Banksy was back at work this morning, learning how to long rein for the first time. He has worn a saddle before and so a surcingle was no problem. He has a part-time job as a pack pony starting early next year so he'll need to be able to carry strange and exotic loads.
He was completely unfazed by the lines.
No time for training Henrietta today so she helped to train Banksy instead. She's keeping a close eye in the long reins.
And we're off solo and calm...
...with a nice soft halt to finish.
The relative intelligence of my equines is plain to see. Theoden, Petra and Bella have all galloped straight into the confines of the round pen, whilst Henrietta has the rest of the five acre field to herself.
One orange bod heading down the field...
...and another coming back.
In the drizzle of the afternoon we worked with Nichola and her four year old cob, Scooby. His groundwork is coming on nicely.
L-shaped ferret drainpipes for Scooby first...
...and then Hamish.
I was told that Hamish is frightened of being hosed down and will not stand for it. He will accept being touched by a piece of hosepipe and by flowing water separately so it just shows that likie a lot of horses he has learned to associate the two things together as part of a battle. Introduced separately and incrementally there is rarely a problem. With water the way to take the 'pressure' off is to rub the area which has been wetted Changing the sensation takes the initial sensation away, and it's also a good idea to do this sort of work in the rain when the horse is wet anyway. Next time we'll use the hose to wet him.
More desensitisation before we finished. The brolly...
...which he was a little bit wary of to begin with...
...and gradually got braver.
And walking over the tarpaulin helping Nichola to 'find 50p'.
