The first couple times I took her out to the back forty pastures to work she was a pistol. When we would make our circle to begin heading back to the barn, she would start tossing her head. Then she would sort of lean back on her haunches and pop up her front end, bringing each front hoof down and stomping them on the ground. Then she would pause, turn her head and look at me out of the corner of her eye saying, "Did it work? Are you scared and getting off now?" She was so obvious about it that I actually laughed at her on those first rides, which only made her mad. She would get progressively more emphatic with her foot stomping, but each time she would pause and check in with me to see if I was scared enough to get off. When it accomplished nothing but earning her another lap around the field she eventually gave it up.
Now she is well behaved enough to go riding with her owner out in the fields. I've been riding Monty with Jubilee and her owner, because Jubilee does gain quite a bit of confidence (and thus better behavior) from having another calm horse with her. It's funny to work with a horse as smart as Jubilee, because when she does behave herself and I pat her and praise her, she gets sort of huffy with me. She pretty clearly says, "Oh, don't PATRONIZE me, I know exactly what I'm doing and you're just lucky I decided to cooperate." Like I said, it's a blessing and a curse to have such a smart horse.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Df3RFO-wOfw
No comments:
Post a Comment