This was almost a "for sale" ad.
The barn has been in much chaos with the New Horse arriving, new fencing being put up, New Horse's owner buzzing around with new things. Also, *something* has Pro looking out of his stall window all day, I have no idea.
The ride started okay (after our usual hand-walking session) - I've found he's better when I really get him chewing and working the bit in both directions at the walk at the start of our ride. So I put him on a 20m circle and just play with some shoulder-fore and get him to relax, drop his neck, and reach for the bit and chew it. Then I move our circle elsewhere - near the "new fence", the jump poles by the side of the arena, the Tree. He started off with a tense walk, so I had to work to get him out of it. Then it wasn't so much tense, but it wasn't open and free. Kept working on it, and he was finally where I wanted him.
Then the trot work, which was super on the circle. He felt good enough to where I started to go large around the arena...and then came the TOTAL MELTDOWN by the poles. It all starts when his head comes up and his back tightens up. Hands forward, kick on. Then the temper tantrum. Total refusal to go by the poles/tree unless it's in a frame that resembles those crazy-eyed saddle seat horses (neck straight up, tight back, etc.).
Alright. Get off, more hand walking with Mr. Whip. Back on, with the whip. He *loathes* the whip. Back to working solidly at the walk. He will, but it's with a sort of "pissy resignation" where he's just really annoyed with the whole deal. Trot again on the circle, seems okay with that. Refuses to go by the poles in anything resembling a nice frame.
Okay, then. Off, lunge line. Trot and canter work right by the poles. Scoots by the area each time like something's chasing him. Repeat 50x until he finally drops his neck and chews the bit.
By now it's been an hour and a half - I'm nearly dead from the heat, and of course Mr. Arab is not even showing signs of fatigue. I really wish I had a horse that I could tire out!! He did give me some good effort on the lunge, so I call it a day and take him in to hose off. He knows he's in trouble, so he let me hose him off, even his face. The other boarder was pretty impressed that he'll stand in the wash stall with no halter and let me hose him off from face to butt, and never try to move. He'll move his head around when I try to get his face, but he's excellent about standing.
At least he has superb ground manners.
I guess we all have rides like this, right?! It's interesting...my work at Duke is on achievement motivation, and I've read some stuff lately about teacher's evaluations of student's effort and ability. Teachers report being the most frustrated when students are high on ability and low on effort. My mom was a first grade teacher and always said, "Give me a slow kid who tries over a smart kid who's lazy ANY day!" And I think that's (part of) why I get frustrated - when Pro's good, he's brilliant and a complete joy to ride. When he's bad, he's SO bad. And I know he has the ability, so it frustrates me.
Hopefully Andrea (other rider) will have a better ride on him tomorrow. What a brat!
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11 comments:
Shame on Pro. You would think he would get over the bunny tree. And now the ground poles are a problem. Goodness.
Ive had so many rides like this (several of them on Pro before you owned him) and I spent a month or so just riding him so I could try and "get" him. He is a HARD horse to ride, just remember that.
Yes, I think we all do have those frustrating rides where you know your horse ,or you, could do better. At least I know I do! It will get better, and sounds like it is already heading in that direction! I also think your assessment of the situation is quite correct! It IS extra frustrating when you know how awesome Pro CAN be!
I am impressed about the hosing off, too!
As a P.S. I have posted pictures for you! I even got brave and put some fairly recent ones of Deuce and me in!
Kate- I think we should switch horses for a while! You ride Pepsi and I'll ride Pro! Then maybe we'll each love our horses more when we get them back! (Or, at least not want to kill them quite so much!)
Go read my post. At least your horse didn't try to kill you. *sigh*
Yes we ALL have rides like this! Usually for me its when I only plan to jump for 15 min to tool around and it turns into a nightmare lol
Hang in there, and dont put out the For Sale sign just yet!
I hate having those days when you're just SO frustrated w/ the ride. Ugh. As long as I feel like most of my time spent with my horse is a good time, I'm ok...it sounds like he is such a good boy on the ground that it makes up for some of his ridiculousness under saddle!
On a side note...have you had his eyes checked? That's a lot of spooking!
That is seriously a good suggestion about having his eyes checked if you haven't done so!
Thanks guys!!! Your support means a lot.
Gabby - Yup, his eyes are fine. Definitely had that checked a long time ago!!! So I'm certain it's behavioral. I had almost hoped it WAS his eyes (that sounds awful, I know) just so I'd have something to blame. (But yes - he's a saint for the farrier/vet/etc. that it almost makes up for the brat behavior).
Mary - Hahaha! Yeah, Pro wouldn't try to kill anyone. Just frustrate them to the point of insanity...
Dare - Yeahhhhh I know he's hard. A month, darn - I've been trying for years now to figure out his brain. You do need to ride him more, especially since Mandros is healing!
Christie - YAY for pictures!!!
Laura - AAAHHH YES, it's ALWAYS when you just want a brief, good ride. Never fails!
Bad bad Pro!! I got up early to ride today but it was HOT. Good for you for getting out there and riding.
Can you start with 1 pole and then add more? Maybe drop one in the path stall---barn so it can be part of his regular routine.
Actually I rode yesterday ;) but Andrea did ride today!!! And she made some good progress with him. I've invited her to the blog so that she can share her experiences.
I like the idea of adding the pole into his routine...hmmm. He didn't seem to mind them when they were IN the arena (once we'd gone over them once). I guess I'll keep playing around with their location. :)
Oh and Alex - you need to start posting!! I enjoy seeing the pictures of your critters (I really enjoyed seeing Artie's progress) so I'm looking forward to hearing your stories. :)
Yeah, Pro's "special" like that and has no problem with the poles when he's supposed to go OVER them, it's just PAST that is somehow a difficult concept for him.
Actually, I think he's gotten his little head screwed up and decided that it's more fun/less work to make Kate upset by spooking than just work. He usually picks other random things to spook at for me (the new fence going up on Thursday, for instance *sigh*). I just have to repeat "Arabs are cute and smart and fun" over and over to myself. ;)
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