Facing THings & going sideways
went to ride beejah today. he was NOT impressed with the saddle (he basically turned tail and walked off at great speed & i had to jog to catch him & try to simultaneously stomp on the leadrope to stop him in his tracks whilst carrying my saddle), so we rode bareback.
i do think his saddles need refitting AGAIN (only done a month ago) because he was clearly telling me he did not like the saddle on today. he ground ties fine and has no problem with doing work. he'll open his mouth up and suck the bit in, he'll put his halter on himself, he'll happily stand whilst i clamber on bareback, he'll lunge happily etc... so when he shows such a strong reaction to the appearance of the saddle, i do think there's a physical problem.
so, no saddle for a while. again.
anyway. after i got on i let him choose where to go and he decided to go to the end of the drive. we hung out for a while at the end, just standing & resting. then i moved him forward & he decided to turn around. that's okay too, as long as he's not panicking or silly, then i'll make him face it.
so we came back, went thru poppy's old paddock & said hello to guinness. headed to the bush strip alongside the arena (yes, the OMFGSCARYLALALALALA section that has caused many brain melts over the year i've had him). meanwhile, the fucking CHAFE in my butt was really screaming at me, but i was determined to deal with it (got it yesterday after our long ride out). he was REALLY bugeyed about the bush strip & even went so far as WHIPPING around and trying to head back, so i made him deal. one step at a time, then rest.
spent quite a bit of time on flexing left & right - he was so unresponsive at first he was just SPINNING and even got caught up in a length of electrical tape which caused another brain'splosion, but a much smaller one than i anticipated after seeing he was caught in it...
then faced him to the scary bush again & he was just bugging out. he just gets frozen with fear. good thing tho, he did not visit beejyland, & happily followed me after i got off and led him in. he was still anxious and looking around, but this is SUCH A FUCKING HUGE IMPROVEMENT - do we remember him trying to bolt off & DRAG me all over the place as he had no confidence in my leadership? so i think his being happy to follow me is a good sign. he did have a few moments where he wanted to barge me and let his feet do the talking, so i had to get in his face and make him FUCKING WALK BEHIND ME - i think i should get in the habit of having my carrot stick when we ride out - i've got no lead & only short leather reins - they reallly don't work very well & i don't want to resort to using my hands to "push" or "shove" him.
so we turned around and walked back thru the bush and he was more relaxed. i asked questions regularly and got his legs crossing (meeting of right & left brains), which is GOOD. got to the short end of the arena & tried to do sideways game to get more leg x-ing, but that is fucking hard with no carrot stick or training lead! omg. i kept having to settle for ONE little leg x.
so went back to my shed and got my carrot stick.... ahhh, MUCH better! i just don't know how to ask very well with a bridle - it's taken me 10 months to get used to twirling a training lead and weilding a carrot stick, so trying to do the same with a bridle will prob take another 10months! we practiced sideways for a while, as well as some porcupine game on his shoulder (i do it normally behind the girth - to move his front end/shoulders).
he was processing nearly the whole time too.
...
when i go there this afternoon i could tell he was in a bit of a MOOD. he was not interested in chatting to me and was very concerned about stuff going on in the bush. he barely even showed any interest when i got to his gate, which is very unusual for him.
...
anyways.
i do think his saddles need refitting AGAIN (only done a month ago) because he was clearly telling me he did not like the saddle on today. he ground ties fine and has no problem with doing work. he'll open his mouth up and suck the bit in, he'll put his halter on himself, he'll happily stand whilst i clamber on bareback, he'll lunge happily etc... so when he shows such a strong reaction to the appearance of the saddle, i do think there's a physical problem.
so, no saddle for a while. again.
anyway. after i got on i let him choose where to go and he decided to go to the end of the drive. we hung out for a while at the end, just standing & resting. then i moved him forward & he decided to turn around. that's okay too, as long as he's not panicking or silly, then i'll make him face it.
so we came back, went thru poppy's old paddock & said hello to guinness. headed to the bush strip alongside the arena (yes, the OMFGSCARYLALALALALA section that has caused many brain melts over the year i've had him). meanwhile, the fucking CHAFE in my butt was really screaming at me, but i was determined to deal with it (got it yesterday after our long ride out). he was REALLY bugeyed about the bush strip & even went so far as WHIPPING around and trying to head back, so i made him deal. one step at a time, then rest.
spent quite a bit of time on flexing left & right - he was so unresponsive at first he was just SPINNING and even got caught up in a length of electrical tape which caused another brain'splosion, but a much smaller one than i anticipated after seeing he was caught in it...
then faced him to the scary bush again & he was just bugging out. he just gets frozen with fear. good thing tho, he did not visit beejyland, & happily followed me after i got off and led him in. he was still anxious and looking around, but this is SUCH A FUCKING HUGE IMPROVEMENT - do we remember him trying to bolt off & DRAG me all over the place as he had no confidence in my leadership? so i think his being happy to follow me is a good sign. he did have a few moments where he wanted to barge me and let his feet do the talking, so i had to get in his face and make him FUCKING WALK BEHIND ME - i think i should get in the habit of having my carrot stick when we ride out - i've got no lead & only short leather reins - they reallly don't work very well & i don't want to resort to using my hands to "push" or "shove" him.
so we turned around and walked back thru the bush and he was more relaxed. i asked questions regularly and got his legs crossing (meeting of right & left brains), which is GOOD. got to the short end of the arena & tried to do sideways game to get more leg x-ing, but that is fucking hard with no carrot stick or training lead! omg. i kept having to settle for ONE little leg x.
so went back to my shed and got my carrot stick.... ahhh, MUCH better! i just don't know how to ask very well with a bridle - it's taken me 10 months to get used to twirling a training lead and weilding a carrot stick, so trying to do the same with a bridle will prob take another 10months! we practiced sideways for a while, as well as some porcupine game on his shoulder (i do it normally behind the girth - to move his front end/shoulders).
he was processing nearly the whole time too.
...
when i go there this afternoon i could tell he was in a bit of a MOOD. he was not interested in chatting to me and was very concerned about stuff going on in the bush. he barely even showed any interest when i got to his gate, which is very unusual for him.
...
anyways.