Maximus co-operation

We've been hit by a cold front, but I've a warm pony to take the chill away.

Yard work over the holiday season has become increasingly difficult as pipes freeze and icy patches litter the yard waiting to claim the unwary. The neds remain sure footed, the people, less so. I almost went flying yesterday afternoon whilst holding two huge buckets of water. Managed to save myself from a fall, and luckily my waterproofs protected me from the chill of the spillage.

The ground has been too hard and rutted to hack out, although the Ent has taken Max on a few more solo walks, and I've continued his work in the school. Today I ordered a Dr Cook's bitless bridle on a 30 day trial. I really hope it works because I long to get that metal out of Max's mouth. I know bitless bridles can be harsh in a different way, but reading extensively on the Dr Cook's, and the way it diffuses pressure over the horse's head to indicate directional changes and applying brakes, I'm hopeful that this will work for Max. It may not, so the trial period is a good thing. If we really don't get on with it, I can send it back and get a refund.

It is a good use of my Christmas money, I think.

Today, Max and I worked on some clicker training in his box, and I'm pleased at his continued progress and willingness to have a go. I'm getting fairly good at accurately reading when he's not ready for the next step - what we're working on now is progression, moving up from his "tricks" and turning them into useful exercises to loosen him up and give us better extension so he can learn to work and hold his body in the most effective way. Then what we get on the ground can be transferred to the saddle, when we have a language that allows us to understand each other better.

At the moment the concentration is on his hoof raising. I can now get him to raise his front legs, alternatively, with me standing in front of him and pointing to the leg I want raised. Then I move to the side and do the same from there. So far so good, but trying to get those hind legs up in the same way was a step too far today. Which is fine, we'll get there, I know, with patience and clarity.

Before I concentrate too much on his hinds though, I'm going to work on getting him to lift those fronts while walking forward. This should eventually become something akin to "Spanish Walk", which is a brilliant exercise for loosening the shoulders, as I have seen for myself watching Sammie on long-lines doing his version, which we call "Spanish Stamp" because he's so emphatic! A few goes at Spanish Stamp, then into a most liberated trot - it's a beautiful thing to see. Along with being poetry in motion (or in Sammie's case, more of a comedy limerick!)it is really helpful for equine fitness, or so it seems to me as an innocent bystander.

The five day forecast predicts more cold nights and frozen days, which limits our hacking for at least another week, and means I will be frustrated, frozen and exhausted at the end of my yard shifts.

Still, as I pointed out yesterday, we really aren't far from Spring. I know it's hard to see it in the first days of January, but looking back, October is just a blink of an eye behind us, so March will equally be just a blink of an eye ahead.

Soon enough we will be blessed with warmer weather again, and flies, and lush grass growing too fast. Every season brings its glories and its worries, and the cycle of life continues.