Knucklehead Bud
First thanks for the condolences on Appy's passing. When I get a few spare minutes I plan on posting the pictures Chris took of us last week. One thought that I have found comforting, as odd and possibly morbid as it is, is that had Appy been a "wild" dog she would have been gone a long time ago. Our pets and animal companions get such good care that they live a lot longer than they would, and longer than they did even a few decades ago. I am glad she had a long life. I am sad I had to make the choice, I would have preferred not to, but for her sake I did.
I have been very busy with lessons. I had five cancellations last week and still taught 19! That does not include working Bud either. I also finally caught up with my books (I was almost a month behind) and input all my new clients since the end of November. I have about 30 active clients. CRAZY.
Speaking of Bud I rode him three times this week. Tuesday I rode him out and worked him past a semi with a flatbed trailer. He was a little leery of it, but he worked through it fairly quickly. Thursday I rode him in his turnout and reviewed a bending counter-bending exercise and he did so well the first time through each direction I called it quits. Saturday Sue had things she needed to accomplish so I picked him up during a break and then rode him after my last lesson. I had a sense he'd be a bit full of himself as he srarted whinnying his head off as I led him over to the property.
I had a moment's though of lungeing him before I got on, but went ahead and swung up inside the dressage arena. He was certainly distracted in the warm-up and kept hollering for I-don't-know-who and trying to look this way and that. Bud's big issue is distraction. He does pretty well driving, but he also works in blinders. Riding him in an open bridle can be a chore as he just has a hard time focusing on the task at hand.
I started him in the trot and worked some serpentines. He kept speeding up as we headed North and I would check him and not quite get a full response and could feel him binding up a bit. I guess I should have really sat him on his butt rather than moderating his speed politely (because he wasn't politely increasing it, but being a bit chargey), but hindsight is 20-20. He finally threw a buck and charged off, which twisted the saddle out of place and took me a moment before I could properly engage my aids to stop him. When I got him stopped I had a pretty good stitch in my right side and the saddle was about six inches off center with me still sitting in the middle of his back. I dismounted, gingerly stretched my side and marched him to the roundpen where we did some trot-canter transitions from the ground and changes of direction until he realized I was more important to pay attention to me than whatever else was going on. When he looked like he was listening I asked him to walk, if it took more than five seconds he got to canter some more, then we'd trot and try again.
He was puffing pretty good when he finally decided listening was easier than blowing me off. I took him back to the arena and climbed on again. We walked a bit and then tried the trot again. As soon as he sped up I slammed the breaks and made him back up. Each time he increased speed unasked it was the same immediate shut down. He stopped speeding up pretty quickly and started trotting like a somewhat normal horse. I cooled him out and it was still warm enough to hose him down before returning him home.
I do need to remind myself I have only been riding him for about 10 months and to our knowledge that's pretty much the extent of his saddle training (not sure you count his brief stint as a therapy horse dragging people hither and yon). He still has a bit of stuff to work through as his previous owner(s) who let him get away with murder, but a far cry from my first experiences with him!
He's still a knucklehead.
I have been very busy with lessons. I had five cancellations last week and still taught 19! That does not include working Bud either. I also finally caught up with my books (I was almost a month behind) and input all my new clients since the end of November. I have about 30 active clients. CRAZY.
Speaking of Bud I rode him three times this week. Tuesday I rode him out and worked him past a semi with a flatbed trailer. He was a little leery of it, but he worked through it fairly quickly. Thursday I rode him in his turnout and reviewed a bending counter-bending exercise and he did so well the first time through each direction I called it quits. Saturday Sue had things she needed to accomplish so I picked him up during a break and then rode him after my last lesson. I had a sense he'd be a bit full of himself as he srarted whinnying his head off as I led him over to the property.
I had a moment's though of lungeing him before I got on, but went ahead and swung up inside the dressage arena. He was certainly distracted in the warm-up and kept hollering for I-don't-know-who and trying to look this way and that. Bud's big issue is distraction. He does pretty well driving, but he also works in blinders. Riding him in an open bridle can be a chore as he just has a hard time focusing on the task at hand.
I started him in the trot and worked some serpentines. He kept speeding up as we headed North and I would check him and not quite get a full response and could feel him binding up a bit. I guess I should have really sat him on his butt rather than moderating his speed politely (because he wasn't politely increasing it, but being a bit chargey), but hindsight is 20-20. He finally threw a buck and charged off, which twisted the saddle out of place and took me a moment before I could properly engage my aids to stop him. When I got him stopped I had a pretty good stitch in my right side and the saddle was about six inches off center with me still sitting in the middle of his back. I dismounted, gingerly stretched my side and marched him to the roundpen where we did some trot-canter transitions from the ground and changes of direction until he realized I was more important to pay attention to me than whatever else was going on. When he looked like he was listening I asked him to walk, if it took more than five seconds he got to canter some more, then we'd trot and try again.
He was puffing pretty good when he finally decided listening was easier than blowing me off. I took him back to the arena and climbed on again. We walked a bit and then tried the trot again. As soon as he sped up I slammed the breaks and made him back up. Each time he increased speed unasked it was the same immediate shut down. He stopped speeding up pretty quickly and started trotting like a somewhat normal horse. I cooled him out and it was still warm enough to hose him down before returning him home.
I do need to remind myself I have only been riding him for about 10 months and to our knowledge that's pretty much the extent of his saddle training (not sure you count his brief stint as a therapy horse dragging people hither and yon). He still has a bit of stuff to work through as his previous owner(s) who let him get away with murder, but a far cry from my first experiences with him!
He's still a knucklehead.