I gave Wolfie Monday and Tuesday off. On Wednesday we hacked back down the line with H and J. As we approached the bridge Wolfie stopped and started backing up. J. took the lead and crossed the bridge. Wolfie was hesitant, he walked forward and was really trying for me, he didn't want to cross but he wanted to answer what I was asking. Just as he was at the edge of the bridge and about to step onto it, a cyclist appeared right behind him. That put an end to that so I got off and led him over. He walked calmly with me. My plan is to approach the bridge, stop him on my terms and get off and lead him over. I will do this and hopefully be able to get closer and closer each time until he will confidently stand at the edge of the bridge. I wont attempt to ride him across it until we've built up his confidence again and he realises that it's no problem for a courageous horse like him. The bridge itself is not the issue, it's what's happened recently on either side of it.
We hacked again on Thursday and on Friday we went for a nice hack up the hills with H and J. We had a nice canter across one of the fields. Wolfie got a bit excited and was stuck bouncing and bucking on the spot as J. cantered away. He leapt forward and soon caught up though.
I've been thinking recently how far Wolfie has come this year and then I realised, he's only really been ridden since we got the saddle, which was a little over 2 months ago. I've also been thinking a lot about his schooling (or lack of it). I take him in the school maybe once a week at the most. He has been giving me some beautiful, powerful work out hacking, but I've never been able to achieve this in the school. The more I thought about it, I realised that pretty much 99% of what Wolfie knows and has learnt has been taught outwith the school. Even his long reining has been done through the fields. In the school, he is tense through his neck and back. He tries so hard to please and do what is asked of him that he ends up tieing himself in knots and it is almost counter productive. It's so glaringly obvious that he's sensing it from me. Once a week I take him in the school, my head full of plans of what we are going to do and work on. It's good to have plan, but I'm so intent on making things interesting and working on different things, that I'm sacrificing all the lovely work he has produced. I turn it into a huge event and he doesn't understand. I'm putting unnecessary pressure on him and struggle to get the basics, the things that come naturally without thinking about them when we are working in the fields. He is picking up all this from me, I'm different and I'm probably riding differently. I had thought about taking him in the school more often, just for 5 or 10 minutes before we hack, so that it isn't such a big deal, but then I thought, he's going to be in the school so much over winter and once the clocks change that I may as well just leave it until then. I need to ensure that I mix the schooling with ground work and keep the focus at the moment on straightness and relaxation. I rode him in the school today, warmed up in walk on a loose rein for 10 minutes. We worked on transitions in walk and trot and I gave him plenty of rests on a long rein and made much of him, just trying to get him to relax and soften. There were a lot of people at the yard this morning who haven't seen Wolfie being worked in the school for I don't know how long (probably because we only do it once in a blue moon). They were all very complementary about how well he was going and how lovely he moves. It was nice to know that other people can see an improvement, but also disappointing because he can go so much better than that. I've had a taste of just how well he can work and I want that all the time. I just need to be patient and consistent until he finds his feet in the school.
No comments:
Post a Comment