Occasionally I want to ride Highboy, but while tacking up I can tell he's just not in a focused mood. Recently I took him out of his paddock, and he immediately proceeded to initiate lip wrestling with me. Since discretion is the better part of valor, I elected to put his jumping boots on, then turn him loose in the arena to jump at liberty.
Highboy and I have done this for years, starting when he was just a 16h four year old in rehab. He wasn't strong enough then for me to ride him, so we started his work with clicker training. Now he's a half inch shy of 17.1h, and definitely strong, so sometimes when his brain isn't in it for riding we go back to our beginnings and play over fences at liberty in the arena.
Pascal the dog and I stayed in the arena while Highboy had a jolly old time, and once he'd taken care of his shenanigans I pointed out fences and he hopped over them. Once he was done whatever I'd gestured towards, he came right back to me for a cookie. We all had a great time, including Pascal who ran and played with Highboy as fast as his dog paws could go.
Here is the video of Highboy and Pascal enjoying themselves:
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