While I have gone on and on about how great my horse is in this blog, I feel it is only fair to also reveal the days in which he is not ... perfect. Today I decided just to have some fun and try some free jumping with Hampton. I have previously lunged him over poles and small jumps, and trotted over poles under saddle so it wasn't totally new to him, but he's still quite clueless. At first I just had ground poles, which he blew over at a gallop. Then I set a small crossrail with canter poles set on each side. Again, he blew through it at a gallop - sending poles flying every which way. The white poles are light, PVC material so he didn't have much respect for them. He was being a pain in the ass and wanting to stop and stand in one particular corner. Since I was the only one out there, I had to chase him out of the corner then quickly run around to make sure he went through the chute. Sheesh. I felt a little bit like a hilljack. Eventually I raised the jump and he started to think about it a little more, although still knocking down poles 95% of the time. So then I decided, if he isn't going to respect the poles maybe I'll try something he WILL respect - and set up a barrel. Boy did that slow him down! He did stop once and snorted at it, but next time around he did jump it. I made him jump it once more for good measure. By this point, he was blowing pretty hard and had worked up a sweat (awww, poor guy) so I walked him out and finished with that. I know that a lot of horses start out jumping this way - clumsy, clueless, etc. So I'm not worried. I didn't get great photos as I was trying to multitask chasing Hampton and taking photographs. lol. As far as his standing photo from today - what do you guys think of his weight right now? He still has some winter coat of course, but I just wanted to get other opinions. I think he has matured some since last fall, although he still somewhat resembles a moose. Tomorrow's plan will be a light ride in the arena - starting some turn on the forehand.
I haven't gone back to look at old photos, being a relative newcomer here, but he looks like he's got a nice amount of weight, just needs more muscle. I always look in the gaskin and forarm area, that's one key place to look for muscle development. Also, his neck could use some. I think he's just in the awkward youn'un stage but I think he'll turn out SUPER cute!!
ReplyDeleteThey never want to do the free jumping thing at first, but with some effort he'll get used to it. It's really helpful to teach a horse to do, especially teaches them to get their own spots if you set up a one stride or two stride line. They also learn how to use their body without us being an unbalancing factor. Speaking of which, I should do some :D
He looks like he is gonna do some more growing still! He is just a cutie! :)
ReplyDeleteAh, yes...gotta love those first attempts at teaching a horse to jump.
I've wondered about the lightness of the PVC rails. Makes sense it wouldn't phase some horses to hit one of those.
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