Smooth devil :-) !
Zippy is relaxing into his walk now and it's smoooooooooth. Absolutely slinky and gorgeous. We went out for a little hack and he was great. A teeny bit spooky but nothing unexpected of a 3 year old, in fact quite the reverse, he is less spooky than most.
He did totally refuse to stop and wait for a landrover to pass him and I had to find a gateway, but we'll forgive him that as he was on the way home and waited quietly in the gateway. He was also passed by another car a minute later and he went to the side of the road and stood still nicely for it.
It takes eight or ten attempts to get him to stand still to be mounted, but once he stands he stays stood until I have taken my stirrups and asked him to move off. That's more than Jazz does! And once he has been turned out after being ridden, he comes back to the gate while Jazz wonders off and won't leave me until I leave him. Isn't that so sweet?
Talking of Jazz, I am about to go outside and school, so check for more later if you're desperate to know how it went.
C
OK Jazz's training session :
Now children, can you remember which of the Rainbow boys and girls was sensible enough not to go through an electric fence? Yes? That's right! It was Zippy, wasn't it?
And can you guess who wasn't sensible enough not to go through an electric fence? That's it! Bungle!!
Jazz decided that he'd had enough of being asked to do travers, that he wasn't going to do it and that since the quickest route back to his stable was through an electric fence, that's what he'd do. He got a shock, of course, took off across the field trailing 20 metres of wire behind him, and took me into the stable yard. I walloped him and took him back out onto the arena and he promptly did some great travers, just like he had been insisting that he couldn't do just two minutes earlier. He tried several more times to leave the arena, getting half way up the side and rearing. Thankfully I was able to turn him away from the direction he was refusing to go in and then complete a small circle and carry on.
I did some trot lengthening and was pleased with how he is trying to understand. And a walk to canter on each rein, with some lovely quality canter (he is beautifully balanced and cadanced and very round, though he is holding himself quite tight and I'll be trying to loosen that off as time progresses)
Final question - can anyone tell me why I am still slightly nervous of riding Zip and not the least nervous of riding Jazz :-) ? Surely the way they behave it should be the other way around!
C
posted by cptrayes @ 3:20 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
I love slinky walks. I also love horses that don't spook at everything. And I adore big three year olds--though my little now four year old is darn cute too.
The wait at the gate till Mom leave is certainly endearing. Sometimes Tuck will do that and sometimes, he rips off as if he had jets on his feet. Guess it's just whether or not he is in a loving mood.
How's the lameness Jean? I'm just off to check your blog to see.
C
I think you have a slightly skewed perspective on life...to answer your question. *G* I have a feeling Jazz's reactions are just a little bit slower than Zip's as Zip is one of those quick, sharp horses. He's also a little less bodied right now than Jazz, so probably you feel more physically secure on Jazz??
And, Jazz has never offered to buck. So all of his evasions are not the "throw you off the horse" kind. Although I don't like that rearing nonsense.
What remains to be seen is which one of the two ultimately has the better self-preservation instinct. That'd me the one for me.
You have, however, developed a very interesting technique for perfecting travers. Fortunately, I don't need to adopt it for Tucker who is perfectly happy to go sideways with any leg at any time.
Chance, if you read the blog is better but not totally sound. I am hopeful a few more weeks of confinement will clear up the problem. Otherwise, it is going to be a real puzzle figuring out what's wrong. The lameness is very slight now and some people might not even notice and just think he was taking a bad step now and then.
In answer to your question, you're wired wrong!! I'd be happier on Zippy from your descriptions. But you like a challenge and that's what you look forward to with Jazz.
:o) Tracey B
Physical security is definitely a huge part of it Jean, I never feel like I'm going to come off Jazz, it's true. He does buck though! Only when I hit him, so I generally don't :-)
The rearing is an issue. Usually it's bunny hops but now and then he does one that would grace any spaghetti western. I used to hate rearers, but again there is no feeling of insecurity - he is so balanced that it never actually feels unsafe, though I'd guess it looks pretty spectacular.
Tracey you're right of course - I do look forward to Jazz's little challenges :-))) See today!
C
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