No looking back!
Jazz has been a good boy today :-) I turned out Zippy and Georgie because Jazz was going training and for the first time ever he made no fuss whatsoever. He didn't run to the door, he didn't call out, he didn't boxwalk, he just stayed completely calm. We sat in McD on the way there drinking our first coffee and planned the session. Normally he would regress badly after a three week layoff, so we planned a long warm up until he was really listening.
I did longer/shorter canter and canter/trot until I felt he was ready to work. The he warmed up really well. He stopped at a spread the first time it was put up to height, but that was a combination of me hesitating because I had not seen the stride, and him not knowing where I wanted him to go once he had landed because there was a forest of fences in front of him.
He had one other stop at a big spread because I had not sent him on properly into it, and apart from that he was jumping a metre really confidently. He made no fuss whatsoever about poles and a filler stood in a corner where they have never been before. And he jumped a spread placed awkwardly off the wall at the first attempt, which is also a first for today. He has always refused it at least once every other time we've gone.
He's not nearly fit enough and we'll have to do a lot more fast work and hills, but he's ready for his first affiliated entry to go in the post. We have another five weeks training time but the entry has to be in next week. With his increasing willingness to respond to training, I'm feeling as confident as I have ever been that he will be ready soon. And I do so love his ornery but cuddly personality!
George has put on a lot of weight the last two days so he'll need his food cut down. But it does show he's settled in really well and is as happy as he looks. His neck is increasing in size incredibly quickly as I do the flexion work, and he's beginning to look rather swell. Zippy is still growing and has gone babyish in looks again, which usually means he's going up again. I must measure him soon, he's no shrimp now!
C
posted by cptrayes @ 1:53 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
The successes with Jazz seem to be coming in leaps and bounds--pun intended. *G* He does take a bit of riding, though. I prefer a horse that doesn't need me to tell him what to do when a jump looms in front of him, but already Jazz is progressing towards that ideal. What an amazing difference in his attitude just in these last two months!
A lot of "horsemen" could get some good lessons here. How often people give up on good horses just because the training doesn't go smoothly. Sometimes all it takes is patience, persistence and creativity to bring out the best in a horse.
George and Zip are growing together. One up, and one out. Kind of cute. *lol*
I never give up - well , only once. I tried to manage Jack for four whole years until I admitted to myself that it was his father (there were plenty of others in the area the same - EmmaR on EE has one). Jazz was always going to be worth the wait.
C
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