So at the moment Ziggy is being asked to work hard and not go along with his front legs leading and his head in the air, even when we are hacking. He thinks this is very harsh, but is responding quite well really.
We went out yesterday and had a fairly typical hack. Trot up the hill to the heath, on to the heath, trot up the canter slope. We would have cantered but there was a chap walking down it with 3 dogs. At the top there is a seat where a mum was sitting with her little toddler (a little boy). They had just finished a banana. Ziggy zeroed in on the banana peel and I asked if he might dispose of it for them. They were thrilled to feed it to him and he whiffled the little boy's hand.
Then on along a flat track where 3 ladies with dogs saw me coming and ran about like headless chickens catching their dogs. One of them was a 1 year old rescue Staff who had never seen a horse before. So Ziggy sniffed his nose and let the dog sniff his legs and satisfy his curiosity. Ladies petted Ziggy and gave him sweeties (grass cubes from my pocket) and said how pretty and wonderful he was.
On to the Gallops, a flat track about a mile long. We trotted about 2/3 of this with me working really hard to keep pony steady! He was fine till he got a bit tired. Then he stuck his head up - I wasn't having that - head came down but he started spooking randomly at nothing in the hope that I would let him walk. I didn't. Cruel mummy.
On to the Golden Mile, a sand track up a small hill which has just been graded so that it's splendid for cantering. We were cantering gaily (and very nicely) when Ziggy hesitated and then stopped dead, staring ahead at where a lady was appearing riding one magnificent horse and leading another. She was new to the area and she was riding a Percheron mare and leading a Suffolk Punch! We had a lovely chat and Ziggy introduced himself to the Percheron mare, who spurned his advances. Her head was twice the size of his.
Another long trot up the rest of the Golden Mile and across by the Roman Temple and then we were homeward bound. Ziggy was really good and kept his head down and his back swinging rather than trying to rush off with me in walk! We descended the very steep slippy muddy hill and headed for home.
He's quite a lot of work to ride but just so loveable...
We went out yesterday and had a fairly typical hack. Trot up the hill to the heath, on to the heath, trot up the canter slope. We would have cantered but there was a chap walking down it with 3 dogs. At the top there is a seat where a mum was sitting with her little toddler (a little boy). They had just finished a banana. Ziggy zeroed in on the banana peel and I asked if he might dispose of it for them. They were thrilled to feed it to him and he whiffled the little boy's hand.
Then on along a flat track where 3 ladies with dogs saw me coming and ran about like headless chickens catching their dogs. One of them was a 1 year old rescue Staff who had never seen a horse before. So Ziggy sniffed his nose and let the dog sniff his legs and satisfy his curiosity. Ladies petted Ziggy and gave him sweeties (grass cubes from my pocket) and said how pretty and wonderful he was.
On to the Gallops, a flat track about a mile long. We trotted about 2/3 of this with me working really hard to keep pony steady! He was fine till he got a bit tired. Then he stuck his head up - I wasn't having that - head came down but he started spooking randomly at nothing in the hope that I would let him walk. I didn't. Cruel mummy.
On to the Golden Mile, a sand track up a small hill which has just been graded so that it's splendid for cantering. We were cantering gaily (and very nicely) when Ziggy hesitated and then stopped dead, staring ahead at where a lady was appearing riding one magnificent horse and leading another. She was new to the area and she was riding a Percheron mare and leading a Suffolk Punch! We had a lovely chat and Ziggy introduced himself to the Percheron mare, who spurned his advances. Her head was twice the size of his.
Another long trot up the rest of the Golden Mile and across by the Roman Temple and then we were homeward bound. Ziggy was really good and kept his head down and his back swinging rather than trying to rush off with me in walk! We descended the very steep slippy muddy hill and headed for home.
He's quite a lot of work to ride but just so loveable...
