Since purchasing Skip back in
October much of the journey has been about developing trust in one another. Of
course over time you get to know more about each other, develop a routine and
your confidence grows. But there are a
few occasions when you just have to take a leap of faith and trust that they
won’t let you down and the past few months have shown me how true this really
is.
As we enter the final few weeks
of Skip’s rest after his tendon injury there have been a few occasions where I
have had little choice but to put faith in Skip to do the right thing…and
putting my trust in him has been hugely rewarding.
After weeks of rest, I had to
trust in Skip to behave sensibly as we moved towards the next stage of recovery
with daily in hand walking. Now leaving
a 16.2hh 5yr old in a ten metre paddock for 6 weeks could result in a few
explosions, and I do think that the extreme heat had something to do with
keeping him calm, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that he behaved impeccably
throughout this walking period.
A month on I had to return him to
hacking walk work without any lunging or turnout to let off steam. In the end I just went for it and got straight
on, and again he was absolutely fine and seemed happy to be back in work. We are now back out hacking, and I’ll admit
there have been a few “keen” moments and spooky times (due to pigs chasing us
along the field!!) but we are doing it and our bond seems better than ever. I have never really realised the value of in
hand work in building trust and confidence in one another. As hot and slow and sometimes boring as it
was, it has been really beneficial.
Of course I am under no illusion
that all this hasn’t been without its hairy moments - a few handstands in the
tiny paddock and a couple of flying bucks to be exact, but overall I am happy
with how things have gone and of course happy to see these signs that Skip’s
realised his legs are working well again.
We have another 3 weeks of rest before turnout can hopefully be resumed
and we can get back to normal in every sense.
So to anyone who is struggling to
bond with their horse, or wants to develop their partnership with their equine
friend I would truly recommend concentrating on groundwork. A lot of activities
were out of reach for me due to Skip’s injury, but there are many great books
to help develop activities and keep it less boring than the constant miles I
had to walk. A good instructor will also
value the significance of groundwork, so make sure you find someone supportive
who may be able to introduce you to some fun confidence building tasks.
I would love to hear your stories
of when you have had to just go for it and put trust in your horse, or any top
ideas for groundwork exercises. So today
I wish you not only happy riding but happy bonding with your equine, however it
may be! Xx
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