I have a sign in my house that says "Home is where your horse is." Well, it certainly feels that way in Louisiana. It's such a delight to be able to look out my kitchen or living room window and check to see what Tex and Taz are doing. I drive past them on my way down the driveway, and they're the first thing I see when I get back home at the end of the day.
Having Tex nearby is a constant reminder to go and work him when I get home. He's been in the round pen once and on the lunge line twice within the past 10 days, and I plan to do the lunge line again tomorrow. My goal is to do three days in a row, at least 20 minutes per lesson.
He gave me a little trouble on the lunge line the first time in this location last Wednesday. He and Taz have apparently become close buddies, and when I moved him out of sight of Taz and began lungeing, Tex was more of a nervous wreck than I've ever seen him before, but definitely not the worst horse I've ever seen. Tex was giving me two problems. First, he wouldn't just walk on the lunge line, like he does when we're close to Tex. He wanted to fast trot mixed with lope, and I instead wanted him to walk calmly. Second, while moving to the right in a circle around me, he would (on the side closest to the barn) stop, turn, and go the other direction, without a cue to do so, pulling me toward the barn with each wheeling turn. I didn't have my lunge whip, it was SO hot and humid, and I got a bit frustrated. So, I stopped where I was, led him back to the horse trailer, and worked with other easier things. We ended on a good note that day (which is important for every lesson).
Saturday, June 20, 2009
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1 comment:
When I started longeing Halo, I found that if she wanted to trot/lope her little head off, the best way to make her quiet down was to make her keep on loping until it didn't seem like such a good idea any more. Loping became MY idea, not hers. It is a lot easier to do that than to try and get a horse to walk that really, really doesn't want to walk. As you said, it's very frustrating!
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