Thank God! It was a nice evening and I rode. Couple things that I have found:
1.) He likes to scream at his buddies
2.) He likes to speed up near the gate
3.) He is awesome on the ground
4.) We almost have woah down to a science
5.) He is *finally* starting to anticipate the leg maneuvers
Now the screaming I will not tolerate. That leads to retard-ism on the horses part if it gets out of hand. He is not to scream to his buddies when he is with me. N.E.V.E.R. Dodge did that (my first horse) and I ignored it, well guess how it got worse and worse till she was running over top of me?
He gets walloped with whatever I have in my hand, which today was a brush, curry, hand, and a stirrup. When I got done with the ride he started to yell and I picked up the stirrup again to whack him and he quieted right down and stood there chewing the bit.
He has FINALLY the last two rides stood like an angel for mounting. I do need a good new pair of riding boots though, as tennis shoes do not slide in the stirrups like boots do. (that's the point right?)
Now, how I have decided to train this big animal that I love. SLOWLY. I have all the time in the world to get him trained; I'm not training for an event, I'm not training him for some specific discipline, and I'm not training him for anyone else. I do see the benefit of short 15-30 minute rides. I feel like he won't get overworked, he can learn what I'm asking, and as soon as he does what I ask it's time to end the lesson.
So the next month of riding? Flat Walk. That isn't to say that I won't ask every now and again for more speed, but I want my horse to have a good solid flat walk. I want to be able to hop on and not go running off into the sunset. I want some gait out of him that is solid. I want that to be the flat walk. I am planning (since it is finally nice) to start riding him 3-4 times a week at just the flat walk.
I know now, it's a little rough. He isn't sure what I want because I haven't asked him to do anything really but eat, sleep, and poop. But, I will change that here in the future.
Here we go Memphis!
2 comments:
I never had a horse that turned screaming into a vice, but if I did I'd wallop him too.
A good flatwalk is awesome. It's soooooo boring to develop, but it's worth the effort!
Instead of silly old riding boots you could invest in some endurance stirrups. ;) I ride in sneakers or hiking boots and I really don't slip - those wide padded stirrups really make life so much easier. (stirrups are a gateway drug to endurance!)
"Stirrups are a gateway drug to endurance" hahahahaha I almost spit out my coffee!
I was reading at the flatwalk in one of my gaited books and it mentioned that "old timers" would say it takes 3 months to get that solid flat walk.
Dodge's screaming was a heard bound issue. I just let it go until she became dangerous. Chalk that one up to a new horse owner. I refuse for this to happen to Memphis.
In fact, now that I think about it, I'm a whole lot "meaner" to Memphis than I ever was Dodge and he seems to respect me a whole lot more in trade.
Oh and I bought the boots ;)
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