I was going to open by apologising for not blogging much lately, but then I thought "Stuff it!
The reason why I haven't is 'cos I've been busy doing really cool things with my really cool pony".
One cool thing was a 12 mile endurance ride in Staffordshire. It included a ford which Harley was sceptical about to start with, but pretty quickly decided that it not only felt good to stand in but also tasted good to drink. It's getting so much easier for him to find his way through thresholds.
A good half of the ride (if not more) was around the edges of fields where the surface was pretty good, so we cantered a lot. Harley has decided that he likes cantering and I must admit that I like it too 'cos he is so smooth. He's also quite quick. Apparently Archie was galloping in order to keep up. Waahoo!
Tonight the absolute coolest thing ever happened. Max & I were playing with Archie & Harley and it was going pretty good with H, so Max suggested circling him at liberty. It was an open space, not a round pen, so I was a bit reluctant 'cos I thought he'd leave. Anyway I took the line off and he stuck to me, so I gently asked him to circle. In fact I had to send him quite firmly (at least for Harley) 'cos he didn't want to move away from me. He moved out a little way (maybe 10') and circled me at trot. He was really relaxed, with his head down and came straight back in when I gave him the slightest look. Soooooo Coool!!
I gave him loads of clicks & treats & scratches & rest. I was soooo chuffed!
We did that couple more times and even did changes of direction.
I then got a bit over ambitious and tried a Figure Eight. He just about did it twice, but looking back I could feel the Draw running out and third time he left. He came back (cool) but I put him back on line and tried to recharge my Draw. We just sat on a barrel & chilled.
I remember James telling me about him getting a telling off from Pat for chilling with his horse when he was supposed to be doing something and James used the excuse that he was " working on his Draw".
After Honza's course I've come to the conclusion that Draw is like electricity. You store it up until you ask your horse to do something that uses it up (by driving away). When you've used it all up your horse doesn't want to draw anymore - you've got a flat draw battery. So you have to recharge it.
So charge your battery.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
Hi Bryan! Lovely stuff! Liked your story about James. I can't imagine many people having an answer for Pat; except him!
ReplyDeleteI also liked your draw/battery analogy. I can imagine some people might also need a drive battery for under-confident or pushy horses. I guess it really is a matter of balance.
You reminded me of the importance put upon such dwell time at Stoneleigh when they described it more in emotional terms; making deposits in the emotional bank - for later withdrawals (in more trying times!). eg. Being a good, supportive friend means you can draw (pardon the pun) on the relationship later - even ask that friend to go out of their way to help you.
Actually, forget me pardoning about the accidental pun - it's an excellent pun, as in; "Develop a good relationship so that you can DRAW on that relationship!" Excellent metaphor! Lol!
Thanks for that, Bryan. Keep playing but type occasionally, please.