Silver Rides Out Back

Silver is coming along really well.  He has settled in to Bit of Honey life incredibly quickly, and seems to enjoy living on Planet Thoroughbred at Kamp Kim.  He and Dewey spend most of their spare time lip wrestling over the fence, and Silver gets along with all the other horses well, too. 

Today I did a little rearranging of the herd to make sure everyone has access to a big round bale of hay since my small squares haven't arrived yet.  I ended up putting Note in the small paddock which curves around the side of the barn and shares a fenceline with Silver.  It was hilarious to watch Note arching his neck, posturing, baring his teeth, double barrel kicking in Silver's direction to assert dominance (Note didn't get the memo that he's a gelding, as he was castrated later in life).  Silver waited, JUST barely out of reach on his own side of the fence, and occasionally tilted his head towards Note as if to ask, "You ok dude?  I'm good, not sure what you're so upset about....  You need a minute?"  Then Silver yawned and wandered away while Note was still pitching his fit.

Yesterday I rode Silver while I taught the group jumping lesson, and took Silver over a few easy fences to see how he liked it.  He's traveling really well with no difficulties his hind end, and cruised through the cavalletti and cross rails.  He had never cantered to a fence before, and so jumped the red crossrail a little bigger than it needed to be taken, and the second time darted past.  It was a simple fix, though. 

In those situations I calmly stop the horse, back them up to where they went off course, and redirect them straight over the jump.  At this stage of training the horse is going over very small jumps that are easy to walk or jog over.  It's a good way to help him realize that skipping a fence he was aimed at is not an option, but it's not scary to just go over it straight and slowly, either.

Today Silver, Miles, and I headed out to the back forty.  Silver has been riding in the arena, round pen, and in the front pasture up and down the hill by the road, and it was time for him to head out into the great wide open back fields.  He thought it was pretty fun, he calmly walked out back following Miles.  After inspecting west pasture loafing shed for rabbits, Miles headed back to the barn.  At ten years old and with only 3 legs he's a little limited on mileage now.  Silver and I continued on, trotting a little in the far back field and then walking back to the arena to do a little work on tracking right. 

I'm really excited about this horse.  He has such a good brain, and is calm and interested in everything I introduce to him.  Plus he adds a nice splash of color to the herd of bays currently living here!