Sir Cobbington Cobbett

[glenatron]

Zorro continues to be a very fine cob. We've done a lot of trail riding lately so today we spent a while catching up on our schooling. We had expected to be riding out again but it was looking like a potentially miserable day for a trail ride as mysterious mists turned into relentless mizzle.

It's been a while since we have done a lot of groundwork because I'm pretty happy with how things work on line but lately I've started to do a little more at liberty, mostly to see if I can get that working as well as our work on the line. It's very interesting to see the choices he makes when he has the choice. For example, he much prefers to have me on his right, which is probably because he wants to keep the pigs ( a field and a bit away from the arena ) on his left. Certainly it's hard for him to tear his attention away from them and share any of it with me.

Under saddle he's pretty smooth at the moment, pretty well balanced and mostly listening. Our struggle with impulsion continues but once we get moving he's pretty solid. I've noticed today that he finds things a little harder on the right rein. I suspect this is physical. He has a massive scar behind his left left shoulder, possibly an old driving injury, and it means his left shoulder tends to get a little tight. We have the chiro coming back to visit in a few weeks so hopefully that will help to free him up a little.


Cob trotting along.

Comments

[flax.livejournal.com]

I like the contrast of his pink breastcollar with the rest of your ensemble!

Every horse has their tougher side ... hopefully the chiro will make things easier for him, though. :)

[glenatron.livejournal.com]

I'm hoping so. She normally comes out about once a year and certainly seems to do a good job - I think maybe this is the first year that we've been in a place where we're doing the kind of work that these fairly subtle constraints are noticeable or maybe I've just got more sensitive to where his feet are. Either way it will be interesting to see.

The pink is what we normally wear to ride out, so he's visible to oncoming traffic- it doesn't normally make it into pictures because we don't tend to have pictures of us taken when we're out on the trail, normally those photos are just some furry ears and scenery..

[teadog1425.livejournal.com]

Seconding the love for the pink breastplate! I have a fuschia pink head collar for Marco, which I think looks great against black fur and I have had to take LOTS of abuse from barn people that pink is the wrong colour for a gelding! I think he looks fab, and so does Zorro! ;-)

[glenatron.livejournal.com]

Science has proven pink hi-vis to be the most effective colour on the roads, which is the main reason we use it, but it doesn't look bad on the cob by any means. The matching pink jacket on me, however, is less flattering.

[joycemocha.livejournal.com]

Neck stretches are really good, as are foreleg stretches. Do them before the ride, and if they really work for him, before long he'll be interacting with you during them and letting you know what feels tight.

Also--did the camera catch in an unfortunate moment? Looks like you're collapsing in your waist on one side. It's a pet problem of mine, so I notice it in others...

[glenatron.livejournal.com]

I have no idea what I was doing, but typically that's deliberate. I tend to sit pretty straight in general if I'm not asking for something, but it just could be where I am in the stride- because of his chunky hindquarters his back moves in quite an unusual way when he trots- lots of back-forward rotation of the pelvis.

What foreleg stretches do you use?

[joycemocha.livejournal.com]

The movement issue was why I asked. ;-)

Foreleg stretches--ask for foreleg, grab knee, lift and hold parallel for a five count, rotate the upper leg four times in each direction, then carefully ask for a forward extension, then hold for a five count. Start low and not-quite-straight, work toward straight and higher as strength builds. I've been doing these for six months and Mocha still isn't quite where she's extending at much over a 45 degree angle, and she's not always comfortable with her knee going straight. But it's making a difference. You don't want to push it, gauge by comfort level.

[glenatron.livejournal.com]

Thanks, I'll look at that. Will be interesting to build up to that as certain cobs are of the opinion that if someone asks his leg forward that must mean it's striking or stomping time. Probably our trimmer would be pretty happy for him to get over that idea too...

[harnessphoto.livejournal.com]

I love your horse. Seriously.

[glenatron.livejournal.com]

Yeah, me too. He's pretty awesome when he's not trying to kill me.