Now that the clocks have changed and the days are longer I have time to juggle riding all 3 horses around work so Dustry is now stabled at night, and is very pleased to have haylage on tap and a big straw bed to snooze on. He is much more chilled after a winter off, and I think the break has done his brain, and body the world of good. I have been doing a little bit of lunging in preparation for getting on board, and he has been impeccably behaved. He responds very well to voice commands although he does think that ‘aaaaannnnd sssstand’ means turn in, stop, and look cute to see if that deserves a treat! He does a good impression of a hoover and can manage a whole circle with his bottom lip grazing the floor so that’s ‘long and low’ sorted! I have popped a few poles here and there and he seems totally unphased by those, and just calmly adjusts himself to trot over them cleanly.
His character is really starting to come out and it seems that he is a real people person. He loves attention of any type, and is a very cuddly horse. I’m trying not to get too attached as he has to be sold on soon, but it’s hard when they are this affectionate.
His feet have grown well giving my farrier a good length of foot to work with and chop back in order to get the angles of his feet correct, and with his new shoes he actually looks bigger! It’s amazing what a difference a good farrier can make, and mine is worth his weight in gold.
I have ridden him a handful of times and he is going well, he is starting to understand the new neck position I am asking for, and he is nice and responsive off the leg. Next step now that the basics are in place is to begin hacking for around 15/20mins at first because his little 4yr old brain does tire very quickly.
