Ohhh sorry people! i know its been, what two weeks? since i last wrote in here.
there is sooo much to catch up on! on sunday i finally had enough time to go and do something with Prince. I've been trying for about six weeks to do something!
i decided to just do whatever comes to mind. so i went out there and brought him in, and i tied him to the hot wired fence (don't worry! its off!), and then i decided to test him. i wanted to see how long he would stand still. so i walked over to his eletric fence and started bringing the back closer up to the main place where is shift him over. all the while i was watching him out of the corner of my eye. he stood still just watching me, and then he stuck his head down and started to eat the short dead grass around his feet. he used to paw at the ground and get "stuck" in his rope so i would have to come and "rescue" him.
well so far off to a good start. after shifting the fence i went back and groomed his beautiful almost summer coat (yes, i'm working on the photos!) which has almost gone all black, his belly, some of his legs and nose still has yet to shed. His head came down to the ground but he didn't eat (yay!). once i had finished groom i hooked him up to my twenty-two foot line and backed him out.
just before i tell you what happened, i've been working on the trotting poles and those raised ones (whatever they are called!) with him, as its been about three years since we last did them, and he has been banging his feet on them (careless horse!) but last time i did it, we almost had none, he just banged his feet on one.
this week he wanted to jump all five in a row! i had to ask him to slow down and walk them, which he did banging his feet on all of them save one. i have this rule, if you can't do it at a walk don't do it at a trot!
so i made him go over about three times, but by the third he was bored and he decided to keep himself busy but trotting (ugh, but i let him do it to see what would happen) and sure enough - bonk! bonk! bonk!- you get the point! only he knocked them all crooked, so i straightened them up and let him go again, he bonked them again, then THEN he trotted over all over them without hitting a single one!
So i stopped him and gave him a treat. i looked around and there was this small fallen pine. Now Prince can jump any bush, tree, branch without any fear but give him poles and drums and he worries.
i had made it higher then anything he had ever jumped. i sent him over it, and he jumped the side of it first try, but he wasn't thinking about what he was doing, so i asked him again and again, and he did it without fear or rushing it.
he had done a bit of galloping around when i asked him to go over the tree (from not enough exercise and from too many weeks in the paddock) so he had worked up a sweat, so i took him down to the river and i plunged in. i suddenly got this idea. i know he doesn't mind water, but to what point? and how much does he trust me? so i walked all over the place with him following on a long lead (he was right behind me) and this gave him the chance to pick his own footing, but he followed right behind me all the way through some really rough big rocks (scraped his feet) and down to the deep fast rushing piece by the dam. he didn't falter at all. i know now that he trusts me very much (horses have no depth perception) and that water was no issue. Great!
i brought him back and tied him up and started working on his feet, i did them about one month ago and there was an inch more on the back feet, but half an inch on the front. Also last time i did his front feet i blotched them up. So i fixed the first one and stood up, First i wondered why my back didn't hurt (as prince leans) , then i clicked he hadn't leaned at all! so i walked over the other side and did the other foot. Nothing. back feet? nothing. WOO HOO! i've been working on this for months!
Then i stood on a my grooming bucket to work on his bump on his back (caused by a saddle injury before i had him), and changed my mind and decided to lean on him. (should i mention i had no shoes on and no helmet? this was BIG for me!) i leaned on his shoulder and swung my leg over and let it rest on his bum (last time i did this he jumped and gave me a fright) but he just stood there, head lowered and body relaxed. so i just lay there, feeling venerable and nervous. but i knew if he trusted me, i should start trusting him. i lay there for what seemed ages then i felt the moment go, so i took my leg off and stood there on the bucket feeling like i just won a million dollars.
i decided to finish off with something i had never done before. i got my savvy string (a thin string about five feet in length) and dropped it over his neck and i held the two ends in my hand very lightly and walked to the electric fence.
a couple of days ago he had gone thorugh the fence, my fault entirely because he was about to jump the tape that had dropped to the ground just as i pulled it tight. he couldn't clear it and got it wrapped around his front legs and he bolted (he got a zap from it about a week ago) thinking that it was on. i counted as he ran, and it took him about fifteen seconds to realize it was off and get out of it. but he (in that time) got it wrapped around three trees, and stewed it all over the paddock across the river. The fence by the way was off, and i was shifting him over.
now as we reached the fence he got to two metres up to it and i could feel him slowing down, so i asked with my body 'please for me, come forwards' he did, and he made it to one metre, but you could see he was worried that the fence out 'get' him. i let go of the savvy string and opened the fence and lead him in and turned him around and hooked the fence back up again and turned around to see him still stand where i left him. so i gave him a huggle and a kiss (my Mr Kisses lol) and let him go.
P.S if you want an awesome shedding tool, try an hacksaw blade! i got a slighty used one and it works a treat!
No comments:
Post a Comment