This seems to be turning into a bit of a diary thread.
I was so pleased with him today. First of all it only took 5 minutes to get on him without any help. Now I know that sounds a long time, but it's actually only a few messed up attempts and block moves though there was a slight panic from me when he put a foot on the bottom step - no Luka that's really not how a mounting block works
. When I was on it was plenty of fuss, praise and pieces of carrots - yes I managed to teach him about treats from the saddle - before I asked him to walk on. It went slightly wrong at that point since he was quite happy standing getting fuss and treats and calmly (good) ignored all requests or orders to move on except for shifting his feet into a more secure position
. So I decided rather than kick, which I always feels makes me less secure, to give an upwards nudge with my heel. That did NOT go down well and he bounced up off all four then bucked! Cue a loud no, pony club kick and what is politely termed positive riding forward. I now know he doesn't like that particular cue, and thinking back I bet that's what I did in my lesson when he bucked - ah well, I live and learn. Something tells me he probably won't be a horse I;l want to wear spurs on when his schooling is better and some finesse could be used.
Once he'd stomped his way off the yard we hadn't gone very far at all before he was totally forgiven. A very big lorry with tarp sides came round a blind bend at a speed too fast for it's size. We were quite a way back but I immediately asked him to stop - and asked, and asked - but he kept coming. Do I somehow have hi viz that acts as an invisibility cloak? He was big enough that there's no way even a small car could have gone past him even if he'd pulled to the side of the road, common sense says he shouldn't have been on that road in the first place. He eventually stopped with the front of his cab level with the only driveway I could get into and poor Luka was shaking. I moved him sidewards into it, not least so I could keep an eye on the driver because I wasn't sure he wasn't going to go before we were properly in. I was so pleased with Luka, it would have been understandable if he'd played up at that.
He was good for the rest of the ride and we had a nice steady trot up a long hill which made him puff a bit more than he should - we both need to get fitter, though I suspect in his case the big net full of haylage before he was ridden may have been a factor. A girth I bought a couple of weeks after I got him and couldn't even get to meet now does up on the 4th hole on both sides and standing back to look at him I'd say he now needs to tone up rather than lose much more weight, hence the haylage and I've started adding some high fibre nuts to his Happy Hoof. Ideally I'd have him on a bit more grass instead but that isn't an option.
I had to laugh at him turning him out. He's travelled a few times now and had been so good about the lorry under saddle, but a 3.5 ton box with the ramp down near the gate caused the most ridiculous snorting, sidling and prancing
. I opened the gate with him on the end of the rope doing all sorts of interesting things, at which point he walked calmly through without a second look. I must try to find out what the stallion was, some days I wouldn't be surprised to find he was another very chunky unregistered Welsh though realistically he's got too much feather for there not to be something else in there.