# 37 - bareback riding

After a lovely morning I decided that I would go for a bareback ride around the property as I still don't have my replacement saddle yet.

I went to get the bridle and discovered they were all missing, then realised that Sam put them in her float when I had Teddy assessed by Pol and I forgot to get them so I decided to use the halter and lead rope instead. I am very lucky to have a friend like Sam as I used her float, round yard etc that day and she wasn't even there! Thank you Sam!

Anyway, I got Teddy and the old coffee table I use as a step and tried to jump on his back. Jump after jump after jump and I couldn't haul my fat arse up there. Teddy was patient and quiet and stood there waiting for me to get on his back but after all his patience I just couldn't make it. Nearly but not quite.

I knew that without the step it would be totally impossible as his back is level with my eyes. I have used the coffee table to get up in the saddle in the past and its fine because I had the stirrup to assist me. But bareback... well this was nothing like I remember it as a kid.

Jump up, hang across his back from my waist (if I was lucky, sometimes from just below the rib cage!) and try to get my leg over without slipping. It turned out to be impossible. Slip, jump, slip, jump.

How embarrassing! Even the horse was looking at me like, "Ok, come on just get up there."

That bloody saddle better arrive this week!

#36 -yielding forward while constantly on the move

Though I have a terrible flu I went out with Teddy today and he still managed to make me smile.

I have stepped it up to make sure that he is desensitized on the move and he is (I can flick stuff around and over him while he is walking and he doesn't care). So we did a very quick review and then we did yielding forward at a walk while I walked at his shoulder.

I faced forward and pointed where he was to head and if he didn't respond I tapped him on the rump, otherwise I laid the carrot stick below his withers as we walked. I think he was into it at first then he found it annoying and was swishing his tail and giving me the aggro look.

When I would say the word stop he would stop automatically but as I am at his shoulder he needed to be coached to yield his bum right around so his head was facing me directly. He was doing a good job.

I am noticing that he is yawning more which is a sign he is relaxed which is great, particularly for Teddy, however he is starting to look to eat grass. Last session he did, this time he just would reach down slowly as if seeing if I would stop him or not. I think this may be a sign he is bored. I have add the moving yield forward but will try to add a couple of extra things, all at once with three being the limit, and see how he goes.

My goal for our next session will be:

• Yield forward on the move
• desensitize at a trot
• Lateral flexion.

#35 - Teddy is bored so we are heading to the next phase

We took a bit of time off training over the past week because I really needed the break and had a lot on. But today Teddy and I went out and did a refresher of our work. Apart from Teddy playing up for a few minutes with catching (didn't last long at all) he was fine, but kept wanting to eat grass.

We went through the catching game; lowering of his head; touching him everywhere (he still has a thing about his muzzle being touched but he is improving); stopping on command; backing up (much better this time around); yielding front and hind quarters; the friendly game including the whip lashing around him, under him, behind him, over his face, neck, back, legs, bum and not moving; whip above his head and behind him like a helicopter and him not moving. Pretty much it was all easy if not boring for him. So on to the next phase we go.

Unfortunately the horsemanship trainer I just started working with was rescuing a horse and in the process broke her ankle so she will be out of action for quite a while, so I need to do some research and get to the next level on my own.

I'm sure we will be fine.

#34 - Baby cows move has really upset Teddy!

Poor Teddy! The neighbours cow had her calf today right beside our fence so Schapelle, Mercedes and Teddy watched on and have since claimed the little one as their own. But the calf hasn't fed all day so the neighbour has taken them away so she can milk the mum to get the calf to drink. This is a good idea as the mum's udders look like they are balloons about to burst!

The girls and Teddy watched on and walked beside the fence as they were being led away, unaware that they were going to be heading off to the other side of the neighbour's property. When it dawned on Teddy that the little calf was going out of sight he got so upset! He has been running up and down the fence line neighing out to them; running to the house and neighing to us, almost like he's trying to tell us something is wrong, then running back to the fence. He is still pacing, running and calling out as we speak. He is genuinely upset that the little wobbly legged calf is out of sight, the poor bub!

Hopefully the little calf will be OK and come back as even Schapelle and Mercedes are just standing there staring in that direction.

On a training note, once again Teddy has done a great job at training. He has been good to catch and halter, is calm, lowers his head when asked, stops at hand commands and respecting me and my space. He just needs to concentrate on the backing up signal a bit better but considering it's a new method that Pol Blane instructed and this is only his second go at it, so he is doing well. The only problem is that I look like a dickhead to the passing cars when they see me in the front paddock flapping my arms around trying to get the horse to step backward!

#33 - Teddy weighs in at 600Kg! What a fat guts!

Teddy and I have had a quiet, bonding couple of days. He's been moved about, groomed and pampered, received a few treats of carrot and has been taken off his feed as the grass around here is bumper! His weight was also done today and my estimate was incorrect by 100 kg! What a fat guts at 600 kg.

There is some flat weed around but there is nothing I can do about it now so I hope that he doesnt take a liking to it and make himself sick with stringhalt. There isn't a lot so I will just have to keep my fingers crossed.

#32 - Having a well deserved rest

What more can I say.

#31 - Pol Blane was great!

A long day ending with two injured swollen fingers (let go of the rope Tania!) and what resulted in a very useful afternoon.

Teddy loaded into the float fine and we headed to Gisborne where we used my friend Sam's round yard for the training/assessment. We had lunch with Pol and Deb while Teddy waited in a nearby paddock. As I was eating my minestrone soup I could see Teddy dancing around and heard him neighing to the neighbouring horses across the road, but over all he was fairly well behaved.

When we got him to the round yard at the bottom of the hill he was a little hyped up but I demonstrated the progress I had achieved with him for Pol and instantly got tips to make things better.

Pol Blane is a lovely person with excellent horsemanship skills who really knows her stuff. She can demonstrate exactly what she is trying to achieve and get results at the same time. She is calm, patient and attentive to the horse and owner and acknowledges a student for what they are; providing the necessary information to work and progress with.

The full assessment was done on the ground and in the saddle and it was determined that:

• Teddy is head shy to the extent that it is expected that he may have been hit in the face in his past (my poor boy!)
  
• He is also muzzle shy (knew that)
• He is very willing to learn and learns well
  
• He has the tell-tale signs of a poorly fitting saddle, resulting in past back problems (knew this) and which continues to have some minor influence on him, but mostly mentally
  
• He almost certainly has been ridden at some time by someone using spurs and this has caused him issues
• He has seen extensive use of a martingale or some similar tool which bulked up his neck and which he now carries with too tight muscles (I knew something was up with his neck, just couldn't work out what)
• He remembered the neighbours donkeys and was pleased to see them!
• He wants other horses around him (looks like I will have to get him a friend - maybe a donkey!)
• He's been worked, like most dressage horses have, in a tight frame that has to be corrected as he needs to loosen up in some ways and develop better back strength
  
• His polo training must have been extensive and this has resulted in him having a full steam ahead approach and nothing else. To the extend that he has to be put through relaxation techniques just to get him to walk under saddle. I need a horse who can walk with someone on him not bolt! - high priority
  
• He's had pivot training (could come in handy)
• He actually doesn't understand when to stop unless his reins are pulled on tightly (not a good technique)
• His past training and experiences have to be addressed before he will be calm enough to trail ride
• It should only take a few good sessions for Teddy and I to learn what is needed to get him to a trail riding stage
  
• We both learnt what is meant by self-loading today but Teddy isn't trained in it so he will be retrained at a later stage.
• I can't bend my middle finger properly as it's so swollen!
  

I will put Teddy through his new training methods straight away and work with him on the ground until my new saddle arrives. Hopefully by then it will be time to get in the saddle for us both and Pol will be available from now on to assist with training us.