Bud
I finally got back to working Bud two weeks ago. We had about a month off because Sue's body worker suggested he not do anything like collected work for two weeks after being worked on and she didn't want the breastcollar pushing on his shoulders either. I wonder if a collar or a more shaped breastcollar would do better for him. Sue has been wanting to get a new harness for him since day one and we remeasured him a couple months ago and I even helped her go over various harnesses and pick out one, but she quit her job due to a terrible work environment (verbally abusive boss who apparently goes through assistants a few times a year) so the funds for a new harness are tied up elsewhere.
Anyway, the two weeks were up and then I was in Utah and we had some really nasty hot, humid weeks and things finally came back together about three weeks ago.
He did really well his first drive and pretty good his second as well. Saturday was number three and Sue started out with him. Our first obstacle was a girl in a swing in her front yard and you could tell Bud was checking in with Sue to see how worried he should be about it. I did end up taking the reins as we pulled level with it as Sue was getting a little snatchy with the reins and not helping Hud mentally at all. We had a brief moment of "why are you demanding things of me?!" as I sharply asked for his attention and him to move forward. We passed the offending swing a couple times before moving on and ran into obstacle number two about a quarter mile away and around the corner. I saw it first, but I don't think Sue realized that there were people next to the pool until the girl jumped in. Bud shied sideways and forward and I quickly picked up the reins from Sue and worked to get him back in a thinking state of mind. We worked back and forth as the girl continued to swim and splash and his reactions got softer and softer. He eventually went by with a low head and some blows. I think any horse would have been a bit out out by a person jumping into a pool out of the corner of its vision so Bud still gets kudos for not quite completely losing his marbles and coming back to me quickly. We had a couple other little spots that Sue stressed about as she drove, like a van coming out of a drive so we worked on keeping her talking and maintaining soft, sympathetic rein aids in accordance to how Bud was responding.
As I told Sue when we dropped down to me working him once a week plus a lesson instead of twice, I could try and put all sorts of buttons on Bud at this point, but it won't do her any good if she lacks the confidence and skill to drive him. So our focus is getting her to drive him more and I'll be there to help out in the tricky spots. I told her if she started going out alone or with Henry it was perfectly OK to see an obstacle she wasn't comfortable with and turn around rather than trying to work past it at this point. I have also offered to do two lessons instead of the one work and one lesson, but she's yet to take me up on that offer despite my noting that I am perfectly happy to hook Bud up without Henry's assistance.
So the state of the Bud is good and he's at a point where, for the most part, I am enjoying working him and he is no longer this big chore. The Budoofus may be growing on me at this point. It has only taken three years! I don't think he likes being a riding horse as much as he does a driving horse, but he tolerates it well enough. I'll be taking him out on trail Thursday, which I haven't done since the beginning of summer.
Anyway, the two weeks were up and then I was in Utah and we had some really nasty hot, humid weeks and things finally came back together about three weeks ago.
He did really well his first drive and pretty good his second as well. Saturday was number three and Sue started out with him. Our first obstacle was a girl in a swing in her front yard and you could tell Bud was checking in with Sue to see how worried he should be about it. I did end up taking the reins as we pulled level with it as Sue was getting a little snatchy with the reins and not helping Hud mentally at all. We had a brief moment of "why are you demanding things of me?!" as I sharply asked for his attention and him to move forward. We passed the offending swing a couple times before moving on and ran into obstacle number two about a quarter mile away and around the corner. I saw it first, but I don't think Sue realized that there were people next to the pool until the girl jumped in. Bud shied sideways and forward and I quickly picked up the reins from Sue and worked to get him back in a thinking state of mind. We worked back and forth as the girl continued to swim and splash and his reactions got softer and softer. He eventually went by with a low head and some blows. I think any horse would have been a bit out out by a person jumping into a pool out of the corner of its vision so Bud still gets kudos for not quite completely losing his marbles and coming back to me quickly. We had a couple other little spots that Sue stressed about as she drove, like a van coming out of a drive so we worked on keeping her talking and maintaining soft, sympathetic rein aids in accordance to how Bud was responding.
As I told Sue when we dropped down to me working him once a week plus a lesson instead of twice, I could try and put all sorts of buttons on Bud at this point, but it won't do her any good if she lacks the confidence and skill to drive him. So our focus is getting her to drive him more and I'll be there to help out in the tricky spots. I told her if she started going out alone or with Henry it was perfectly OK to see an obstacle she wasn't comfortable with and turn around rather than trying to work past it at this point. I have also offered to do two lessons instead of the one work and one lesson, but she's yet to take me up on that offer despite my noting that I am perfectly happy to hook Bud up without Henry's assistance.
So the state of the Bud is good and he's at a point where, for the most part, I am enjoying working him and he is no longer this big chore. The Budoofus may be growing on me at this point. It has only taken three years! I don't think he likes being a riding horse as much as he does a driving horse, but he tolerates it well enough. I'll be taking him out on trail Thursday, which I haven't done since the beginning of summer.