Horse training is definitely a dangerous sport. I was bucked
off my Thoroughbred a few days ago and wow did it ever hurt! I was cantering
him around the arena and he freaked out! I lost my balance when his rump went
sky high and I bit the dirt. What did it taste like? It tasted like . . . dirt.
J The next day I went
out to work him and lunged him for a good long time. In fact I didn’t even ride
him that day. I asked him to canter till he was tired and listening to me, then
I had him change directions quickly and canter again. Keeping his mind working,
so he was really paying attention. When I rode him this morning, I lunged him
for a long time again before mounting up. Then I did the say thing from his
back, asking him to think quickly and change directions, turn circles, and
change speeds. When I rode him at the canter later he was really listening to
me. This incident reminds me that I want to take some time this summer to go
through a horse training video that I bought a few years ago at an Equine Affaire
event. It will be helpful to go back to square one and make sure I haven’t forgotten
any of the steps that would help this kind of thing not happen in the future.
On a happier note, my Arabian, Seyvilla, is finally all
better! I think she is still a little stiff from not being ridden much, but I
rode her at the canter for a while this morning and she is still sound (not
limping or favoring her shoulder). My next step with her is to help her lose some
more weight, so she won’t throw her shoulder out when we get back into sorting.
Not only humans need to stay fit! J