Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Milestones

Charlie and I went on our first solo trail ride in PA this week! And....it was bareback :) 


I had started out working Charlie in Kate's "faux-ssoa" rig but, similar to the other times I've used it with him, he just doesn't seem to get the concept. We struggled with it for 5 or 10 minutes but Charlie kept tucking his nose to his chest instead of reaching down and was convinced that he was locked in that position, even when I readjusted his head/neck. We got some ok stuff and then I got bored so I took it off. We'll keep trying but that was enough for one day.

Charlie was already in his bareback pad (I don't have a circingle so I use the bareback pad instead) and I was having one of my brave moments so I grabbed his bridle and hopped on. I kept his rope halter and lead on underneath the bridle, just in case, and only planned to go around the property at first, but he was so good we kept going: down the road, up through The neighbors' yard where Buffy, Emmett and Poppy live, through the woods and around my parents' development. Charlie was alert and blowing at a few things but he was sooo brave and never once was an idiot. We even trotted and cantered a tiny bit! 

Walking back home I couldn't have been happier. And what made it even better was that when we turned in the driveway Charlie hesitated, wanting to stay out and do more. I cant wait to go out on a paperchase with Charlie. I love this horse! :D

7 comments:

  1. Congrats!! Nothing better than a bareback ride, IMO. :)
    Www.Sittingitnhesaddle.blogspot.com

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  2. That's awesome!! You guys have come so far already. It's so nice to see :)

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  3. What a nice, solid citizen he's becoming :)

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  4. He is turning out to be such a good boy :D I am thrilled for you. I found when they went a bit "backwards" like that in the fauxssoa to really push them forward. Use a lunge whip if necessary. Same thing you would do when riding if he got all backed up like that: forward forward forward! He's a smart guy and I'm sure he'll get the hang of it eventually.

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    1. So I've been working on getting Charlie used to the rig and following your suggestions. I added some double-ended clips to each side of the rig and attached them at the girth, running the rope through so it doesn't slide down so much when he gets bottled up (I think that was also part of his confusion, he would suck himself in and then the ropes would sag and he had trouble stretching out again). Then I did what you suggested with the whip. We only worked for a few minutes but I got him to trot without flipping out or getting too "bottled" and he looked so pretty and round :)

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