There was an incident where he bolted sideways to the other side of the ring (he hasn't done this is probably 8 months), in which I responded by working his little butt even harder. Then we returned to the bench and I let him stand. Our ride was ... meh. He still wanted to shy at the bench, but decided to tone it down a bit when I jabbed him with my inside spur. I don't mind him giving things the hair eyeball. He just can't ram his ribcage into my inside leg. He was distracted and the canter was a hot mess. Wonky, tense. Yes he was being a prick but I am thinking a visit to the chiro is in order since the canter hasn't been THAT horrible for quite some time.
After a recent storm, the field is muddy so I think that the horses just aren't playing and have some energy now and are just feeling good. I do have to keep in mind that he is only 3 and a half years old, so ya know, what can ya do. I am sort of glad we aren't going to any April shows now. We need to iron this stuff out. Although I suspect once it warms up, he will be back to normal, quiet Hampton.
He's due for his spring shots and teeth tomorrow so that means he will get Thursday off. If I get to the barn early enough tomorrow, he can lunge again. We shall see.
The Noah Bug did quite well today. He has started to understand the concept of lunging and did quite well. Here are some photos of the beast:
We have some cases of the stupids here too. Lets hope everyone get back in their right minds soon!
ReplyDeleteFunny Hampton. When I started Rogo he had this insane fear of chairs and benches - a four legged predator? :) The first time I realized it was when he tried to gallop away from a chair from a stand still and fell down, with me on him. After that I put chairs and benches everywhere and he got over it. Now I'm putting colorful blankets along the fence while we ride and that is pretty iffy too. Both Hampton and my horse Rogo have good heads on their shoulders most of the time, so it's surprizing when they take these 'stupid' spells. You handled it well as always.
ReplyDeleteGosh, I totally forgot he was that young! You have such lovely pictures of you two where he looks like a much more seasoned horse. Hoping it's just being 3 during spring time. Noah is looking great!
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