It was COLD today and I had second thoughts about going to the barn. But, once I got done cleaning Marie's stall, I hand warmed up a bit and decided to go. Today I decided I would try hooking Louie to a drag. He does real well with ground driving and I figured it was time to move to the next level. I got my evener out of the barn. I had to dig my tire drag out of the snow as I never put it away after the last time I used it. But, I did find it and headed to the barn.
When Wendy, the barn owner, saw me she told me I was crazy, it was too cold to work with the horses. But, it wasn't bad in the arena and I'd be doing a lot of walking with the ground driving so knew I'd be warm enough. I asked Wendy if she mined if I used a drag in the arena and she said it was fine. No one else was around so it was a good time. Louie came up to the barn nice and quite but once on the cross ties he was very anxious and was very fidgity. I got him harnessed up and took him into the arena. Once there, he quieted down. I ground drove him for a while and he was very good. Nice and light on the reins and stopping immediately when asked to whoa. So, I grabbed the rope on the drag and pulled it while driving Louie to see if the sound bothered him. He did not react to it at all. So, after a few minutes, I hooked Louie to the drag. I held my breath and asked him to walk out. And he did just fine. He didn't seem to mind pulling the drag at all. I drove him around the arena for about 10 minutes and he was just as good and quite as you could want. Then, as we were walking along the outside wall of the arena, some ice came off the roof with a crash outside. And Louie was off like a race horse out of the starting gate. I held him for all of about two seconds and had to let him go. He did about 15 laps of that arena each lap faster then the last. The tired finally hit one of the big I beam supports and broke free of the evener. Luckily, I had lengthened the traces so the evener was well behind him. And though it was bouncing, it was not hitting him, just scaring the poo out of him. Finally he came to a stop by the door. I went and got him and just worked on getting him relaxed again. I unhooked the evener, bounced it around him, dropped it behind him a few times with no reaction from him. So, not wanting to end on a bad note, I hooked him up again. And again, he was just fine about the drag. About 5 minutes into getting him going again, Wendy drives by in her truck and the truck tires make all kinds of crunching sounds on the snow and ice and Louie was off to the races once again. AGH! He only made about 5 laps the second time and then came right to me. At this point I know I will NOT be hooking him to any cart any time soon. I went back to driving him like nothing had happened and once again he was quiet and good. After about 5 minutes of him walking quietly and whoaing very well, I quite before something else could come off the roof or drive by. I needed to end on a good note. I was a bit dissappointed as he has heard these sounds of ice falling and tires crunching on snow lots of time while being ridden in the arena and has not been spooked by it like that. On the upside, he did not mind pulling and in all the running he did, he never bucked or kicked out.
So, I guess I have a lot more work ahead of me to make him a harness mule. Unless someone is looking for a mule for a chuck wagon or chariott racing team.........Cause by golly he is all trained up good now for racing in harness.......
Monday, January 17, 2011
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Nice evening ride
Today some friends and I went to the NorthEast Horsemans Conference at the Augusta Civic Center. The trade show is kind of small and not too exciting but it is a fun day out with the girls. After wandering around at the trade show, we go to lunch then go up to Hemphills tack shop to see if we can spend even more money.
So, by the time I got home from my day out with the girls and fed Marie, it was about 5:30 PM when I got to the barn. I was surprised no one was around so I had the arena to myself. Louie was fairly quiet on the cross ties. But, once in the arena he just wanted to goof off big time. I lunged him first and he kept heading for the door. He has not done this before. We had to have a discussion about this and eventually he quit. When I got on him, he was fairly quiet but it seems the mule eating boogers had moved down to the opposite end of the arena this evening. Wendy (barn owner) had parked a snowmobile trailer and a snowmobile down on the boogery end of the arena and at first I thought that was what he was snorting at. But nope, he was snorting and blowing at the open door to the outside which have a pipe gate across it. That is nothing new...... sigh. At one point he almost dumped me when I was strongly encouraging him to go down near the gated door. He did a cutting horse style spin where he dropped his front end. Luckily, he didn't go anywhere after the spin and I was able to get myself back in position.
He finally did settle down though and was quite good. Boy mules..........
So, by the time I got home from my day out with the girls and fed Marie, it was about 5:30 PM when I got to the barn. I was surprised no one was around so I had the arena to myself. Louie was fairly quiet on the cross ties. But, once in the arena he just wanted to goof off big time. I lunged him first and he kept heading for the door. He has not done this before. We had to have a discussion about this and eventually he quit. When I got on him, he was fairly quiet but it seems the mule eating boogers had moved down to the opposite end of the arena this evening. Wendy (barn owner) had parked a snowmobile trailer and a snowmobile down on the boogery end of the arena and at first I thought that was what he was snorting at. But nope, he was snorting and blowing at the open door to the outside which have a pipe gate across it. That is nothing new...... sigh. At one point he almost dumped me when I was strongly encouraging him to go down near the gated door. He did a cutting horse style spin where he dropped his front end. Luckily, he didn't go anywhere after the spin and I was able to get myself back in position.
He finally did settle down though and was quite good. Boy mules..........
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Another Storm Coming
Another storm coming tomorrow. Somehow, I think the animals can sense this.
Today was a lovely day. Sunny, in the 30's and no wind. When I arrived at the barn today around 1:00 PM, Louie gave a loud bray of greeting when he saw me. As I am no longer the person delivering food 2x's a day. So, when he greets me, I do think it is because he is genuinely happy to see me. How cool is that? He led quietly up to the barn. Well, he did try to stop and visit with the 2 mini horses. He seems quite fascinated with them as they are with him. But, Louie is no longer paying much attention to Dolly mule when we go by her paddock. Nor is Dolly calling to him any longer. I think it is actually a good thing they were separated. Louie was so quiet leading up to the barn I was thinking it was going to be a real quiet easy day working with him. HA!
Once Louie was in the barn he became quite anxious and wiggled around a bit on the cross ties. But, didn't actually cross the line into being bad. He had quieted down by the time I was finished grooming and stood quietly while being saddled. Once I got him out into the arena.........Yeeeehaaaaa, the fun began. I quickly decided lunging him would be a good idea. And it was like having a 1000 lb flea on the end of the lunge line. He wasn't really bucking so much as jumping and bolting off at every little tiny sound and moving shadow. And I mean anything! I had put the chain over his nose so he didn't drag me around but he jumped, spun, bolted, jumped, bolted etc and it was quite a chore getting him to settle down and pay attention. Wendy, the barn owner, drove by the open arena door in her truck and when that went by, Louie went about 10' in the air and bolted off. Wendy mentioned she saw that when she came in later. Louie did finally settle down into some semblance of control after a bit and lunged fairly well.
I finally decided Louie might have blown off enough steam to be safe to ride. At least I was hoping. I led him over near the arena door where I dropped his bridle. I asked him to stand ground tied while I walked out of the arena and put away the lunging equiptment. He actually was pretty good about this. He only walked forward when he hear me crinkle some plastic thinking he was about to get a treat. I quickly backed him up and asked him to stand again and he did. Then, just as I was starting to slip his bridle on (standing with our backs to the arnea door) Wendy walked through the door and startled Louie who then bolted off dragging me with him. Thankfully, he didn't put much effort into it as he didn't go far. Or, it was the 200lbs of me hanging off his face.......
Wendy is working with my friend's mule Dolly doing some training with her. I asked Wendy how that was going. "Well," she said, "It's going fine I guess." After a minutes she then says to me. "You know with theses mules, whenever you ask them to do something, they want want to know why they should do it." I got a chuckle out of this as she was so right, this is definitely mule mentality.
Louie was a perfect boy for mounting. He lined right up to the mounting block first time and stood like a rock as I mounted and did not move an inch until I asked him to. But, once moving he was a bit light on his feet. And, the mule eating boogers were back along one side of the arena. He just did not want to walk straight down that side of the arena. At first when I was asking him to walk straight along the boogery side of the arena he locked his neck on me a couple times. But, only for a few seconds. I gave several quick sharp pulls on the reins to avoid getting into a pulling match I know I would not win. At the same time I asked for him to yield his hindquarters and he did. This did not get us by the boogers walking straight but it did get him to unlock his neck right away. Good enough for me. Someone had left a blue tarp on the ground in the arena. We walked over it several times and he didn't mind that at all. But, he's done this quite a few times before. After a while, Louie did settle down and relax and eventually did several very nice canter transitions for me. After I had untacked Louie I brought him back out into the arena to see if he wanted to roll in the sand (possibly not a good habit to get him into in the place I work him...) When I turned him loose, I could not get him to leave me at first. He just stuck right with me. I walked around for a bit and he just followed. After a few laps around the arena, he finally did decided to take a good roll and then came right back to me.
So, all in all it was another fun day with Louie at the barn. He sure is interesting to work with. I'm not sure who is teaching who the most but I do know we are both growing and learning with this time at the barn and arena. I'm getting really excited now about the prospect of trying him out at distance riding. Now that he is sound, he is showing more spirit then I originally gave him credit for. The question is how tough will he be. And I can definitely foresee the first few rides being a bit interesting at the start. I really think he is going to feed off the excitement of the other horses and be quite a handful at first.
Today was a lovely day. Sunny, in the 30's and no wind. When I arrived at the barn today around 1:00 PM, Louie gave a loud bray of greeting when he saw me. As I am no longer the person delivering food 2x's a day. So, when he greets me, I do think it is because he is genuinely happy to see me. How cool is that? He led quietly up to the barn. Well, he did try to stop and visit with the 2 mini horses. He seems quite fascinated with them as they are with him. But, Louie is no longer paying much attention to Dolly mule when we go by her paddock. Nor is Dolly calling to him any longer. I think it is actually a good thing they were separated. Louie was so quiet leading up to the barn I was thinking it was going to be a real quiet easy day working with him. HA!
Once Louie was in the barn he became quite anxious and wiggled around a bit on the cross ties. But, didn't actually cross the line into being bad. He had quieted down by the time I was finished grooming and stood quietly while being saddled. Once I got him out into the arena.........Yeeeehaaaaa, the fun began. I quickly decided lunging him would be a good idea. And it was like having a 1000 lb flea on the end of the lunge line. He wasn't really bucking so much as jumping and bolting off at every little tiny sound and moving shadow. And I mean anything! I had put the chain over his nose so he didn't drag me around but he jumped, spun, bolted, jumped, bolted etc and it was quite a chore getting him to settle down and pay attention. Wendy, the barn owner, drove by the open arena door in her truck and when that went by, Louie went about 10' in the air and bolted off. Wendy mentioned she saw that when she came in later. Louie did finally settle down into some semblance of control after a bit and lunged fairly well.
I finally decided Louie might have blown off enough steam to be safe to ride. At least I was hoping. I led him over near the arena door where I dropped his bridle. I asked him to stand ground tied while I walked out of the arena and put away the lunging equiptment. He actually was pretty good about this. He only walked forward when he hear me crinkle some plastic thinking he was about to get a treat. I quickly backed him up and asked him to stand again and he did. Then, just as I was starting to slip his bridle on (standing with our backs to the arnea door) Wendy walked through the door and startled Louie who then bolted off dragging me with him. Thankfully, he didn't put much effort into it as he didn't go far. Or, it was the 200lbs of me hanging off his face.......
Wendy is working with my friend's mule Dolly doing some training with her. I asked Wendy how that was going. "Well," she said, "It's going fine I guess." After a minutes she then says to me. "You know with theses mules, whenever you ask them to do something, they want want to know why they should do it." I got a chuckle out of this as she was so right, this is definitely mule mentality.
Louie was a perfect boy for mounting. He lined right up to the mounting block first time and stood like a rock as I mounted and did not move an inch until I asked him to. But, once moving he was a bit light on his feet. And, the mule eating boogers were back along one side of the arena. He just did not want to walk straight down that side of the arena. At first when I was asking him to walk straight along the boogery side of the arena he locked his neck on me a couple times. But, only for a few seconds. I gave several quick sharp pulls on the reins to avoid getting into a pulling match I know I would not win. At the same time I asked for him to yield his hindquarters and he did. This did not get us by the boogers walking straight but it did get him to unlock his neck right away. Good enough for me. Someone had left a blue tarp on the ground in the arena. We walked over it several times and he didn't mind that at all. But, he's done this quite a few times before. After a while, Louie did settle down and relax and eventually did several very nice canter transitions for me. After I had untacked Louie I brought him back out into the arena to see if he wanted to roll in the sand (possibly not a good habit to get him into in the place I work him...) When I turned him loose, I could not get him to leave me at first. He just stuck right with me. I walked around for a bit and he just followed. After a few laps around the arena, he finally did decided to take a good roll and then came right back to me.
So, all in all it was another fun day with Louie at the barn. He sure is interesting to work with. I'm not sure who is teaching who the most but I do know we are both growing and learning with this time at the barn and arena. I'm getting really excited now about the prospect of trying him out at distance riding. Now that he is sound, he is showing more spirit then I originally gave him credit for. The question is how tough will he be. And I can definitely foresee the first few rides being a bit interesting at the start. I really think he is going to feed off the excitement of the other horses and be quite a handful at first.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Ground Driving Louie
Today I had a wonderful time Louie at the barn. I think the nicest session I've had with Louie in the arena. I was feeling lousy today and didn't head over until this evening about 5:00. (nothing wrong with me, just that time of the month.... blah!) So, I didn't feel up to riding Louie but couldn't stand a day of not seeing him. So, I thought today I'll do something totally different and ground drive him in harness. He has been ground driven a few times before but not in a long time, nearly a year.
Louie greeted me VERY eagerly today which was soooooooo nice. He came up to the barn today with no hesitation. Was very quiet on the cross ties. No on else was around so we had the barn to ourselves. When I got the harness out, Louie wiggled just a tiny bit on the cross ties as he then realized we were doing something different and he had just a moment of anxiety. But, I just took my time grooming him and took plenty of time putting the harness on and he settled right down and relaxed.
And he was wonderful in the arena and ground drove very well. In just a few minutes he got right into in and was so relaxed. I put out some cones to weave through and did a lot of walk, trot to walk transitions. He got a little silly just once at the trot, shaking his head and hopping but stopped when I corrected him and was just a good, good boy. It was a good decision to do something new today, we both needed it.
Louie greeted me VERY eagerly today which was soooooooo nice. He came up to the barn today with no hesitation. Was very quiet on the cross ties. No on else was around so we had the barn to ourselves. When I got the harness out, Louie wiggled just a tiny bit on the cross ties as he then realized we were doing something different and he had just a moment of anxiety. But, I just took my time grooming him and took plenty of time putting the harness on and he settled right down and relaxed.
And he was wonderful in the arena and ground drove very well. In just a few minutes he got right into in and was so relaxed. I put out some cones to weave through and did a lot of walk, trot to walk transitions. He got a little silly just once at the trot, shaking his head and hopping but stopped when I corrected him and was just a good, good boy. It was a good decision to do something new today, we both needed it.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Naughty mule caught on video
Dolly in paddock at Gray's Equestrian Training
Louie in paddock at Gray's Equestrian Training
Another interesting day at the barn. Today I took my camera as I thought Bonnie was taking a lesson today and I thought she would like some pictures of her riding Dolly. When I got there, I found out Bonnie had cancelled her lesson so I figured I might as well work with Louie since I was there. When I went out to get Louie, the first thing I noticed was that Dolly was in a paddock up near the barn and not in her usual paddock down next to Louie. And she was not happy about it. She brayed and ran to the fence when she saw me. I guess hoping I would fix her world. I gave her a pat and told her I was sorry that I could do nothing for her. When I saw Wendy, the barn owner, she said that Dolly had gone through the fencing of her paddock so was up where the electric was working more reliably. Louie wasn't happy about the separation either but did not seem as unhappy as Dolly.
When I was leading him up to the barn, he once again planted his feet and said "no" about half way up. He know the barn means work. It didn't take much to get him to come with me though. There were 3 other horses already cross tied in the barn aisle so I crossed tied Louie in the 4th spot which is right by the side door. From there he could see Dolly and he wanted to be out with her and not in the barn. So, he proceeded to throw a temper tantrum which I happened to catch on video. I think Wendy was a bit disgusted that I was videoing Louie's tantrum rather then doing something to correct him but hey, you can't pass up on such a good photo op! Once he threw his little tantrum though, he was quiet.
I took Louie out in the arena and lounged him. There was one other woman lounging her horse and 3 riding. Louie was pretty good only pulling on me once. I then took him back out to saddle him. He was quite for that though he is STILL honking for me when I get out of sight. When I took him back in to ride, he was a bit keyed up. When I first mounted up, he was a bit bouncy and I couldn't get my right stirrup so I ended up getting off walking him around for a minute then mounting up again. He was better the second time. He rode very well today. Though for some reason he was sure there were some mule eating boogers up at the viewing room side of the arena and would not walk straight past that end of the arena, but kept jigging sideways and snorting. After he started feeling relaxed, I asked for a few trot to canter transitions and he did them beautifully. So, we ended there. Since yesterdays work out was a hard one for him, I wanted to make today and easy day.
So, another good day at the barn.
View from the Barn
Louie at Gray's Equestrian Training
Louie in paddock at Gray's Equestrian Training
Another interesting day at the barn. Today I took my camera as I thought Bonnie was taking a lesson today and I thought she would like some pictures of her riding Dolly. When I got there, I found out Bonnie had cancelled her lesson so I figured I might as well work with Louie since I was there. When I went out to get Louie, the first thing I noticed was that Dolly was in a paddock up near the barn and not in her usual paddock down next to Louie. And she was not happy about it. She brayed and ran to the fence when she saw me. I guess hoping I would fix her world. I gave her a pat and told her I was sorry that I could do nothing for her. When I saw Wendy, the barn owner, she said that Dolly had gone through the fencing of her paddock so was up where the electric was working more reliably. Louie wasn't happy about the separation either but did not seem as unhappy as Dolly.
When I was leading him up to the barn, he once again planted his feet and said "no" about half way up. He know the barn means work. It didn't take much to get him to come with me though. There were 3 other horses already cross tied in the barn aisle so I crossed tied Louie in the 4th spot which is right by the side door. From there he could see Dolly and he wanted to be out with her and not in the barn. So, he proceeded to throw a temper tantrum which I happened to catch on video. I think Wendy was a bit disgusted that I was videoing Louie's tantrum rather then doing something to correct him but hey, you can't pass up on such a good photo op! Once he threw his little tantrum though, he was quiet.
I took Louie out in the arena and lounged him. There was one other woman lounging her horse and 3 riding. Louie was pretty good only pulling on me once. I then took him back out to saddle him. He was quite for that though he is STILL honking for me when I get out of sight. When I took him back in to ride, he was a bit keyed up. When I first mounted up, he was a bit bouncy and I couldn't get my right stirrup so I ended up getting off walking him around for a minute then mounting up again. He was better the second time. He rode very well today. Though for some reason he was sure there were some mule eating boogers up at the viewing room side of the arena and would not walk straight past that end of the arena, but kept jigging sideways and snorting. After he started feeling relaxed, I asked for a few trot to canter transitions and he did them beautifully. So, we ended there. Since yesterdays work out was a hard one for him, I wanted to make today and easy day.
So, another good day at the barn.
View from the Barn
Louie at Gray's Equestrian Training
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Poor Louie
Today was our first lesson since I've had Louie at the barn. When I was leading him up to the barn, about half way, he planted his feet and didn't want to move. He now knows the barn means work. It only took a second to get him going again and I was now aware of his feelings on the subject. No one was using the arena so I took Louie in and just turned him loose so he could just do his own thing and have a little fun in the arena. And fun he did have. He ran, and bucked and played. He did the big moose trot all over that arena and let out big deep belly snorts. Then rolled a few times. After that he just came to me in the middle of the arena and when I walked off he followed right at my shoulder.
He was quiet on the cross ties for grooming and saddling. Three people came into the barn, a woman with two pre-teen kids. They walked by Louie. Once by him,the woman stopped, spun around and said, "Is that a mule?" I told her yes and she then made the typical statement of, "I didn't think mules got this big." And I explained they come in all the same size, shapes and colors a horse does. She came back and loved on Louie which he soaked up like a sponge. And when I walked away and Louie honked for me, I heard her laugh and say that she just loved the sound of that. The young boy called Louie a donkey once but the woman quickly corrected him.
I took Louie into the arena and lunged him just a little bit. He's already gotten all the silliness out of his system when I turned him loose in there so he was all settled down already. Then the lesson began. Poor Louie! He already doesn't know anything and I sure do my best to keep him confused. You just don't realized how many wrong things you are doing until someone is watching you. I constantly keep holding my right rein shorter and tighter but I can't feel or tell that I am doing this. "stop pulling, stop leaning forward, stop slouching, stop, stop, stop" AGH! And I kept doing something that Louie interpreted as being asked to canter. And he definitely thought he was being asked as he was not excited and speeding up. But, he would break into the most beautiful, slow, 3 beat western lope. And I kept having to check him back to a trot because I was not asking for the lope. Then when I wanted him to lope, he didn't get it. And after all, I'd just keep telling him not to lope (cause I hadn't asked for it...) He actually did quite well going counter clock wise picking up the canter on the correct lead. But, he was picking up the wrong lead sometimes going clockwise. And at one point when I asked for the canter and he picked up the wrong lead, and I checked him back to a trot and asked again, and again got the wrong lead, checked back and asked again..........He was just confused and told me enough was enough and headed out of the arena. He set that head and off he went. The arena door was open unfortunately. I was able to turn him just before he went out. The instructor shut the door to take that distraction away. She then had me ask him one more time for the canter on the correct lead going clockwise. He did get it and we managed most of a circle. We were only 1/2 into our 1 hr. lesson but Wendy declared the she thought Louie had had enough for one day and that we should end on that good note. I completely agreed with her. Louie and I were both tired and sweaty from just the 1/2 of steady work.
It was a good lesson. But I need to really work on myself and what I'm doing so I don't confuse Louie so much.
He was quiet on the cross ties for grooming and saddling. Three people came into the barn, a woman with two pre-teen kids. They walked by Louie. Once by him,the woman stopped, spun around and said, "Is that a mule?" I told her yes and she then made the typical statement of, "I didn't think mules got this big." And I explained they come in all the same size, shapes and colors a horse does. She came back and loved on Louie which he soaked up like a sponge. And when I walked away and Louie honked for me, I heard her laugh and say that she just loved the sound of that. The young boy called Louie a donkey once but the woman quickly corrected him.
I took Louie into the arena and lunged him just a little bit. He's already gotten all the silliness out of his system when I turned him loose in there so he was all settled down already. Then the lesson began. Poor Louie! He already doesn't know anything and I sure do my best to keep him confused. You just don't realized how many wrong things you are doing until someone is watching you. I constantly keep holding my right rein shorter and tighter but I can't feel or tell that I am doing this. "stop pulling, stop leaning forward, stop slouching, stop, stop, stop" AGH! And I kept doing something that Louie interpreted as being asked to canter. And he definitely thought he was being asked as he was not excited and speeding up. But, he would break into the most beautiful, slow, 3 beat western lope. And I kept having to check him back to a trot because I was not asking for the lope. Then when I wanted him to lope, he didn't get it. And after all, I'd just keep telling him not to lope (cause I hadn't asked for it...) He actually did quite well going counter clock wise picking up the canter on the correct lead. But, he was picking up the wrong lead sometimes going clockwise. And at one point when I asked for the canter and he picked up the wrong lead, and I checked him back to a trot and asked again, and again got the wrong lead, checked back and asked again..........He was just confused and told me enough was enough and headed out of the arena. He set that head and off he went. The arena door was open unfortunately. I was able to turn him just before he went out. The instructor shut the door to take that distraction away. She then had me ask him one more time for the canter on the correct lead going clockwise. He did get it and we managed most of a circle. We were only 1/2 into our 1 hr. lesson but Wendy declared the she thought Louie had had enough for one day and that we should end on that good note. I completely agreed with her. Louie and I were both tired and sweaty from just the 1/2 of steady work.
It was a good lesson. But I need to really work on myself and what I'm doing so I don't confuse Louie so much.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Silly Boy Mule
I went over to the barn to ride this afternoon. It was quiet and no one was riding today. Sooooo, I thought, good, I won't have to lounge Louie first as he should be quiet. Well, the first problem with that theory was that it was feeding time. Louie was down in his paddock pawing anxiously demanding to be feed immediately. So, when I went and got him and brought him up to the barn, he was shocked that I should even consider working him at feeding time. But, he was quiet on the cross ties for grooming and saddling. He still honks when I get out of his sight though. When I got him out in the arena, his eyes lit right up and he started getting a bit light on his feet. I decided that lounging first might be the wise thing afte all. Glad I did! Today I was pleased that he decided not to try dragging me around. He substituted the dragging with bucking and leaping. :-/ I reminded him of my opinion of this kind of behavior and in a few minutes he settled down though he was still bright eyed and snorty. The barn owner came into the arena with her ATV and a cart to get some hay. That didn't really bother Louie though he preferred to face it. I finally felt he was settled down enough to ride. And he was good. We went around the arena a bit sideways a few laps but then he settled right down to work. He is doing well. He is very light on the bit and he is starting to neck rein now quite well.
Louie is the first boy I've had in a long time. I love working with Louie but I do like the seriousness and work ethic I've found in the mares and mollys I've worked with. Louie is such a .....goober...LOL. (and that is said affectionately as he is a total sweetie) But, It is harder to get him to focus on work. He wants to gawk around, play, be loved....etc. But, once you DO get his attention and get him working, he does great. It's good for me to work with him though as it keeps me thinking. He is easy to work with, I just have to pay more attention with him then I've had to with my girls.
Louie is the first boy I've had in a long time. I love working with Louie but I do like the seriousness and work ethic I've found in the mares and mollys I've worked with. Louie is such a .....goober...LOL. (and that is said affectionately as he is a total sweetie) But, It is harder to get him to focus on work. He wants to gawk around, play, be loved....etc. But, once you DO get his attention and get him working, he does great. It's good for me to work with him though as it keeps me thinking. He is easy to work with, I just have to pay more attention with him then I've had to with my girls.
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