Multiple Personalities?
I think I have been incredibly lucky with baby Henry. He is so well behaved and compliant during most of our rides other than the odd moment. Last night however, he was feeling like he rather didn't work!
We were up at the club again and after a day off Henry was feeling rather well and a little bit nervous. He walked reasonably well to warm up but started to unravel when I asked him to trot. Every few strides he broke into canter. I would woah him, then ask for trot again. Then we would do the whole thing again. He really didn't want to go forward unless it was to canter, so after a few failed attempts to keep him trotting I asked him to canter. That still didn't work either as he just wanted to throw himself about and run everywhere.
I tried transitions, walking, more canter, big circles, little circles and asking for more forward but none of it worked. He even tried having a little buck to put me off! He was getting more and more tense during our ride that eventually I thought 'right, one circle either way without breaking into canter and we are done'. He did ok to the left, but to the right he just didn't get it.
I was really torn about persisting until he worked like normal, or just being happy with what was good for the day. I was happy to settle for good for the day but there never seemed to be the right time to hop off and finish on a win. So we kept going!
All of a sudden Henry let out a huge breath, relaxed, and got on with it! The difference was incredible, he was soft, round and forward. OH was videoing bit of my ride and it was really beneficial to watch what was going on.
I am so glad I kept pushing. It was a huge win for me, and even better was that even though he was pratting about I didn't feel like I was going to come off at all, and his behaviour didn't worry me. Young horses can be challenging but so rewarding!
We were up at the club again and after a day off Henry was feeling rather well and a little bit nervous. He walked reasonably well to warm up but started to unravel when I asked him to trot. Every few strides he broke into canter. I would woah him, then ask for trot again. Then we would do the whole thing again. He really didn't want to go forward unless it was to canter, so after a few failed attempts to keep him trotting I asked him to canter. That still didn't work either as he just wanted to throw himself about and run everywhere.
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| Invisible jump |
I tried transitions, walking, more canter, big circles, little circles and asking for more forward but none of it worked. He even tried having a little buck to put me off! He was getting more and more tense during our ride that eventually I thought 'right, one circle either way without breaking into canter and we are done'. He did ok to the left, but to the right he just didn't get it.
I was really torn about persisting until he worked like normal, or just being happy with what was good for the day. I was happy to settle for good for the day but there never seemed to be the right time to hop off and finish on a win. So we kept going!
All of a sudden Henry let out a huge breath, relaxed, and got on with it! The difference was incredible, he was soft, round and forward. OH was videoing bit of my ride and it was really beneficial to watch what was going on.
I am so glad I kept pushing. It was a huge win for me, and even better was that even though he was pratting about I didn't feel like I was going to come off at all, and his behaviour didn't worry me. Young horses can be challenging but so rewarding!
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| Different horse! |
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