite decent ones and then stopped. She watched the Jazz cabaret from the safety of her stable.

I'm trying now to work out what Jazz will do next. I think he may try to break out before the restraints are on, so I am sourcing clips which will be safe and let us get it all done up quicker. For the moment we are on knots for safety, with a knife for quick-release. Once he realises that he is stuck once he's in there, I guess it's possible that he will refuse to load at all. But he hasn't done that so far when there was plenty of provocation, so I'm hoping that won't happen.

Having had all that stress this morning, followed by an absolutely gi-normous Christmas lunch with an unaccustomed lunchtime glass of wine and two of cranberry Schnapps, I'm off for a snooze!

C.