By George I think he's got it!
Well George was very confused today. Bend? you want me to bend? Flex? you want me to flex? You want me to do them BOTH! TOGETHER!!! But because he is such a forward going boy, and has a really good length of neck, I actually found it surprisingly easy to get the ideas through to him. OK, not like Jazz and Zip, but hey, it was real progress. Sending forward, contant changes of bend and a bit of judicious finger wiggling (OK bit-rocking sometimes, but it worked well). I often had to bring his shoulders over, and sometimes the front end looked right but the back end had to be pushed outwards. On trot to the right I had to sit before I could persuade him to stay soft. He did it all though, and really tried to understand. I ended up with a half a circuit on each rein of a soft and forward trot, and I think he even surprised himself!
Jazz and I went out for a short hack. He's not quite sound in trot on the road on one diagonal, but he was happy. In fact I suddenly realised that he was swinging along in a way that I'm not sure he ever has before, as if he was really enjoying hacking out - and we were still heading away from home. Then a tractor came around the bend. It was carrying a black plastic wrapped round bale of silage, with bits of wrapper flapping in the breeze, in a grabber on the front. And another on a spike on the back. Jazz stood on the verge and just watched it and it stopped a few yards away, when he walked straight past it. I was absolutely stunned. Is he growing up? Don't hold your breath but it seems as if he might be!
Zippy has had the day off. There is nothing that he can safely learn in the confines of the barn that he doesn't already know, and I wasn't going to get even colder and risk getting wet taking him out for a hack he doesn't need either. I turned him out with George while Jazz and I went out and I watched them racing each other up and down the field. George certainly can move for a big boned fellow and they'll both be fit with no effort on my part :-)
C
ps I left off the poultice last night because there was a nice hole big enough to get plenty of peroxide in. It hasn't swelled overnight, so I repeated that this morning and will keep doing it for at least another week.
posted by cptrayes @ 11:53 AM
6 comments
6 Comments:
What I have found in the past is tht most horses--if they are sound--actually begin to prefer going round and soft once they find out how good it feels, and, of course, their muscles start to build up for it.
Years ago, I was watching Russell R. playing with another horse and despite Russell's larger size, he was maneuvering rings around the other fellow. Russell was rounding himself on his own and the other horse was head up stiff. Taught me a lot about developing athleticism with suppling.
Which means Zipster better watch out. Once Geogie figures out the suppleness angle, he is going to start scoring more points in the horse pasture olympics! *G*
Wow! What a change in Jazz. To be so bold and quiet about that monster tractor thingie is nothing short of amazing, considering what's happened before. Fantastic. You must be really excited. Three fab horses now in your herd.
Jean I know you'll understand why I am more excited about what Jazz did today than any other progress he has made. It's the change of attitude I needed, his performance ability is not in doubt. It was completely stunning to have him calmly walk past such a monstrous beast wihout more than a fairly interested glance at the machine, engine still running, never mind the bales! If this change is permanent then our exceptional training problems are over and we just have "normal" to deal with now.
I also completely agree that once you can persuade/fool/heck even "fiddle" a horse into the right baby outline it discovers that it's a really pleasant place to be and does it more and more willingly. George started on a great note today.
C
good news all round!
i did know how to move shoulders, but am having to remind myself ... still tempted to move back to yard with indoor. and better surfaces/size , but it's SOOOO big (i.e, number of horses/people)...and you have to buy all bedding/hay/haylage from YO...
Interesting you should say that about a baby realising the 'nice' and comfortable place to be.
i've been struggling with Vigo since I got him - his preferred way of going is camel mode. He bulges the underside of his neck out and spends his whole time leaning 'up' against the bit. SO frustrating.
So I set about trying different bits - anything I could lay my hands on - and stumbled across a Myler Low Ported Comfort Snaffle with hanging cheek (I was, in my defence, trying to find a bit that would give his tongue more room). Horrid thing and Vigo hated it from the moment I put it in his mouth but I was determined just to try it once in the school. Turns out it was far too strong and he largely dropped behind the contact but it did make him drop his head (it was damned uncomfortable I imagine). So inadvertently that one session was a breakthrough - he learned he could drop his head and once the milder bit went back in (we have of course gone back to what I started off with at the very beginning - isn't it always the way) he's 'found' that comfy place and we now have the start of a nice baby/long/low outline which you can actually work with.
Cassie about the only time I'd ever use draw reins is to make (uncomfortable word but not with "hardness", with leverage) a failed racer (or any other horse with a mobile neck that has learnt to pull upwards against the bit) to find that comfort spot. Once they've found it, you can stop doing it because they like being there. I hope Vigo understands that now :-)
Claire there's no subsitute for decent facilities with a difficult horse. I think your arena is very small, and with a difficult horse you need a big space or life is just too hard for them to want to co-operate with you. Poor George this mrnign was falling in off the circle and ended up trotting a 5 metre one because my barn is so small! A less generous creature would just dump me on the floor instead of working that hard.
C
mrnign! Morning of course.
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