Burning rubber!

SH was determined to get us to our lesson today! The only thing stopping us was 300 metres of ungritted hill between us and the main road. Why it was left ungritted yesterday I don't know, but it was a blooming nuisance. He made a run at it and got right to the top - to be faced with a van trying to come down. By the time the van had managed to back out of the way, we were at a standstill and couldn't get enough grip to start again.

So we backed all the way down again, not easy in a banked narrow lane in a lorry! Then I walked up to block anything else coming down, and SH had a second try. Only this time we had packed the ice down with the first attempt and made it more slippery. I could smell the burning rubber as SH inched the lorry up the hill, slipping and sliding as it went. Heaven knows what Zippy was thinking!

Then I spotted the snowplough coming down the lane. I waved and waved and waved at him and he ignored me and kept on coming. I thought he was going to plough straight over me! Eventually he got the message that there was a 22ft truck behind me, and that we were NOT going to back it down the hill again.

So we made it to Sonias with no problem after that. Well, not quite no problems, Zippy was completely unsettled. I think most of it was leaving Button with Jazz, but the journey can't have helped. Then Sonia was held up, and so as not to tire him, I walked him for half an hour. I think he just wanted to move, and by the time she arrived he was completely tense. He bucked in the first trot circle, not something he has ever done before, so I got off and we reset the saddle further forward. He was happier then, and although he continued to buck in canter transitions, he actually worked very hard. In terms of dressage, we made no progress today. But in terms of getting it through to him that throwing a paddy does not get you let off working, he learnt an awful lot.

Sonia's approach, once we have eliminated a physical issue, if he does something stupid like set himself or buck is simply to put more pressure on until he gives in. And then reward instantly with a release of the reins forward and down. This escalation in pressure isn't something we do with Jazz of course, just Zippy. It's difficult at times (like when he's just thrown a huge buck!) but I agree with her that we have a window of opportunity to get it through to him that he can't behave anyhow he likes, so that he stays rideable as the spring and five-year-oldness take hold in the next couple of months.

C.

ps now it is so glorious out there - do I paint a window or ride Jazz??????