It’s a beautiful morning at ranchette. As I type in the library, I’m watching the fog slowly roll down the hills that back up against the edge of the property line. The horses, nibbling on their morning hay ration, are slowly covered and uncovered in mist.
While searching for an article on line driving, I came across a good article on the Lyon’s Perfect Horse website: 20 Questions About Your New Horse. Banderas is the first new horse I’ve had in seven years; I purchased J. a few weeks before 9/11. Yesterday, I wanted to start line driving the pony in the arena in preparation for carriage training this summer. As I groomed and started to get him ready, I realized that I don’t yet know what he has already learned.
Has he ever been cross tied before? Not sure. Does he know how to post tie? No time like the present to find out. I looped the line around a sturdy post in the barn without tying it. This seemed like old news to him. I put the pony bridle headstall on him and he’s clearly used to being bridled, stuck his head in and was looking for the missing bit.
As I worked, it was a good reminder for how much ground work is needed to get a horse ready to start training for a job. With a new horse, even a pint sized one, I don’t want to just assume he knows something and have a set back as a result.
The good news is that I know Banderas has had a fair amount of training in the past and was broke to ride. (The bad news is that this is how he almost ended up in the sale ring before my friend took him on: he bucked off his little rider. Commentary from me on that topic later.)
I did get him in the arena on the long lines (attached to the halter at this point). Past sessions have proven that he definitely knows how to longe but from what I see hasn’t been driven before. Straightening out off the circle and turning away from me were definitely new experiences. He handled the lines flopping around him fairly well but was a little balky and nervous with the lines around his sides. Overall he accepted these fairly easily and did well at accepting new tasks.
Of course, meanwhile, while we were trotting around the indoor, J. was running around the pasture, screaming at the top of his lungs; sounding for all the world like a broodmare separated from her baby. Reference again: Buddies & So It Begins. Plenty of training opportunities on both sides of the fence this year.
Tags: Banderas, driving, ground training, long line, manners
February 28, 2008 at 12:07 am |
Sounds like you are on the right track. I think the building the basic foundation on horses is the most exciting. There is just such a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day.