right place wrong day
My lesson with Sonia was ... tomorrow! We got all the way there to find her packing up to go to a show. My mistake, I put it on the diary board for the wrong day. We'll have to go again tomorrow now!
I gave him a short school when we got home and he was great. He did a few flying changes on the diagonal and some lovely trot work. Radar's walk and trot is coming on fine. But today he just will not, will not, will not canter. It is too hot to carry on, I will give him heat-stroke! But I have showered him off and put him away to cool down and we will have another short ride in an hour or so. I don't want to leave him having misbehaved and won. He was chucking himself around and eventually fell off the arena down the bank and then decided that the easist way to get away from any more work was to walk through the electric wire fence. I'm pretty sure the power was off, because he leant against it with his chest for about a second before he broke it and walked through and I didn't see him react at all.
I'm off for a cool drink and then back outside to teach Radar some manners!
C
LATER ........
Well that went beter than expected. He was completely happy to walk and trot with a nice mouth and decent balance. About as good as he can do, in fact. And he took one raggedy attempt at canter on each rein, but canter on each rein he did. So we stopped and I have given him his third bath of the day and put him back with the other two.
Butterbelly is getting terribly round! I can't feel his ribs. I'm not sure what to do. He is not at all laminitic and seems perfectly happy. I could try a muzzle at night, but do you honestly think Jazz will leave it on him if he begs him to take it off? No, neither do I. I don't want to keep him in on his own at night, and I really don't want to have to exercise him, and I'm short of other options. What do you think I should do with the little porker?
moreC
Later still .....
I just bought a Shetland muzzle off eBay. We have to try, don't we? I can't have the little fella dying of a heart attack because of his waistline!
evenmoreC
posted by cptrayes @ 3:21 PM
9 comments
9 Comments:
I am sorry, but I ended up laughing...not about the lesson, but about Radar's tantrum. One would think falling off the edge of the arena might have left an impression of..."gee, that wasn't a good thing to do." Instead, he carries on through the electric fence just to accent his protest!
Russell R. was prone to tantrums. Once he "fell" off a trail into a bit of a swamp. He had to struggle to get back out. It quickly dawned on him that his nonsense had caused the accident and he behaved like an angel the rest of the ride. Same thing once when he fell on a slippery spot on the track as I was trying to get control during a jumping practice. I guess Radar needs a little more in the way of consequences to get the picture.
And, do I suspect the pelham will be out again? Seems to me "someone" needs a refresher.
Hope the lesson...TOMORROW...is a good one. And do tell us how Sonia did at the show.
The bad news is that he had the pelham on and he completely and totally ignored it! I don't want him having a chat with Jazz about how he manages to do that :-000 !!
Judging from the number of scrapes and lumps Radar manages to put on himself, he isn't good at "consequences". If only the fence had stung him he might have realised, but it was broken somewhere and that bit was not live, worst luck.
I'm about to update for what happened next Jean.
C
Guess Radar has a high pain threshold. Not like Russell at all in that respect. Russell was brave but he didn't like to get hurt if he could help it.
At least he worked the second time round. Not perfect, but quite an improvement. Apparently you and he are going to have to establish some kind of agreement on the training schedule. *LOL* He is quite an opinionated fellow. He and Jazz have a bit more in common than I expected.
I've said it before...Butterbelly needs a little set of harness and a neat little cart and off you go!! Pulling you around would be great exercise for tubby. On the other hand, a muzzle is a good idea. Maybe at that level, Jazz won't even see it.
I have a mental picture of a Shetland on a hamster wheel.
shetland on hamster wheel, rofl rofl..
i like the driving idea. perhaps one of those saddle chariots?
" I have a mental picture of a Shetland on a hamster wheel."
Whata bloody good idea, and you could hook him up to the mains and get him producing the electricty too!
Radar.....:-O
Radar has a huge stubborn streak Jean. Once you hit his "no" spot, there is simply no point in carrying on, you won't get what you want no matter what you do. Thankfully he was not bucking today and is basically a very good natured boy. I am learning daily how to keep him from turning into a mule!
ER I laughed out loud! Then I remembered that I have a treadmill and if SH builds a cage around it, he can have his own personal horse-walker .......
I love the driving idea too Claire, but I don't have time to add Butterbelly to the exercise list. I do want to do SOME other things in life than the horses :-)
Ah now Mandeigh, if we could SELL the electricity that would really make the treadmill idea worthwhile - must talk to SH :-)
C
Take the butterball on hacks with you - ride and lead. Perfect!
PS for the avoidance of doubt I suggest you ride Jazz/Radar and lead the butterball.
Thanks for the advice about which to ride :-))))
C
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