He almost ran over a lady who was on foot in there! I had absolutely no control at that moment, he was full speed reverse as I yelled at him. Of course I was able to get him back going right, but what a surprise that he still hates that direction and, apparently ,being told what to do.
We were doing so well, with that work ethic! And I'd kept up my end of the deal, if he's submissive on the lunge we do very little of it, just enough to establish three gaits and work slowly over poles. Today, due to his refusal to work, we did lots of canter trot transitions. But I couldn't stay mad at him when I saw that he quickly resumed an industrious attitude.
Then he made me laugh by offering to canter when I didn't ask, and cantering is still very hard for him.
Can't blame the weather - it was over zero today, the icicles on my car dripping pleasantly as I drove.
As I lay in bed this morning, window open, I asked J, "Is that sound birds eating or snow dripping?" It was both. I love the sound of a melt!
The trailer was fine but he did leave once on his own. Saiph, I'd give him hay but since they resumed feeding him lately hay is not very interesting to him. He doesn't dig in when he comes in at night, even though all he gets is haylage during the day. It's the bucket that makes him content in the trailer, but I think we're at the point where he needs to do it cuz I say so, cuz he's not scared anymore. The good thing is he always comes back in after he leaves on his own. And since he leaves on his own, I work on leaving when I tell him, resting with the mares for a while, and then coming back in. I only spend about 10 minutes total each day on this.
What's this? I rubbed on him and my gloves were covered in white hairs. Oh no, not that time of year. Hilfe!
I asked Tanja if Mia started shedding yet and she said, "It's too early! And Mag is not shedding, that's just the hair you cut off his mane today!" (bridlepath) Ha, ha. She thinks it's weird that I cut a bridle path, and I think I'm the only person at the barn who does this. Oh dear, if Mag sheds he's gonna be even colder.
Finally, FINALLY after 6 months, my car is going to be repaired from our Denmark trip when a semi hit us. It took this long because the semi driver said it was my fault, and we had to have a lawyer working with the police to prove it was not my fault. Can you believe how long justice takes here? Our insurance agency did nothing to help us, of course, because it wasn't their problem. I just want my beloved car fixed. Since the hose is still frozen I washed it with a couple of warm water buckets today. So salty. Wish I could clean my horse, he's quite yellow. But I did wash his tail.
Tomorrow school starts again and I'll be going to the barn early and for much longer than during vacation. I simply must dress better - today my riding rain jacket made me miserable because it doesn't breathe and I sweat under it.
Claudia said she'd start coming to the barn twice a week mornings and is willing to help me. She got my hopes up that I'll make some progress soon!
Oh, I need to add this nice thing that happened today - Marin stopped me and said, pointing at Mag, "You know what I find cute about your horse? His hooves. Look at them, they alternate in color, one white, one black." I said, "Ugh, just another imperfection, like his PINK nose that sunburns, and his mane on the entirely wrong side!" But I thought it was interesting that she noticed his odd (not even) hoof color. She said, "His mane may be on the 'wrong' side but at least the entire thing is! Most horses have parts that stray to either." HM! Then sweet little Leonia asked about Mag's trailer training and said "At least he GOES IN with you!" I said, "You're so right!" It's wonderful to be around such compassionate people. I enjoy every minute of it.
Again here are some older photos, but this is what our yard looks like now. I'm keeping the lights up longer, like Germans do, because they make me so happy on these very short latitude 51 days. (And in Germany you're not a slacker if they're still up this far into January!)
5 comments:
We are melting toooooooo! Slowly. And probably temporarily. And the trailheads are still a mess, so no riding out for me. But I'll borrow a Fish Creek horse and do some arena riding. Fiddle doesn't mind having a bunch of time off.
Too bad your insurance didn't have to pay for a rental car while yours was borked. THAT would have sped up the process!
Aarene, I hope you're wrong about that - I don't need to lose any more faith in humanity. *shudder* (And I kind of wondered, too, what would have happened if our car was not driveable.)
Looks so pretty having the Christmas lights up I think we should keep them up all winter :)
New study shows horses learn better with treats or food offerings than with verbal or physical rewards (good boy or scratches). If Mags is calm and content in the trailer, why not give him a bucket? What is it going to hurt? The thing that turned Ashke around in the trailer (he was shaking and covered in sweat the first couple of rides I took him on), was taking him out and riding trail. He loves it and now he associates trailering with fun stuff. I also think he was worried he was being sold the first couple of times it happened and it took a bit for him to understand he wasn't. Giving a huge bucket of his favorite feed at the trailer helps too.
Lunging is a boring, tedious endeavor for horses that are looking to be challenged. I understand that it has it's place, but it is not nearly engaging enough for a smart, curious horse. And if the canter to the right is difficult, that will make that conversation more so. Ashke does not lunge very often (mostly to reinforce his give to the bit) because we both find it tedious, but he will often pull back and not want to move forward. It is his way of telling me "No thank you, mom". Perhaps it's the same with Mags.
Those lights in the snow are so pretty!!! I noticed Christmas decorations up in a local restaurant today. Made me smile.
I'm glad they are finally fixing your car. Wow that was a long time!!
I think you're making great progress in the trailer. In my experience it's just a slow process. It's too easy to push too hard and have a major set back, so slow is good.
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