Greenies!

I’ve been going on about the big horsies quite frequently, so it’s about time we talked about the bunch of babies.

There are five not-yet-competing green horses on my list each week. (“Green” is a pretty relative term around here – since most of the competing horses have actually only started competing this year). They vary from Destiny, who can canter most days, to Faith, who has never seen the inside of a lunging ring.

There’s not a whole lot to say about Faithy. There’s not a whole lot to do with a two-year-old Nooitie – we’ve accomplished most of what we needed to this year. Basically it still needs to get in a box and show in hand and then I’ll be twiddling my thumbs until backing time.

She just has the best attitude. She can still wander off when I want to catch her, but she’s obedient and responsive and loooooves to be groomed. I just adore her work ethic – every time we leave the field she perks up. Let’s go learn something!

Her body has been changing, though. As you can clearly see, she’s still very much the awkward two-year-old. But I think I spy that the front end is rapidly catching up with the bum. That would be really rather nice.

Then there is Exavior.

He is looking the best he’s ever looked. Seriously, the creature is rather drool-worthy.

I still haven’t been on him again, and I don’t plan to get back on him until he can walk/trot/canter like a school pony under the Mutterer. I have decided to not give myself any frights on that monster. I love him too much, and I have worked too hard on it, to lose my nerve on him and ruin our relationship.

So I lunge him on the days the Mutterer doesn’t ride. He was an absolute jerk the first few times he worked in the dressage arena, including trampling me, rearing at me, and kicking at me (this is why it’s my last warmblood ever) but now he is back to his very pleasant self.

being babysat by Stardust so he can calm down about the scary stable

The horse does have a very good mind in there buried under the baby-warmbloodness. When he’s not worried about anything, he is intelligent, hardworking and honest as the day; when he is worried he’s violent, sensitive and huge. I really love doing things he’s not afraid of – he learns fast and is easy to teach when he’s not scared.

Yesterday we lunged over a little fence. I keep waiting to see some scope from Mr. Fancy Bloodlines, but he’s severely unimpressed by my little jumps. He is dead honest, though. And I think he loves it.

The other redhead baby is Destiny, who still never feels good but still makes good progress anyway. We don’t lunge before riding anymore and these days I make him go large in three gaits, which he does with surprising balance and ease. Schooling him would be so, so easy if he’d just give up on the spooking.

Regrettably, D has a very dishonest spook. He picks a spot each ride that is going to be the spook spot of the day, usually something he’s seen a thousand times before (and not always the same thing) and just has a little wiggle at it the first time we walk past. I dutifully take him over to it and let him touch it and lick and chew. Then we carry on and he’s apparently unaware of it in walk and trot, and usually in canter left too.

But the moment we come by in canter right, he spooks hugely. Luckily he’d given me the wiggle when we walked by, so I’m always ready for it and can sit it out. But it drives me nuts. He has the capacity to be such a lovely little chap – and then he has to pull out silly tricks like this.

We’re still progressing fairly well, though. He canters large fairly nicely and can make circles – they’re a bit motorbikey, but they’re there. He just needs to give up this new game and then we can start doing cool stuff like connecting and jumping and going to shows.

Eagle is doing super. I didn’t sit on him yesterday, because we introduced him to the dressage arena on the long lines and I’m not quite ready to do backing outside of my 15m comfort zone.

He was really, really good. He didn’t mind standing in the stable and he was not worried about a thing when I long-lined him large. The circling was a little more trouble; he was so chill I couldn’t get him to go forward. He’s also one of those super supple babies that wiggle and squiggle and flop all over the place on the lines because pulling the head around doesn’t achieve anything. Having a leg on either side of him will make that job rather easier.

And lastly, there is cute little Trooper. I think we have finally resolved the lunging issue. He now takes responsibility for going forward in walk and trot, and I can get four laps of uninterrupted canter with only a little waving of the whip and shouting. He actually has a very cute little balanced canter – possibly because he doesn’t bother to go fast enough to lose his balance – so we are finally ready to start putting on a saddle and long lines. I think being on board with a dressage whip is going to be much easier than clumsily schooling him on the lunge.

“Not forward going” is not the worst vice a kid’s pony can have. I think he’s going to be as safe as a house from the word go.