05.20.08
Green horse’s driving training resumed
As of early May, the Herd is back home, very happy to have a little grass underfoot and to have their 24-hour turnout and freedom to act like horses. They were almost completely shedded out, thanks to Emmie and Horse Gal and a month of warm April weather.
GLEN and GILFORD RUNNING AND BUCKING happy to be home and FREE! Gilford does a double-twist kickout which is pretty cool.
Glendale has gone back into driving training for 2008, 5 sessions before May 13. Hubby and I took it very cautiously, refreshing Glen’s memory on the training he had not done since last November. First we ground drove him in the paddock, then we reintroduced him to the training cart. We pulled the cart beside and behind him while he was ground driven, and did a little fake hitching by putting the shafts in the tugs but not fastening him in, and I walked the cart around holding one shaft beside him while Dad drove him from behind.
Admittedly, we were using extreme caution in our first 3 sessions, because of a recent training accident which occurred to a friend of ours. Actually she had borrowed our metal training cart, and had ended up replacing the wheels and the shafts on it due to damage. Her horse was OK though slightly injured; that will be another post soon to come! But this accident being fresh in our minds had put the fear of God into us and we didn’t want to do anything too quickly with our youngster.
In session 4 we hitched him on up, then after a few turns around the paddock, we took him across the street from the barn to a small grass field which was new to him. (Hearing his mom screaming in the barn could have been a trial.) I kept a lead line on him while Hubby drove him across the street and around the field a little, then I unhooked the lead line and we took turns driving him around this area, circling about 6 times each. This field was smaller than our paddock, and even bumpier, so we figured if he could pull the cart in this rough footing, he could pull it in almost anything. This was a trial run for him leaving the barn alone. Just to make it interesting, a photographer from the Gilford Steamer happened by and took some pictures.
Glendale driving nicely in rough bumpy field
For Session 5 we wanted to take him further from the barn alone, down into our lower field where the horses have not gone since last fall. We put him to the cart and drove him down the street to the gate (again, I had him on a lead line and Hubby drove him from the cart) but we found the lock on the gate was unworkable due to rust and disuse… so we changed tactics and decided to give him street practice. I had a lead line on him, and we walked him with Hubby driving a couple of different directions away from the barn, making short excursions out and turning to come back again. All the while we were alert to how he was dealing with being alone and leaving his family back in the barn.
This day being a Saturday afternoon was about the worst day of the week in Gilford for street traffic, so it was an acid test. There were motorcycles and cars galore, but Glen did not get concerned. Our goal in this training was to build his confidence at being alone, and not to push him beyond his confidence level and risk making him feel balky. After a while, I unclipped his lead line and Dad did a little trotting while I videoed. Glen was fine with everything.
Almost 3yr.old Glendale driven on street for the first time (I am walking to provide assistance if needed.) He walks uphill feeling weight of cart, turns, trots uphill a little then walks downhill, feeling sustained weight of cart and driver pushing against his rump. Driver’s job is to help horse slow down and be collected, learning how to resist the cart’s weight without letting it rush him forward and thus possibly getting worried about it. (NOTE: he HAS been ridden on streets a good bit, he is used to cars passing his pasture, and he was ponied on streets beside his mom as a foal growing up.)
I did talk to him a lot, watching his ears to see that he was listening to me at his side, even though he couldn’t see me with his blinkers on. He does seem to like the reassurance of people’s voices, and I say “easy, easy” a lot to slow his pace or to get his focus on me when I see something potentially disruptive coming up. Glendale listened to me and he listened to Hubby’s voice cues. Every day a little more challenge for him!
