So the day started out pretty normal (it wasn't windy if you were wondering). I warmed Gambler up over poles, walk/trot and a little bit of canter. The warm up was pretty pointless, because after that he pretty much stood still while I did mounting prep. I brought the mounting block into the arena to play with, because he's a little nervous about seeing me above his head.
First, I set the block in front of Gambler and jumped on and off of it until he stopped throwing his head up whenever I magically got taller. Normally, I would just step onto the mounting block, but I exaggerated everything so that he'd realize it wasn't dangerous. Once he was okay with that I started waving my arms around too. Pretty soon he was just ignoring me.
Second, I asked Gambler to back away from me and walk toward me while I was jumping on and off of it. Third, I stood on the block and longed him around me. After a circle or two I asked him to stand next to it while I stood over him and rubbed his back/wither area. As soon as he walked away or stepped out from the mounting block I asked him to circle again. After a few sessions, he should realize that standing next to the block is where he gets to rest and when he leaves he has to work. I did this exercise on both sides because I want to mount him from both sides, which is better for a horse's back and mind.
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| He's so relaxed. |
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| YAWN! |
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| "What are you doing, Mom?" |
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| "How did you get on that side?" |
After that, I don't have any pictures because my photographer (aka my Mom) was holding Gambler while I leaned farther over his back. He was so good! I got to lay over his back only standing on tip-toe on the mounting block, so the majority of my weight was on his back. The plan is that on Thursday (knock on wood) I'll lay fully over his back while Mom leads him around and then mount properly. Obviously any number of things could post-pone it further, but I hope it works out!
Love it! Keep up the good work! ;)
ReplyDeleteThank you! I will. :)
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