Operation Nappy Cob
21 June 2009 23:55![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
glenatronAt the clinic with Steve I asked him about the problem I've been having riding Zorro out and he had a great suggestion- if Zorro needs to come home, we go home, but when we get there it's not as fun as he thought it would be- we go straight to the school and work hard for a while. Then we have the choice to head back out of the gate and wander gently on. Or to go back to the arena and charge about in the sand some more.
We've been working this way a few times over the last couple of weeks and so far it has been very successful. At first we were only going a few metres before Zorro's homing instinct kicked in and we had a few disputes in the gateway coming back as to whether we go towards the arena or towards the field, but soon enough we were going further, making sure that we ended up at a point where I made the decision to come home. We also tried to time it so that if![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sleepsy_mouse was out on Small we would meet up somewhere on their way home and our way out, so that he could have the idea that riding out might entail meeting his friend.
At some point during this process I had a bit of a light-bulb moment: When he stopped and wasn't concerned but wasn't interested in going forward either I was just asking him on by bumping with my leg and generally making it less comfortable for him to be standing still than it would be for him to be moving. This is fine, but after one particularly long wait followed by a very sluggish walk I got frustrated and pushed him into trot for a few metres. Then I realised that in spite of being stuck and then being very reluctant in walk, he had trotted quite willingly. The next time we got stuck I tried to create the same feel I do when we make a trot transition when I asked him to go forward. Sure enough he struck off into a brisk walk. That moment suddenly gave me an insight into what people mean about putting life into your riding and I've found that I have a lot more available to me in different gaits as I control my life in that way.
By yesterday we had got to the point that we could ride out to the common, do a short loop and come home with only one moment of slight anxiety on the big guy's part and that was nothing we couldn't control.
Zorro looking slightly sceptically at me while we were riding out.
With that under our belt,sleepsy_mouse figured maybe we wouldn't make life too hard for her and Small if we were to ride out together again, which we haven't done for a while because Zorro was being a pest and she was finding she didn't enjoy it, and also because captain stumpylegs can't keep up with Small's enormous trot and brisk walk.
It turns out that following on from the work we've been doing I can actually get Zorro's walk quick enough that we don't get left behind the whole time and even pick our trot up to something that mostly keeps up with Small, although if he really opens up we have to go into a three-beat trot just to keep up.
We went on a longer ride onto the further and larger of the two local commons, climbing to a hill top ( "ZOMG! Concrete trig point on a hill!" - Small ) then winding back on ourselves to avoid the gunfight that sounded to be kicking off further around the common ( the army train there a lot, they only use blanks but it's noisy ) and going past my parents' house and along to the local pond.
My parents were home so they brought out little Pippa dog, who is terrified of the ponies but wanted to see us but is scared of the ponies but was pleased to see me when I hopped off, and we went for a bit of a walk together. I took the opportunity to get dad to take some photos of us:
Wandering through the woods
"Is this water safe, Zorro?"
"Yes Small, as soon as I've seen of these quacking critters here you'll be fine."
Goth horse stares at his reflection and ponders the meaninglessness of existence.
As the old saying goes: Cool feet now- sandy feathers later.
It was a really enjoyable ride and Zorro is a lot braver out with Small for being able to go out on his own. Also, I still love my bashed up old buckaroo saddle, it's awesome.
We've been working this way a few times over the last couple of weeks and so far it has been very successful. At first we were only going a few metres before Zorro's homing instinct kicked in and we had a few disputes in the gateway coming back as to whether we go towards the arena or towards the field, but soon enough we were going further, making sure that we ended up at a point where I made the decision to come home. We also tried to time it so that if
sleepsy_mouse was out on Small we would meet up somewhere on their way home and our way out, so that he could have the idea that riding out might entail meeting his friend.At some point during this process I had a bit of a light-bulb moment: When he stopped and wasn't concerned but wasn't interested in going forward either I was just asking him on by bumping with my leg and generally making it less comfortable for him to be standing still than it would be for him to be moving. This is fine, but after one particularly long wait followed by a very sluggish walk I got frustrated and pushed him into trot for a few metres. Then I realised that in spite of being stuck and then being very reluctant in walk, he had trotted quite willingly. The next time we got stuck I tried to create the same feel I do when we make a trot transition when I asked him to go forward. Sure enough he struck off into a brisk walk. That moment suddenly gave me an insight into what people mean about putting life into your riding and I've found that I have a lot more available to me in different gaits as I control my life in that way.
By yesterday we had got to the point that we could ride out to the common, do a short loop and come home with only one moment of slight anxiety on the big guy's part and that was nothing we couldn't control.
Zorro looking slightly sceptically at me while we were riding out.
With that under our belt,
sleepsy_mouse figured maybe we wouldn't make life too hard for her and Small if we were to ride out together again, which we haven't done for a while because Zorro was being a pest and she was finding she didn't enjoy it, and also because captain stumpylegs can't keep up with Small's enormous trot and brisk walk.It turns out that following on from the work we've been doing I can actually get Zorro's walk quick enough that we don't get left behind the whole time and even pick our trot up to something that mostly keeps up with Small, although if he really opens up we have to go into a three-beat trot just to keep up.
We went on a longer ride onto the further and larger of the two local commons, climbing to a hill top ( "ZOMG! Concrete trig point on a hill!" - Small ) then winding back on ourselves to avoid the gunfight that sounded to be kicking off further around the common ( the army train there a lot, they only use blanks but it's noisy ) and going past my parents' house and along to the local pond.
My parents were home so they brought out little Pippa dog, who is terrified of the ponies but wanted to see us but is scared of the ponies but was pleased to see me when I hopped off, and we went for a bit of a walk together. I took the opportunity to get dad to take some photos of us:
Wandering through the woods
"Is this water safe, Zorro?"
"Yes Small, as soon as I've seen of these quacking critters here you'll be fine."
Goth horse stares at his reflection and ponders the meaninglessness of existence.
As the old saying goes: Cool feet now- sandy feathers later.
It was a really enjoyable ride and Zorro is a lot braver out with Small for being able to go out on his own. Also, I still love my bashed up old buckaroo saddle, it's awesome.
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no subject
Date: 22 Jun 2009 01:58 (UTC)Looks like a lovely ride, and I'm glad Small and
Those chaps make you look very much like an authentic Natural Horsemanship guru in these shots, and I now have no idea why they looked so funny on you just a few journal entries ago. However did you manage that?
no subject
Date: 22 Jun 2009 10:13 (UTC)It's funny, the chinks have started to look normal on me. I mustn't get too comfy in them though, technically they belong to
no subject
Date: 22 Jun 2009 16:08 (UTC)no subject
Date: 22 Jun 2009 21:03 (UTC)no subject
Date: 22 Jun 2009 17:03 (UTC)Slays me dead. DED!
no subject
Date: 22 Jun 2009 21:09 (UTC)Nappy Cob
Date: 23 Jun 2009 19:30 (UTC)no subject
Date: 23 Jun 2009 19:33 (UTC)no subject
Date: 23 Jun 2009 20:56 (UTC)