Another interesting week of help and progress. I helped client develop her horse for loading. It's so easy to get injured loading because horses often make sudden movements when they are bothered and humans are usually too close to get out of the way. I felt with this client that her horse might land on her so we taught the mare to go through a gap and over a board on her own. This also builds self confidence. The horse initially refused to engage at all and then rushed over the board at trot. After a little while and lots of repetition, the horse was able to walk over the board without rushing.
On a similar vein, Hugo spent some time down at the stream today working on getting his hind feet more confident about being in the water. After a while of hanging out, he was brave enough to give it a go. I often find that the hind feet are usually the part of the horse's body we have to 'get involved' whether it's loading, walking through or over things, jumping or just getting them engaged for riding. Quite a variety.
Speaking of variety, I'm feeling privileged to have been asked to teach trouble-shooting and horsemanship clinics at South Devon Riding Club this year. If you are a member and want to take part, applications for the first clinic are due soon.
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