Gnarly McTeeth
10 November 2007 19:41![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
glenatronI did a little bit of schooling with Zorro today, which went pretty well once we got started. Before that, a little shakey- it turns out I can't tack up in the barn because he gets too excited by being in there and wants to go and Godzilla all over everything. Thats not always popular with the other owners and not entirely safe so I think we'll have to work on it. I guess it will be a lot of "don't move until I ask you to" type exercises - he is beautifully responsive on a lead, but the moment I'm not asking him to do something he rather thinks that means I'm giving him permission to carry out his own plans.
He's got something going on with his teeth too, which is probably part of the reason he's been so confoundedly mouthy over the last month or so. We've got the dentist coming out in a couple of weeks ( booked ages ago- he's a very good dentist and consequently in demand ) but until then it's not fair to ask Zorro to work with a bit, which means that we're stuck in the school. He's probably more responsive on a halter/hackamore than a bridle and certainly better trained to it but he's not insured as such and it's not worth taking risks where insurance is concerned.
When we got into the school I was working on the exercises Karen French gave us a few weeks back, building up to a circle around block markers and adding an extra marker at the far end of the school so we could create other shapes with me still having a real objective to focus on and direct us to. It's good for me riding off the halter, especially doing the one-rein stuff which was most of what I was doing today. It really helps me understand what the reins are for and to avoid overusing my outside rein, which I've always tended to do. Actually, I overuse reins generally and it's pretty good for that as well. Also I still have to really concentrate when we're working on a tight circle because my inside shoulder still naturally drops down as a result of years of cycling. Keeping myself properly level in that situation will be a real challenge for me.
One thing that makes it harder navigating around blocks with Zorro is that, being The Stompenator he mostly wants to knock them over rather than going round them. Keeping my attention focussed further round the circle helped but he still mostly wants to stomp things and it's hard to stop him because it's so funny.
The good news is that the Hedge Of Doom no longer contains doom. I'm not worried about what Zorro will do there now, so when he gets a little anxious about it I don't do anything to reinforce his anxiety and rather than rearing, spinning, and charging off bucking he doesn't really do more than picking up his pace a little and flicking an ear it's way if we're working on that side of the school.
He's got something going on with his teeth too, which is probably part of the reason he's been so confoundedly mouthy over the last month or so. We've got the dentist coming out in a couple of weeks ( booked ages ago- he's a very good dentist and consequently in demand ) but until then it's not fair to ask Zorro to work with a bit, which means that we're stuck in the school. He's probably more responsive on a halter/hackamore than a bridle and certainly better trained to it but he's not insured as such and it's not worth taking risks where insurance is concerned.
When we got into the school I was working on the exercises Karen French gave us a few weeks back, building up to a circle around block markers and adding an extra marker at the far end of the school so we could create other shapes with me still having a real objective to focus on and direct us to. It's good for me riding off the halter, especially doing the one-rein stuff which was most of what I was doing today. It really helps me understand what the reins are for and to avoid overusing my outside rein, which I've always tended to do. Actually, I overuse reins generally and it's pretty good for that as well. Also I still have to really concentrate when we're working on a tight circle because my inside shoulder still naturally drops down as a result of years of cycling. Keeping myself properly level in that situation will be a real challenge for me.
One thing that makes it harder navigating around blocks with Zorro is that, being The Stompenator he mostly wants to knock them over rather than going round them. Keeping my attention focussed further round the circle helped but he still mostly wants to stomp things and it's hard to stop him because it's so funny.
The good news is that the Hedge Of Doom no longer contains doom. I'm not worried about what Zorro will do there now, so when he gets a little anxious about it I don't do anything to reinforce his anxiety and rather than rearing, spinning, and charging off bucking he doesn't really do more than picking up his pace a little and flicking an ear it's way if we're working on that side of the school.