December Personal Challenge: Driving Training Blog I

Some of us in the RAC have personal December challenges, and mine (inspired by Betsy and spurred on by Donna) is putting Ah-D to a cart. We actually have gathered a decent amount of ground driving under our belt over the years, so this is a good challenge for us. It will require a fair bit of work and determination and time, yet is attainable.Day One: We are not starting at the beginning (thank God!) because he already is very familiar with the harness, happy with his simple open bridle fitted with a Mylar bit, and ACTUALLY WILL MOVE FORWARD AWAY FROM ME to ground drive. Sounds simple and easy, but it was a huge obstacle for us! Didder lacked confidence and wanted to be in my pocket, and he just didn’t GET IT that he was supposed to walk out ahead of me. Phew! We are past that point! On to Blog I. Early this morning, I took my XL thighs, my trusty pony and my five Labs out on the trail to traverse Jason’s Loop. I was pretty darn happy with the outcome. Gee and haw are really clicking with Ah-D, and I am doing my best to keep them straight. We practiced WHOA a lot, and STAND just as much. His attitude was pretty good. We did have one oopsie moment when he kicked out at me, but I just said, “HEY, HEY, AAAAAATTT!” and took it down a notch and had him stand to chill for awhile while we discussed it calmly, verbally and non-verbally. The air is quite brisk, and he was feeling rambunctious, so I made sure that I didn’t blow the episode out of proportion. I mean, there I am right beside his butt, so if he really wanted to, he could lambaste me good – but he didn’t. His attitude actually improved afterwards.

Back at the barn, we practiced our side passing, since Ah-D is going to have to learn how to step sideways and push the shafts over to turn the cart around. A successful lesson for both of us, SWEET!

A Range of Weather

The weather started out nice and hot for our Saturday ride. I took several small video's during our trek, but they are refusing to download. Luckily I took a few pictures as well. As usual, we did some stream walking. I bet the cool water felt really good on Ah-D's hooves.

After the stream walking stint, we climbed the powerline for a while. I usually don't do the powerline during super hot weather, but some clouds were starting to roll in and a nice breeze came up. I admired the wildflowers along the way. So beautiful! I will have to get some pictures for you all.
I think you can tell what is happening now by the darkness of this picture. Right about here, we hightailed it into the woods lining the powerline. It started sprinking, but we were dry under the heavy tree cover. We meandered around and explored, taking our time. By the time we found this new trail down by Back Street, I could hear thunder big time.It got so dark, this is the last picture I was able to take. The heavens opened up, the lightening flashed and the thunder rolled. We just continued on continuing on. :) We paid no nevermind to the storm, but by the time we were only about 10 minutes from home, oh my Lord, it was crazy-raining. The very last portion of our ride on the road turned into a Susan-and-Didder-jogging-beside-each-other-festbecause I was afraid if a car passed us 1) they would not be able to see us for the sheets of rain and 2) the noise of the water might spook my horsie. There were rivers of water flowing down the road. What an experience! Once in the barn, I hung the tack to dry and slicked off Ah-D. The only dry portion on him was a small place under the saddle. There were no dry parts on me. I even had to wring out my underthings! You may be thinking, "how awful," but it really wasn't bad at all! A good journey!

Cold Air Makes For Frisky Horses and Ponies

I have been enjoying the forward energy of AhD (Didder) the Curly horse and Alley the Haflinger pony this season and managed to take a couple of videos of our rides together. Since I have been on trails and avoiding roads lately, I’ve been able to take at least one dog, and usually three, on our rides together.

Here is a video of my Saturday ride on Didder.

I just LOVE how forward he is on a loose rein. Didder has an AWESOME swingy walk, when he applies himself. He did break into a trot, and I went to put away the camera, but he slowed back down without a fuss so I filmed a bit more. I still have not even come close to figuring out exactly WHEN I am taking a video and when I am not, so it ads a bit more amusement, especially in the Al video to follow.

It is not surprising to me that Didder is forward, but Al has delighted me with his energy. We went out Sunday evening on the trails. It was cold and windy, so I layered heavily for warmth and used a bareback pad instead of a saddle. Al seems to take to me riding bareback; he willingly offered to trot down every single hill available (I even had to use a one-reined stop once!) and gave me several delightful ongoing canters. His back is like a big comfy couch – until he trots!I challenge anyone to sit to that choppy pony trot, but nonetheless, it is wonderful.
~Enjoy your day, get out there, and HAVE FUN!~