Post by jessicab on Feb 18, 2007 19:08:44 GMT -3
I figured I would start one of these for Fuzz!
Well most of you know his history, he was a stud until he was 6 and used as a workhorse/galloped around madly undersaddle by a 12 year old boy.
When I bought him he had no stop, no turn, only TROT and gallop.
We've come a ways since then hehe.
Today I took him out for a short ride with my friend Katelyn Hynes. We just walked, because its really too slippery to do anything else, but I felt it was a productive ride.
Fury is great on trails. One of the most enjoyable horses (IMO) to ride out. His ONLY fault is that he tends to get jiggy on the way home, and breaks into a trot on his own accord (a big no-no in my books). Its nothing that can't be handled, but it IS a bit of a pain when you're riding with others and you end up speed walking/walkrotting the whole way home and leave your riding buddies behind. SO. Heres the game plan. I figured that if I spent lots of time leaving the yard, going a shortish ways and then turned around and went home, did some lateral work at home and then promptly turned around and left again, only to return and walk right past my driveway, turn around go back, chill out, leave again etc etc etc, he would eventually think "Gee, not much point in getting excited to go home, because I'm probably only gonna have to leave again anyways."
So thats what we did today (and yesterday). We spent lots of time just kinda jetting back and forth up and down the highway and getting him to the point where he didn't even try to turn into the driveway without me asking him.
He was excellently behaved and only tried "walkrotting" a couple times.
We also worked abit on our turn on the haunch. He does it very well to the right, and is improving to the left! He is leg-yielding like a pro.
We are hacking with a twisted wire snaffle, but all schooling from now on (in the yard, in the ring etc) will be done with a smooth snaffle. I know hes sucking back with the twisted wire, and frankly I don't blame him. I wouldn't even try riding with contact with the twisted wire.
Well most of you know his history, he was a stud until he was 6 and used as a workhorse/galloped around madly undersaddle by a 12 year old boy.
When I bought him he had no stop, no turn, only TROT and gallop.
We've come a ways since then hehe.
Today I took him out for a short ride with my friend Katelyn Hynes. We just walked, because its really too slippery to do anything else, but I felt it was a productive ride.
Fury is great on trails. One of the most enjoyable horses (IMO) to ride out. His ONLY fault is that he tends to get jiggy on the way home, and breaks into a trot on his own accord (a big no-no in my books). Its nothing that can't be handled, but it IS a bit of a pain when you're riding with others and you end up speed walking/walkrotting the whole way home and leave your riding buddies behind. SO. Heres the game plan. I figured that if I spent lots of time leaving the yard, going a shortish ways and then turned around and went home, did some lateral work at home and then promptly turned around and left again, only to return and walk right past my driveway, turn around go back, chill out, leave again etc etc etc, he would eventually think "Gee, not much point in getting excited to go home, because I'm probably only gonna have to leave again anyways."
So thats what we did today (and yesterday). We spent lots of time just kinda jetting back and forth up and down the highway and getting him to the point where he didn't even try to turn into the driveway without me asking him.
He was excellently behaved and only tried "walkrotting" a couple times.
We also worked abit on our turn on the haunch. He does it very well to the right, and is improving to the left! He is leg-yielding like a pro.
We are hacking with a twisted wire snaffle, but all schooling from now on (in the yard, in the ring etc) will be done with a smooth snaffle. I know hes sucking back with the twisted wire, and frankly I don't blame him. I wouldn't even try riding with contact with the twisted wire.