Short ride by the roadside

[glenatron]

Did a short loop with Iris today down beside the local major road so she could see more traffic without being too close to the actual cars.

Pictures, as ever, by herecirm who is the best at cameras.


On the lane beside the dual carriageway - I was ready for her to find this a bit worrying but she didn't mind at all, she just watched the traffic a bit as we went along. Really good.


This was a total bonus- I thought I'd ask her to approach the entrance to the underpass but in the end she was brave enough ( with a bit of a lead from herecirm the first time ) to go through it several times. Super-awesome mare.


In a big maize stubble field on the way home. Outstanding mare.

Comments

[siberian-angel.livejournal.com]

Love the last picture!
Oy, tunnels... My old gelding would not, under no circumstances, pass under a road. I think we tried just about everything over the course of months, hand-leading, having a barn buddy pass through ahead of him etc. Endless patience, no chance. In the end, when we saw just how much it unsettled him, we opted for re-routing. *sigh*

[glenatron.livejournal.com]

I wasn't expecting to get this done today at all - I would have been happy to go up and look through it, but she was quite happy to march on through so I went with it. Of course, that was when everyone within a fifteen mile radius decided they were going to drive through this tunnel on a tiny lane that leads nowhere in particular, but she handled that fine too...

[serennig]

Great photos as always!!

Tunnels is not something we've had a chance to try yet with the three amigos. Louie would do it, but Louie had shown indoors for a decade so he didn't give two craps about much of anything urban.

[glenatron.livejournal.com]

I hadn't thought of that- the place I bought Iris from had an indoor arena, so she probably would be more accustomed to going into darker and more spooky places than many horses.

[serennig]

That might have at least taken the edge off. Our three have been in all kinds of indoor arenas and barns, but I remember being careful introducing River to the long barn corridors, and I still think a tunnel like that would give the mares, at least, a reason to pause.

When we showed Lou at the arab nationals, it was a multiplex venue with tunnels into the various arenas and he didn't even hesitate, and we know he showed at places in the US that have tunnels under roadways between the barns and the show rings. What was funny was how he didn't have quite the same confidence when hacking off the trail into deeper bush. He was still really good, but you could tell he was a city boy. Faran, on the other hand, would likely melt down in a busy parking lot in the city, but can bushwhack just about anything. I guess that goes to show that they do get used to what they know -- and why it's so good to expose them to things in as controlled a way as you can. So kudos to you for finding a busy roadway without being ON it!

[glenatron.livejournal.com]

I'm glad I've seen her response to donkeys, otherwise I would be starting to get too accustomed to her being able to just take things in her stride and set myself up for some nasty surprises when we passed a donkey field or something else she finds genuinely vexing.

[serennig]

Aww, poor Iris. One of the frequent foxhunting fixtures here goes past a Donkey Sanctuary which has, naturally, donkeys. Of all shapes and sizes. Every time, there's at least one horse that loses its cool over them!

[re-vised.livejournal.com]

That last photo is gorgeous!

[glenatron.livejournal.com]

Just another reason that Sari is the very greatest.

[re-vised.livejournal.com]

I concur!