The Great Escape

Sorry for the lack of posts...

Jet had Sunday and Monday off after the show since we were working really hard before the few weeks before the show with only short breaks. He definately deserved it!

Tuesday was a small, quick ride. We decided to try western! Haha. That was interesting.... we will not be following through with that discipline, thank you very much. We just tried it for the heck of it since I wasn't planning on doing much anyways. I have decided that western saddles are extremely uncomfortable for my back and they are hard to get out of. LOL!

Wednesday was our "get back to work day" so we basically re-established everything that we were working on. A lot of walking, and bending, and a bit of trotting. He was listening but he wanted to stretch a lot more than usual. So we did a lot of stretchingm, a bit of collecting, more stretching, balancing, etc. etc.

Thursday we did a little bit of ring work then went off into the trails! He was very nervous, well actually. I think he just wanted to go now that I think about it. We walked and trotted all around the trails, into the woods, and across the fields. To get into a field, there was a small tree that fell over and we jumped it. It was like a raised ground pole. Nothing much, but he didn't even think twice about it!

Friday he FINALLY got his feet done. He has thrush in all four which we already knew since the paddocks are soaked...his toes are worn down A LOT so we have to keep an eye on that or he might go lame. Our lovely farrier said that it might be him being lazy and not really picking up his feet. And if anyone knows Jet, that is highly possible. He is a bit over at the knee but with corrective trimmings and keeping them trimmed on a regular basis will take care of that. He is cow-hocked which we already knew aswell but you wouldn't be able to tell that when he trots/canters. He is quite the nice mover WHEN HE MOVES. lol. But all in all, nothing too much to worry about!

Yesterday, Saturday, he went up in the ring for a while with everyone. At about 3 o'clock, he laid down for a nap. I walked out there, said hello, gave him some pats, then laid down next to him and we took a nap together for a few minutes. It was very quiet, and relaxing. He would occasionally look at me like, "Mom, why are you sleeping on me?!" It was cute (: Aftewr that, we had a ride. Did a lot of walking and trotting. I set up some ground poles and he did really well with them. We set up an itty bitty crossrail to help him pick up his feet and he did well with that aswell, after he knew it was ok. We will not be jumping for months to come since he is very unsure of himself and he refused most of them, which I am fine with. He is not defiant or stubborn at all, I think it was more of a, "Mom, for your safety and mine, I will not be going over this litty bitty crossrail because I don't know how to balance myself and pick up my feet. Please ask again when I am ready." which I am perfectly ok wth. We went over it 3 times each way and then we were done.

Today, Sunday, we did free lunging instead of riding. I wanted to see how he moved from a ground perspective. I think it will help me when I am training him. So... we did w/t/c in each direction, he was respecting my space and my body language. He had a preference to stand in the corner with the gate. He ended up pushing it open and bolting away. Off he went! He jumped off the rock wall, and trotted to the road, got there, stopped, turned around, and looked to see if I was coming to retrieve him. It was quite hilarious! I got a bucket with some grain in it (thank you mom) and I went to go get him. He walked right up to me like he always does and I gave him a small handful of grain. He did this on Friday aswell when he was in the ring. I was bringing the horses down and he was the last to come to the gate, therefore the last to go down. He was not happy about that. Once he saw that he was going to be alone, he galloped to the gate, and as I was taking Elsa out he ran into the gate and forced his way through. I kept a hold of Elsa, thank gosh. If I hadn't, they would have been long gone. He trotted off the rock wall, and went to the same exact spot as he did today, and looked back. He actually started munching on a tree both days aswell. He is such a funny horse!
Anyways... after I caught him today, I brought him abck to the ring, walked him around a bit, double locked the gate, and got back to work. There was a crossrail set up for Elsa and Biscuit when they were worked and he decided to go investigate. He went up to it, started licking it, then hopped over. Then he trotted away from it, ran around the ring, and went over it again! He looks great over them aswell and apparantly he likes it! I just think that he doesn't feel comfortable, or balanced enough, to do it with me on him. atleast now I know that he likes it, and he can do it, we just need to work there (: Hopefully by August or September, we can try jumping cross rails if we are ready.

I will post more later, and more frequent posts are coming!

-Emily and Jet