Evening ride

[glenatron]

When I arrived at the yard today it was way too hot to ride a black horse, so after some chores and sleepsy_mouse joining me, we left Zorro where he was and went around a few other places on our way to our lesson with Julian, which was really good. He seems quite pleased with how we sit on a horse now and we're even allowed reins - though we're still on the lunge - and managed to get on well with those as well.

We visited Small on the way home - he's been making some positive progress since his operation but this evening he wasn't feeling so great. The heat had probably got to him and everyone has their ups and downs after major surgery, but it wasn't good to see. He had some extra checks and treatment which meant that we were there for longer than expected and only got back to the yard around seven o'clock.

I went and grabbed my horse and we went off for an evening ride around the valley. It was pleasantly cool and new not-allowed-to-stop Zorro is a much more steadygoing trail horse. I think our big dispute a week or so back actually did get through to him a little and the strategy I have adopted since then seems to be helping too. Today we rode through both herds of ponies that graze on the nature reserve here and we kept going calmly and steadily although Zorro did want to stare at them as we went past, which is understandable. Really good.


Black ears and bluebells in the chestnut coppice.


What are sunsets for if not staring nobly into?

When we got back it was almost dark and then I had to walk home in the increasingly gloomy evening. It was fine along the ridge, but through the woods with the rustling of night creatures scampering unseen around me it was a tiny bit eerie. I tend to get more superstitious at times like those. Also more cowardly especially as my phone battery went flat just as I got to the darkest part. I did walk home in record time though.

Comments

[joycemocha.livejournal.com]

No, Janet doesn't post there any more--not enough time. But Laura's been writing about her Sunny horse and his temperament.

The thing about horses like Sunny and Zorro (both yours and the schoolie in our barn with the same name and similar temperament) is that you can be more aggressive with that kind of gelding (usually a gelding, not a mare, though there are some mares like that, such as Rosie in our barn) both verbally and physically. I'm not talking about beating the horse, but it's funny how a single pop with a quirt designed to sting mildly and make a lot of noise can be effective, or a curt snap of your meanest "Quiiiit!" settles them.

I am able to be a little more physical with Mocha than I was at first, but judiciously so, and only when it's appropriate. She's also more comfortable expressing her own opinion, especially during her heat cycle when her sides are touchier than they would be normally. However, I do remind her that while swishing her tail is okay, kicking at the leg is NOT. We have to discuss that for a couple of cycles in the springtime, usually. And then it doesn't come up for the rest of the year, except maybe once in the fall during a transitional heat. But I am nowhere near as physical with her as I was with my extremely alpha, quasi-broncish Sparkle mare, who did occasionally need the aggressive reminder that I was in charge. As long as I was fair about it--i.e., she'd stepped out of line and knew it (a testing moment), she was fine. But otherwise, she'd fight back, and she came from fighting bloodlines. Sunfishing bucks, hard bucks--I've never ridden a horse that bucked as hard since then (nor will I, the ground's a lot harder in my fifties than it was in my teens, and broncs like Sparkle are a lot fewer these days).

Even horses like Zorro and Sunny and Sparkle know the difference between fair reprimand and unfair punishment. They'll accept a fair reprimand (that is, while they'll give you some backchat during the process, there's no grudges afterward) but you'll reap the whirlwind if you're unfair.

[glenatron.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, you know if Zorro thinks you've treated him unfairly. But actually his protest stuff is a lot less of a worry than his anxious stuff and I think that is where I've really made a bit of an inroad into saying that it's alright to be anxious, but it is not alright to quit listening to me. And having got that established we can now work more on actually showing him that when he does follow my cues we get through things safely and everyone is calm, which may raise my stock slightly...