Tuesday, March 9, 2010
A Rare Sight
This is something you don't see very often - me on Zip. Of our horses, he is the hottest one and also the biggest (but hot is a relative term - he's not hot like a race horse). T has fun riding him but he has some anxiety issues in the woods that I wanted to work with him on. You can't tell by this picture (he looks pretty calm) but he was throwing a bit of a hissy fit. T's stirrups were a bit long for me and I was really bracing to make sure that I stayed put in the saddle. I had him in the woods and he gets very reactive, backs up at speed, and spins around. We spent a lot of time standing quietly and letting him relax in the trees. I have a feeling that he hasn't had much exposure to riding in the woods since this is really the only place that he acts up. He's fine in the ring, on the driveway, riding on the road. A good long trail ride in the woods on a narrow trail with a calm Jet will help immensely. Come on, spring - it's time to hit the trails!!!
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6 comments:
Oh, for someone who knows how a horse looks when they are acting up, I can tell, by the head and the stance. You are brave, I usually get off and take care of those issue's from the ground.
He's fine on the ground and leads ok. It's definitely something about being in the woods with a rider. I've got some things I'm going to try with him and I think being on a narrow trail where he needs to pay attention to his feet will definitely do him some good. He's fantastic in the ring. I have a feeling that he was used for rodeo and doesn't have much experience in the woods.
Maybe some prankster squirrel hit him on the head with an acorn once (or twice).
:)
That's a lot of horse under you!
I often wonder how much we transmit to a horse when we think they're out of their element and cause much of the problem. There's a piece of tin buried in the ground in our calving field that everything I ride spooks at. The husband was riding one of my colts and he never even noticed ti with him aboard. It made me wonder if I'm not the problem;)
Oh girl, you look quite apprehensive. They know that, ya know.
That's not apprehension, that's concentration. We had spent about 20 minutes in the woods moving off and standing still. He spent quite a bit of time moving around and backing up but did stand and take a few deep breaths. I made a point of breathing deep and keeping my hands and seat quiet. I was totally focused on him. The big guy gets better and better with each ride.
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