Princely Sums

Picture created by Ruth's son, Alex

After a few months it was good to see Prince again and to be amazed at what progress Ruth has made. Not only can she touch him all over now, but he has his headcollar on every day and has been brushed from head to toe. I also got a strong sense that Ruth, who has never been horsey or all that confident around them, is now 'one of us' and recently she has been catching errant ponies for other people. 

Her method is slighly unorthodox but it works. One of three sections of homework I have given her is to shore up the foundations by spending more time 'working' on his head, perhaps using the scarf.

We also spent time - using a clipless rope in case he did think about disappearing - leading him here and there within the yard, just a few paces in one direction with a stop for a reward, and then a few steps in another direction and so on. This got him used to the feel of a little tension in the line and how to release it for himself. Ruth became a fan of the 'motorbike hand', counted stops, and moving him to one side or the other if he got a little bit stuck. We also worked on walking him through the threshold of the gate into the school and back out again. 

A lot of this came very naturally to both of them since they have spent a lot of time just walking along together with no line at all. 

With apologies to Ruth for the positioning, we then worked on teaching him to pick his feet up - by teaching him to keep them down first. It's important that a pony doesn't automatically pick his hooves up when you touch his leg as it would be a nuisance for treating a wound or bandaging the leg. Only then did we start to use a set signal - no pulling on the feathers! - to ask him to lift the leg up. The next stage will be to gently hold his toe for a second and then more.

I found it interesting that no-one else in the yard was remotely interested in what we were doing, except for the cat. Unfortunately we take the domestication of our horses for granted and Prince is viewed as pointless because he cannot be ridden when in fact he can teach people so much. 

Ruth has found Prince's sweet spot so that treats, disciplined as they are, are not the only reward in his life. 

He is such an open and honest pony with behaviour that may be inconvenient but is not 'naughty'. He just is what he is. 

He's happy to follow Ruth loose back down to the field, through the muddiest threshold, and without nagging at her for the food in the bucket that she carries. 

I am so proud of these two I could burst.