Baby horse blues
As far as baby horses go, I am very lucky with Henry. He takes most things in his stride, stays pretty calm, and isn't too reactive under saddle.
He came to spectate at the weekend and he was pretty cool about being left at the float and about being in a busy environment.
With all the rain and with getting Coolie ready for Gidge, I didn't have much of a chance to ride Henry until Tuesday. 7 days of no work and a young horse full of feed, feeling well and getting more confident in himself is the makings of a challenge!
I always make sure his handling is consistent and firm and we do a lot groundwork, especially after a few days off.
I hopped on and refused to think about anything but a perfect horse. Positive thoughts and all.
He was very well behaved if a little energetic, right up to when I asked him to canter. We had a steering failure and a bit of leg flailing. He was immediately halted, and then told to canter. Rinse, repeat... he got the picture pretty sharpish and by the time we were done he was back to his usual self.
At the time it worried me a little bit. After previously being bucked off daily by a young horse I have a little bit of anxiety about these things. However on reflection I know so much more now and I know how important it is to have very firm boundaries and to push them forward. Coolie is no angel and what he does never worries me, so why should Henry?
Armed with these thoughts I hopped on board yesterday and had a prefect baby horse. Steering to the right is a little dodgey still but he was listening and trying really hard. We even tackled some puddles with no drama and met the new horsey neighbours!
My take home lesson from all this is to not over think things and just get on with it!
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| Cold and wet! |
With all the rain and with getting Coolie ready for Gidge, I didn't have much of a chance to ride Henry until Tuesday. 7 days of no work and a young horse full of feed, feeling well and getting more confident in himself is the makings of a challenge!
I always make sure his handling is consistent and firm and we do a lot groundwork, especially after a few days off.
 |
| Starting to fatten up |
I hopped on and refused to think about anything but a perfect horse. Positive thoughts and all.
He was very well behaved if a little energetic, right up to when I asked him to canter. We had a steering failure and a bit of leg flailing. He was immediately halted, and then told to canter. Rinse, repeat... he got the picture pretty sharpish and by the time we were done he was back to his usual self.
At the time it worried me a little bit. After previously being bucked off daily by a young horse I have a little bit of anxiety about these things. However on reflection I know so much more now and I know how important it is to have very firm boundaries and to push them forward. Coolie is no angel and what he does never worries me, so why should Henry?
Armed with these thoughts I hopped on board yesterday and had a prefect baby horse. Steering to the right is a little dodgey still but he was listening and trying really hard. We even tackled some puddles with no drama and met the new horsey neighbours!
 |
| Neigh-bours |
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