With work being slow due to the holidays, I decided to take some time off after Christmas and naturally that meant hanging out at the stables! So, for the past couple of days, I've been working with Max and even took an additional lesson. Max wasn't so keen on having to work, especiall since I'd show up at 8 AM when it was good and cold. However, after a 20-minute warm-up period, Max got into the spirit of things and it got better.
Besides training, I even managed to go on a couple of nice trail rides, nothing major. Also, I managed to put in some saddle time riding three other Standardbreds- Kisses, Blondie and Sue. Kisses and Blondie I know pretty well, but Sue was a new experience.
On different days I took Blondie and Kisses out on the trail (my wife was riding Max) and it was an interesting experience, to say the least. Kisses is usually pretty good on the trail although she sometimes gets a bit excited and twitchy. Also, sometimes she gets excited if she sees other horses, whether walking or riding, she wants to run. Maybe it's memories of her racing days. I'll be working with her more to try and resolve some of her trail issues- she doesn't get out a lot so it's understandable that she's going to have some issues.
With Blondie, I've ridden her mostly in the ring on the track but not on the trail. I decided to first ride her solo, taking a short loop down the wash, under the bridge and around the Equestrian Center. Unfortunately, that was not to be.
I'd been assured that she'd be OK and everything went fine until we began to go under the freeway bridge- then she didn't want to go. Then she wanted to go home, I kept spinning her in circles and smacking her with the crop but it just seemed to get her more pissed off. I ultimately rode her back to the stables and made her run and trot- no free ride for being a jerk.
I then rode her out again only this time accompanied by my wife who was riding Max. For some reason, Blondie didn't mind this and she followed Max with little problem. I did, however, trade in my short crop for a dressage whip and every so often used it to urge her along when she'd slow down. At sevaral points she tried to turn around and head back to the stable but I stopped that pretty quickly.
Sue, on the other hand, is a lot younger and didn't have a lot of trail experience so I restricted my work with her to the arena and track at the stables. She was a bit fresh and you had to be very light on the bit- she was convinced that I was goind to take her face off (I later found out that I should have used a snaffle bit on rather than a curb bit.
Overall, it's been a busy couple of days.
Besides training, I even managed to go on a couple of nice trail rides, nothing major. Also, I managed to put in some saddle time riding three other Standardbreds- Kisses, Blondie and Sue. Kisses and Blondie I know pretty well, but Sue was a new experience.
On different days I took Blondie and Kisses out on the trail (my wife was riding Max) and it was an interesting experience, to say the least. Kisses is usually pretty good on the trail although she sometimes gets a bit excited and twitchy. Also, sometimes she gets excited if she sees other horses, whether walking or riding, she wants to run. Maybe it's memories of her racing days. I'll be working with her more to try and resolve some of her trail issues- she doesn't get out a lot so it's understandable that she's going to have some issues.
With Blondie, I've ridden her mostly in the ring on the track but not on the trail. I decided to first ride her solo, taking a short loop down the wash, under the bridge and around the Equestrian Center. Unfortunately, that was not to be.
I'd been assured that she'd be OK and everything went fine until we began to go under the freeway bridge- then she didn't want to go. Then she wanted to go home, I kept spinning her in circles and smacking her with the crop but it just seemed to get her more pissed off. I ultimately rode her back to the stables and made her run and trot- no free ride for being a jerk.
I then rode her out again only this time accompanied by my wife who was riding Max. For some reason, Blondie didn't mind this and she followed Max with little problem. I did, however, trade in my short crop for a dressage whip and every so often used it to urge her along when she'd slow down. At sevaral points she tried to turn around and head back to the stable but I stopped that pretty quickly.
Sue, on the other hand, is a lot younger and didn't have a lot of trail experience so I restricted my work with her to the arena and track at the stables. She was a bit fresh and you had to be very light on the bit- she was convinced that I was goind to take her face off (I later found out that I should have used a snaffle bit on rather than a curb bit.
Overall, it's been a busy couple of days.
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