We adjourned to the arena, where half is covered and the sand footing was not frozen. He was wearing the saddle pad, surcingle, and his halter, and he ran around on the lunge line like a madman. Bucking, kicking, leaping into the air, generally making as much ruckus as possible in a 20 meter circle. The dogs thought it was great fun, they love an exciting lunging session.
Once he was mostly done with kicking and bucking, which meant he was sweaty and starting to lather, I put his bridle on and attached the long lines. I then sent him back out on the lunging circle to continue, but now with both lines attached. Note understood what I wanted but thought there should be more running involved. He was a racehorse, after all, and he enjoyed his job! He spun himself in a couple circles which necessitated my letting go of the tangled lines, then he bolted.
Note ran around the arena as fast as he could, kicking at the ropes trailing behind him. I stood in the middle with the dogs and waited for him to finish. It took quite a few laps, but eventually he stopped and walked in to me in the center of the arena. I untangled the lines then resumed ground driving him. He was mad, he thought he should be done! From his point of view he ran as fast as he could, that was his job, and now he should be finished. I wanted him to walk a large circle in each direction, then walk to the back of the arena where I had left his halter on a barrel. He wanted to walk to the gate, be done and leave. We discussed it for a while, he's stubborn but not as stubborn as I am.
The time came when I realized we had reached a point of diminishing returns. If I kept arguing with him it was going to leave him with distaste for our arena activities. If I gave in and quit it would teach him he could win an argument with me. I settled by telling him out loud, "Note, you must walk back to the barrel at the other end of the arena where your halter is. We don't leave here until you walk to that barrel."
Miraculously, Note seemed to understand what I said. He calmly turned, and with deliberate but frustrated steps walked to the far end of the arena where I had left his halter. I patted his sweaty neck and took off his bridle and the long reins. We went back to the barn where I tied him and removed the rest of his equipment. Note was just plain mad at that point. He was hot, sweaty, frustrated, and delivered one more temper tantrum. He pawed and tossed his head and kicked out a few times for good measure.
Because of this poor behavior while tied I decided to leave him there. It was a chilly day so I put a fleece blanket on him to keep him warm as he dried, hopefully fending off excessive muscle cramping. Incidentally that's another quirk of equestrian vernacular that a blanket designed to keep a horse warm while he dries is called a cooler. It keeps him warm while he's cooling out. Then I just left him there, tied securely, while I rode two more horses. Note threw me many dirty looks, and when I ignored him or laughed at him he looked puzzled. I'm a confusing human because I don't yell, I just ignored him. When he finally quit being a nincompoop I removed the cooler, brushed his dried and crusty fur to remove any sweat marks, and put him away.
The second day Note was understandably body-sore. He had worked himself into such a frenzy the first day that I'm sure he was stepping gingerly because of sore muscles. I set him up in the exact same equipment as the first day, and we went to the arena again. Note clearly had spent the night pondering his entrance into the workforce, because he was infinitely better behaved on the lunge line this time. He didn't romp around, he just quietly walked and trotted for me each direction with impeccable manners. When I saw he was going to behave agreeably I bridled him and attached the long lines once more.
Note was a sedate gentleman. I ground drove him both directions, over small jumps, in figure eights around barrels, over the bridge walking over the short side and the long side. Because he was so well behaved I quit as soon as we had successfully accomplished each maneuver. It sent Note the message that if he behaves himself his workout can be very short. I of course didn't want to work him too hard anyway because he was stiff with sore muscles, but the point was made that good behavior earns cookies and easy workouts.
The third day in a row I tacked Note up in a saddle and bridle and we went to the arena. He wasn't as sore so I did ask him for some cantering in the arena on the lunge line. When he had demonstrated that he was going to behave I took him to the mounting block and climbed on. He still thought maybe we were going to run, but he walked nicely for a circle to start. I realized the girth needed to be tighter (I like all the equipment to stay on the horse when I ride). I dismounted but on his right side. He had never had someone dismount on that side before and he gave me a truly puzzled look when my feet hit the ground, but essentially threw up his hands and decided it's just another weird thing that Kim does.
After tightening the girth I then tried to mount from the mounting block on his right side. Note was absolutely sure that was incorrect, and he wiggled around until he had me lined up on his left side so I just climbed on. We walked one lap around the arena the opposite direction, and then I dismounted, gave him a cookie, and took my befuddled horse back to the barn and put him away.
Note is definitely starting to put the pieces of the puzzle together illustrating that his new job here might be different than his old job at the race track. He's also figuring out that the new job doesn't have to be lots of work if he cooperates with me, and if he doesn't then he gets ignored or has to work harder. His temper will be a great force for good once he latches onto his new job like he latched on to racing. I really like this guy. He is the whole package: smart, athletic, with just the right amount of attitude to make it interesting for me to train him. I like that little bit of je ne sais quoi in an eventing horse, because they have to have a little bit of something extra to want to go galloping cross country jumping big fences that don't fall down.
The fourth day of work looked like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxrVZs3WVr8
My favorite part of this video of Note and me ground driving is his quiet and thoughtful demeanor. Such progress in his willingness to work with me at a job slower than racing!
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