 |
| JB |
To celebrate May Day I thought I'd go for a ride, and was pleased to see that JB's put on some needed weight. Being in a new pasture with plenty of grass, and a deworm, have certainly helped. So that's good.
 |
| The Terror! |
We rode down a dirt road for a couple of miles and Kyrie, what an effort. A herd of cows? Very spooky to this horse's mind. A barking dog? Incredibly frightening. Tall bamboo? Oh dear, bad threat. A butterfly? Time to stop this scary dare and head for home! In brief, a whole lot of work and dangerous with it. A balking, spooked, snaking, nervous as you like thoroughbred might just decide to throw its rider onto the top of a T post, or back into some barbed wire, or anything bad and crazy. Solution? Stay calm, ride on, reassure the horse, keep going forward and move through the resistance.
 |
| random gun |
A few days later we did it all over again and JB was doing better, perhaps familiarity had dimmed the fearsome terrors of the extremely threatening dirt road. I sensed a positive forward attitude and felt some speed was in order. Canter, all it takes for JB is a whisper and a slight shift of weight and leg to the relevant lead, and off we went.
 |
| good horse |
She rode very well, working herself out of the spook and being a real pleasure to ride. We went faster on the way back, then turned around and went back up the road several times, just to prove that it could be done.
Moral of the story? Riding is hugely enjoyable, especially at speed and, as always, patience and persistence pay a large dividend.
Stay on the horse,
LSP
