Guinness too has been feeling the boredom. He was in a little paddock by himself for a few hours a day with a haynet which I had been threading carrots in to daily to add to his entertainment levels, but he was clearly getting bored of his being in his stable. I decided to put him back out with Big and Remi a few days early and Guinness couldn’t wait to hang out with his friends again, rearing up and making it near impossible for Chloe to get his headcollar off!!! Clearly he doesn’t think he’s got anything wrong with himself!!!
Anna Johnson the Physiotherapist is due on Thursday and Fraser is coming to do Guinness shoes on Monday so all fingers are crossed that we can get on track soon.
Lesson on Remi – pole work
Thankfully Remi has been a pleasure recently. After his time off after our visit to Rossdales, he was a little tense again, but quickly got back into the routine, of bending, relaxing and softening. In my lesson with Sue, we got some poles out and used these as problem solving exercise and also to test Remi’s confidence in me as a rider. At first when we got them out, even though we didn’t go near them I could feel Remi tense through his back and shorten his stride. So I just completely ignored them and carried on exactly the same as before until he forgot about them.
We then circled around them until we were now quite close without any tension. Then came the moment of truth, walking over one! Remi can walk over poles but he is scared, so ‘making him’ doesn’t really achieve anything. Our aim was to get Remi to walk over the poles without fear or tension, so that he not only showed the confidence in me as a rider, that what I was asking was safe, but that also he could judge the situation and decide for himself.
When we walked up to the first pole I let Remi walk as slowly as he wanted and ensured I didn’t touch him with my leg. He stopped a few strides away and hollowed. I encouraged him to lower his head and look at the problem. When he edged forward, I gave him a big rub and told him how brave he was! We got to the edge of the pole and Remi took a few moments, clearly thinking about his current situation and the best way to get out of it, you could almost see the cogs turning in his brain. This is what we were aiming for. He wasn’t panicking or evading (as I wasn’t giving him any aids to evade!) but was thinking. Eventually, I offered a little encouragement and quietly whispered ‘walk on’ at which he took one very large step over the pole. He didn’t break into trot or rush off and after all the praise and rubs he was clearly very proud of himself!!! Next time he walked straight over and I did this again and again and again whilst chatting away to Sue, not really paying much attention to Remi. Whereas previously every time he walked over the pole he gave it plenty of clearance, by the end he was so relaxed that he actually knocked it once.
When we came to a different pole, Remi needed a few moments to assess the ‘new’ situation, but didn’t take as long to walk on and get lots of cuddles. By the end we were walking over difference poles, in different directions, without Remi ever hollowing, tensing or changing his rhythm. I think I can honestly say Remi enjoyed this lesson as much as I did and by the end of it almost looked smug with how well he had done.
Joshua continues to gain confidence in trot
Joshua has also been making great progress in his lessons with Jodie. At the weekend his grandparents came to watch his lesson and were very proud! His hands are still a little wobbly but it's hard trying to multi-task, steering and rising trot at the same time!! He's such a natural and after only 4 lessons, I think he will be showing me up in the not too distant future.
Taffy and Josh (last summer.. he has proper boots and chaps now!)
Taffy is such a star though, and we are so lucky to have such a wonderful pony in our family. He was my first pony when I was ten years old and took me to the BSJA British novice finals when I was 12. Now my son is learning to ride on him and he will enjoy the rest of his (hopefully many) days to come in as much luxury as we can provide, as he owes us nothing.
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