Fun With Nico!

Tuesday’s lesson was a lot of fun. We were in the indoor arena because it was cold outside. Nico doesn’t have much spunk indoors, but he didn’t protest too much when I asked him to trot. He kept bulging into the middle of the arena, though, and was very resistant to my inside leg. So my trainer had me do some bending exercises that I had never heard of before, and then the bulging was completely fixed! Wow, I’m glad I have access to a trainer!

Then, we stood in the middle of the arena while the other student cantered. Her horse spooked and she fell off. After she fell, her horse came tearing across the arena bucking. Fortunately, Nico stood nicely for me to jump off. The girl was totally fine and she got back on and jumped a couple of courses.

After the other student was done jumping, I asked my trainer if I could walk Nico over the super low crossrails that were set up. She said it would be fine. So I walked him over, expecting him to be concerned, but he simply walked over it without hesitation. Granted, he hit it with ALL FOUR feet, but he wasn’t concerned in the slightest. In fact, I think he enjoyed the change of routine. I headed him towards another crossrail and this time he picked up his feet better and happily walked over it. Then we trotted over some poles, and once again the pony was a superstar. New things just don’t seem to bother him at all.

Then, yesterday, my trainer was supposed to ride Nico at 3 or 3:15. I got to the barn and got him all brushed and ready to go by 3. Then it was 3:15. No trainer. Then 3:30 rolled around and a girl showed up for the lesson at 4. I realized then that my pony would not get a training ride.

So I took him outside to graze, and just as we were leaving the barn, my trainer showed up. She was super apologetic and said she could go ahead and squeeze in a quick ride, but I told her to just not worry about it. I don’t want my guy rushed and stressed out. So I took him outside and let him graze on a nice clover patch. After fifteen minutes or so, I took him into the smaller outdoor arena and practiced some showmanship moves. We’re working right now on backing up, and crossing over the front legs in a rough version of a pivot. He was quite responsive, and by the end was backing up with very little pressure.

Unfortunately, since I thought my trainer would be riding, I wasn’t wearing riding clothes. So I thought it might be fun to attempt a little “round-penning” in the arena. I have done some basic natural horsemanship stuff in the past using a round pen. Mostly just driving the horse away and then inviting them back. I wasn’t expecting much from Nico in the giant arena, but thought it would be fun to try. All I had was a lead rope and a jumping bat, so I had to work hard to get Nico moving. He was quite good, and cantered several times for me when I kissed to him. I had to sprint down the arena to keep pressure on him, but it was kind of fun to run at the same speed as my cantering horse.

Believe it or not, when I turned away from Nico, he walked the twenty or so feet over to me and stood behind me. I was quite happy. As far as I know, he has never done any kind of natural horsemanship stuff. He followed me around for awhile before he became interested in the tractor dragging the other arena. So I sent him back out and chased him around some more. The second time I released the pressure, he simply turned and faced me. He didn’t walk over, but that was fine. I was just happy that he didn’t completely ignore me.

Tomorrow is going to be a big day for Nico. We have a riding lesson at 9am. Then he’s (hopefully - cross your fingers!) getting his horrifyingly grungy sheath cleaned if the vet has time. Then, in the afternoon we’re moving to my trainer’s farm about fifteen minutes away. Fortunately, he’s moving with a couple of his pasture mates, so I think he’ll settle in well at the new farm. The barn where we are at now has a significant amount of drama, so I’m looking forward to moving someplace smaller and more cheerful!

~ by haffiegirl on May 1, 2008.