O wow, this diary has been more alive than I!
About Speedy Gonzalez: I've been Ill for a while and didn't get a chance to do a lot with him (I actually wanted to write: to him
) and so the riding has stopped again.
When it stopped, we were able to halt/walk/turn with cordeo and back up without problems (soooo cool
), but when I decided that it was the time to take the next step, I decided to take three next steps at the same time (why not try Spanish walk while riding? Why not try and ask for the ramener during walk? Why not try to trot?
) with the result that Speedy froze in the corner where I asked for trot for the third time (voice and buttcheeks only
) and then started bucking and I had the first bright idea that entire day, which was that it was time to get off.
So, the past three months we've only been doing groundwork/hanging over him when rewarding, and putting a lot of effort in trotting on a voice cue only, as I discovered that from the ground he mainly responds to my bodylanguage, so the voice cue wasn't that strong anyway.
However, when my mom and I went to a country fair a month ago, there was a shop with all kinds of animal skins (really everything, from cows to zebras, heads and skins) and when I walked around I was quite horrified until I saw... Reindeer skin!
I had just read an old test in a Dutch horse magazine (Bit) which showed that reindeer skin is the most shock absorbing thing in the universe (well, close
). So then suddenly the animal skins weren't scary at all and I got one for Speedy. Now Speedy hates the smell of it and I haven't ridden him yet, but it's progress!
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New horse book: Mandala horses! Never stop making mistakes!
Natural Dressage