It's has been weeks sense I have had the time to spend on my horse and the sun is finally out and it's a beatiful day. I try to get some photos of my babies out in the flowers but the only one who would stand still was yogi my dog.
I put Cody out to eat grass but he is pacing the fence again. I clean my stalls and see Cody still pacing, I go get him to put him back in his stall so he will stop pacing the fence now he wants to eat grass, not the grass in the pen, the grass on the other side of the fence. He has dropped weight lately so I let him eat a bit. I decided to hope up on him while he eat, I had my big rubber boots on that are a few sized to big on but if I kept my toes up they would stay on. As long as I was standing there he was fine to eat grass but once I got up on him he wanted to go somewhere. I just had his halter on and sence I tie him to the walker to eat grass he is a bit hard nosed and it's now hard to get his attention. I decide to ride him around the barn and work on his guide in this halter. As I round the barn the mares had come back and he losses it and starts to scream, thinking I'm going to spir him in the belly he starts to run back and jump from side to side. Now, I'm bareback, in big rubber boots and was being nice letting him eat the tall grass and now I'm going to end up on my ass in the dirt. I turned him out the road and thought a trail ride might do us some good and we headed down to the creek. It was a beautiful day and the first time I had wore a tanktop, my white skin shining in the sun, but a short ride to the creek and back wouldn't burn and these boots are starting to get heavy I think it's time to head back. It's about a half mile straight stretch back home and every time I hit the quarter mile Cody starts to scream to the mares. I turn him and lope him back down to the bridge, to the same spot every time. After a while I realize I'm the one who is getting tired, Cody seems fine spending the entire day walking home then loping to the bridge, at the quarter mile mark he actually turns himself around as he screams his fool head off. Well my guide has improve but my boots feel like they weight fifty pounds each and the sun has turned my white skin to red, this is not good. I have to get out of this, maybe if I tie him to a tree down at the bridge and walk home, rest a bit, get better shoes on and Oh a saddle, yes a saddle to save my pour back side! right about then I start to notice that not only is Cody running at spead to the bridge now he is also walking very slowly back home? And he is starting to scream to the mares sooner? This is not working? He is getting worce not better? Everything hurts, what happened to my lovely day? Cody starts to swing his head from side to side I hear him squeal and then think better of it and keep walking. We are past the quarter mile mark and he is walking relaxed. Wow we are around the corner and headed to the driveway. My mares are right there waiting for him, he walks right on by gets about halfway down the driveway and starts to scream. Knowing I really want him to get this lesson I turn him around and ask him to lope out the road. I lope him out only to the quarter mile mark stop and sit there a minute and then he walked all the way home without a peep.
I couldn't barely walk the next day and my sun burn is on fire but I feel pretty good about it now, I almost had myself talked into quiting, right when he was putting his thinking cap on. I would have still felt like I was run over by a truck, had a sun burn like no other but without the satifaction that I made my point. Gotten through to him that when I'm riding him I do not want him talking to mares! without kicking his ass instead we had a meeting of the minds:0) This is the second time I have done this with him but this time I went back to the same spot eact time, all the way down to the bridge. I think the same spot worked great! keeping it simple helping him think. Next time I'll be prepared with the righ shoes.
