Last night was a big night for me and Bonitao. Ritchie was away on a trip but said I could ride Bonitao. This is the first time I've ridden him without being under her watchful eye. To be honest it made little difference to what I did, I always imagine Ritchie, or worse James Roberts, is watching me whatever the circumstances of interacting with a horse. This really makes me focus on being precise with what I do and is a technique I would recommend to anyone to help really maintain focus during a session.
The prepare to ride went well, but was a bit limited by having another horse in the school being jumped. This also happened to be a horse that Bonitao dislikes with a passion thus adding to the energy. Whenever the other horse, a mare, came near his ears flattened right back in his most aggressive stare. Chris Cox states that he never allows his horse to do this, but I have not found any ideas on how to correct it.
Many people are surprised that we still do a prepare to ride on as mature a horse as Bonitao. For details see the Plan website. To be honest it only takes around 5 to 10 minutes more than not doing it as most of the plan is covered by normal riding preparation. "Touch all over" for example is done as I groom him, "place feet down" as his feet are picked out etc. The difference is one of awareness. Whilst I am picking out the feet I am gauging on a scale of 1 to 10 how good he is at placing the feet. A low score is fixed before moving on. Nine times out of ten nothing needs to be done and feet are picked out in the same time anyone else would take.
The only extra time taken is in moving him around prior to mounting in the prepare to ride and pre-flight checks section. Even this saves time and improves safety in the end as by the time I mount he has moved enough to be warmed up and has blown out enough that his girth is fully cinched up.
Yesterday having mounted I kept everything fairly low key with some "follow the rail" at walk and trot, sideways along the rail,and a couple of attempts at canter. Cantering was not so good so I decided to wait until Ritchie could watch again to coach me through it. As she said Bonitao was also on a first solo not having her there and my have been a little anxious as a result.
All in all a good ride, certainly boosting my confidence and hopefully his. With Filly and Billy off the agenda for the time being this is certainly one of the best ways I can improve my horsemanship, hours in the saddle.
The prepare to ride went well, but was a bit limited by having another horse in the school being jumped. This also happened to be a horse that Bonitao dislikes with a passion thus adding to the energy. Whenever the other horse, a mare, came near his ears flattened right back in his most aggressive stare. Chris Cox states that he never allows his horse to do this, but I have not found any ideas on how to correct it.
Many people are surprised that we still do a prepare to ride on as mature a horse as Bonitao. For details see the Plan website. To be honest it only takes around 5 to 10 minutes more than not doing it as most of the plan is covered by normal riding preparation. "Touch all over" for example is done as I groom him, "place feet down" as his feet are picked out etc. The difference is one of awareness. Whilst I am picking out the feet I am gauging on a scale of 1 to 10 how good he is at placing the feet. A low score is fixed before moving on. Nine times out of ten nothing needs to be done and feet are picked out in the same time anyone else would take.
The only extra time taken is in moving him around prior to mounting in the prepare to ride and pre-flight checks section. Even this saves time and improves safety in the end as by the time I mount he has moved enough to be warmed up and has blown out enough that his girth is fully cinched up.
Yesterday having mounted I kept everything fairly low key with some "follow the rail" at walk and trot, sideways along the rail,and a couple of attempts at canter. Cantering was not so good so I decided to wait until Ritchie could watch again to coach me through it. As she said Bonitao was also on a first solo not having her there and my have been a little anxious as a result.
All in all a good ride, certainly boosting my confidence and hopefully his. With Filly and Billy off the agenda for the time being this is certainly one of the best ways I can improve my horsemanship, hours in the saddle.
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