Bouncing Ball

Wolfie has been stabled at night now for three weeks. It's taken a good fortnight for him to settle into his new routine. He accepted it pretty much straight away last year, but that's probably because he had been on box rest for a long time and he's a lot fitter and stronger this year. It's been a struggle over the last few weeks with the weather, dark nights and mucking out to keep him in consistent work. Where he is stabled, the horses get all year turnout, however due to the weather last week they were kept in for one day. By the time I got there after work, Wolfie was doing the wall of death around the stable. The only hard feed he is getting is a little chaff and sugar beet, nothing heating, but it's clear that he needs to be turned out every day, even if it's just for a few hours. He's just a fit, healthy 3 year old with a very active mind.

It was a nice day yesterday, so I decided to long rein him down the railwayline. We went out with Wolfie's next door neighbour Jake , who was being ridden. Even though Jake is a lot bigger, Wolfie has a much longer stride and a faster walk, so we took the lead. Wolfie was like a little bouncing ball or it was like he had springs in his feet. We haven't been out properly in ages and he was obviously full of the joys of life. I half halted him and did a lot of halt/walk transitions until he eventually settled. He does have the most amazing forward going walk, I almost have to jog at the end of the long lines to keep up.

Wolfie's mind is always active, if he gets bored, you end up with a potential battle on your hands. I try to prevent him from getting bored by setting him challenges. This can be changing direction, transitions, going up or down steeper inclines, through puddles, over ditches etc. It seems to work and keeps his mind on the job in hand. If he gets bored, he tends to stop, try and take his boots off or chew on any tack within close proximity to him.

There were two horses in the field next to the line who came galloping down to the fence. Both Wolfie and Jake had seen them, although they did not look overly concerned. Just as the horses stopped at the fence, one of them must have stood on a branch and snapped it. Both Wolfie and Jake took off at a flat out gallop, me at the end of the long lines with the sound of Jake's hooves thundering in my ears behind me. The whole thing must have lasted less than a minute, but was in slow motion. I remember thinking if I manage to stop Wolfie, and don't get dragged to the next village, Jake will career straight into us. I managed to get my wits together, my whole body weight behind him wasn't going to stop him, so as a last ditch effort, I used voice commands. He stopped instantly. Jake ground to a halt just behind me, so close that I could feel his breath on my neck. I'm glad Helen decided to ride him in the Myler bit yesterday. Wolfie settled back down and we continued on. That certainly got the adrenalin going and also was a sharp reminder that you can never become complacent or let your mind wander for a second when out with horses. Jake couldusually be considered pretty much bombproof, but it just goes to show. Wolfie enjoyed every second of being out and returned home tired but happy.