Since we’re expecting a cold front and rain this weekend I went out to ride Frisbee Wednesday night. I wanted to at least get a little work on him, since he’s been ridden so lightly these past weeks. I rode the previous Sunday and he was very spooky because of the high winds and was leaping sideways all over the place, so I wanted to see what was up.
Well, first the lesson was mine. When a 1,000 pound horse goes in one direction and you try to pull in the other, guess who wins? I’ve been icing my arm after hyperextending my elbow with that little escapade. This was because he went for some grass when I was bringing him out of his pasture. To ensure that didn’t happen again, I was quite firm with him afterwards.
As I was tacking up, everyone was telling me how spooky he’s been lately. Apparently he dumped a little kid in the round pen, so something is definitely up. One of the other riders was saying she was concerned it was a vision thing, which I admit I was thinking it might be too. He’s about 14 or 15 years old, according to my revised understanding. It could be.
So I took him out in the ring and walked and trotted him, making sure he yield properly. The spooky parts of the ring that he hated, like the propane tank in the yard outside the ring, any of the corners, and the porch overlooking the ring, I made sure we stayed to the inside, all the while making sure that he didn’t get a chance to spook.
When it was clear that he was calm I took him in the corners, in front of the porch, and by the freaky frightening propane tank. And he did fine. He bent to my rein and was very supple.
We finished by going over cavaletti. I didn’t canter, because I wanted to make sure we ended on a good note. So he got a half-hour workout, nothing too much, mostly mental for him.
And he did fine.
So while it might be that it’s his eyes, and it might be he’s just getting fearful in his old-ish age, I think it’s a matter more that he just needs the work.
We’ll see. Unfortunately, I probably won’t get a chance to ride this weekend because of the weather, but at least I got a bit of a workout in for him.
0 Comments