Donk++

[glenatron]

We've had a couple of days with Donk now and he's settled down a whole lot. He's continuing to be a gentle and pleasant horse to be around.


Doing a bit of groundwork with him. I look like I'm running off into the distance here but although his trot was leisurely we were going at much the same speed.


sleepsy_mouse rides him. Our arena features a decorative lake as part of it's landscaping more or less any time it rains.

We aren't asking for a lot from him yet, just getting the idea of how he works ( sensitive, but not off the scale like Small is, much more forward than Zorro, lots of try ) and giving him the idea of how we work. Thus far he has proved himself to be quite charming.

Comments

[glenatron.livejournal.com]

I think the bridle looks closer to his eye than it is- he has kind of dark patches around his eyes that more or less correspond to where the bridle goes so it can be a bit hard to judge what is bridle and what isn't.

It is a little high though - I'm not that enamoured of the bridle really, I would like to try him in something simpler with a longer browband, but that is what he is used to and we don't want to change too much too soon.

[makoiyi.livejournal.com]

Yes, photos can be deceptive, and, no, you're right, you shouldn't change things too quickly, that just fries their brains :(. That's one thing Dave and I totally agree on. We hates 'gadgets'. By that I mean anything more than a very plain bit. If you've got to put xtras on then where is the problem? I don't mean a simple martingale or something but gags and tight nosebands etc. If a horse is flinging its head, have you tried looking at its teeth or your hands - that kind of thing - but many folk just put a stronger bit or a tie down on or something, which I find odd. But that's me, although it sounds like you are much the same. You have to use a double bridle for dressage though, don't you? The higher stages, anyway, so if he's used to that then no doubt he takes it all in his stride. What does Zorro think of him?

[glenatron.livejournal.com]

I'm the same actually.

He's in a pelham, but not on a double-rein. I don't like shanked bits on horses I don't know well because if I really want to get a horse stopped I need to be able to bend them and that's easier off a snaffle ( or a simple hackamore I guess ) than it is off something that offers back-and-forth leverage but less outside movement. Also it's harder to guide a horse's feet out sideways if you are on a longer bit. So all in all I'd want to work a horse in a snaffle to start with. Apparently Donk prefers what he has, but we've not experimented much with that yet - he may just not really understand the snaffle. Some horses do seem to like or work better in pelhams though. Often seemingly stronger bits are more comfortable for some horses. I think the really "gentle" ones that you see, particularly fat rubber ones, tend to take up a lot of space in the horse's mouth and there isn't a whole lot of room there so thinner bits are more comfortable for them often.

Certainly that's something I would like to do some work on with him, starting from the same place as Tom was in some of the work on that clinic a couple of weeks ago.