Housework or Riding.........or maybe Falling.......

Well, the big show is over and I'm depressed. There's no more show left to watch which means I probably should be turning my attentions to catching up on housework. The thought of doing housework over playing with horses is definitely depressing to me.

However, at least for today, the weather cooperated and I was able to work horses. Don't ask me why. The weather for Halloween had been forecasted to be wet and dreary. Instead we had blue skis and it was beautiful all day.

I didn't haul horses to the park since it's been raining so much lately, twice the normal downfall for this time of the year. The thought of getting that wet and icky again was also a depressing thought so instead I just rode my horses up and down my driveway.

Legs is used to me and my odd changes in routine. Riding in the yard may be different but it's still riding. The Arabian horse went right to work and his jog actually felt pretty good.

I'd spent part of my computer time refreshing myself on some of my Bobby Hart Jr stuff so we worked on that up and down the lane. Hart's point to point riding fits perfectly into the area I had to work with Legs. After a good warming up with lots of flexing and bending we went to work on that routine and I ended up with a nice soft horse at both the jog and the trot. Legs still has trouble with the changes in direction, not wanting to cross over with his front legs but we're making improvements there too. Actually, I'd say the improvements with the jog and lope are directly related to the improvements with the crossovers.

Storm was a different matter. He's not really experienced any of the strange changes I can decide for my training regime. Right from the start the horse wasn't sure what to think about this riding in the yard thing. First off, if meant doing right by the mare barn with the girls all hanging their heads out watching.

I don't know if Storm thought he might embarrass himself or if he thought he should go visit mares but every time we got to the end of the lane by the girls Storm turned into a very naughty boy. All I was doing was warming him up moving him off my leg at the walk and the horse tried his impersonation of a bronc right at the gate. At least he wasn't insistent on being a bronc, two big leaps and a corresponding response from me and the horse was back to moving off down the lane.

My heart was pumping ninety miles an hour and I was wishing I was wearing a helmet and that people were outside in case I got hurt. It doesn't take much to get my heart pumping knowing how hard the ground is in the lane was surely enough for that but I couldn't believe the behavior of this horse. I'd never had anything like this when I first started him.

I wish I could say it was only the one time but it wasn't. I spent twice as long riding Storm as I did with Legs and we never did lope. Just getting the horse to the point he was soft and responsive at the walk and the jog anywhere near the mare barn was a monumental task.

The horse didn't always try bucking. He resorted to other tactics as well. Taking the reins from me, shaking his head, even some talking and some striking, I saw some real temper tantrums from this horse. The only thing I can say is, this is not the first time he's pulled this kind of stuff since he got home and it's probably not going to be the last.

Storm finally did get things figured out. Once he realized he was only allowed to pay attention to me, we were fine. He walked and jogged beautifully AND more importantly softly right by all the approving females before him. He even resisted a nicker from one of them but I just did not trust him enough to move things up to the lope. It will take some more trips up and down the lane before we'll step up the speed.

A Little More on Behavior

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