Rupert's second driving lesson - he was amazing!

Esther.D

Esther.D

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Jan 3, 2003
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We did some more longreining today with Rupert and we achieved a mile and a half which is the furthest he has ever been out alone! So I am very pleased with him, we also had no napping at all...just a bit of joggling about which stopped as soon as Stephen walked ahead to scare off the gremlins! After a few strides ahead Stephen was able to drop back again and he was fine for the rest of the way. We did a couple of halts and a fairly successful rein-back on the way home so that he doesn't learn to rush...and he was quite happy to stop which was great - no fussing to get back to the others which is a huge improvement.

Then when we got home he was going so well I decided to test my theory that he has been driven before - he proceeded to pull my full weight around on the end of the traces (without even a slight hesitation at the start) and then we changed to Stephen who was leaning right back on the traces with all of his weight...and Rupert just leant into his collar and towed him along!

So that managed without a fuss I decided to try further....got a couple of reins and fastened them to his breeching (see photo..slightly unorthodox method but it worked)...and added pressure...no response..so I pulled harder...in then end he was taking my whole weight and just sitting back into the breeching like a pro....

We have a broomhandle up there (we used it for desensitising them to sticks and whips) so I threaded that through his tugs - no response.....totally unphased...so I pressed on the broomhandle and Stephen turned him so he had to push me round like he would push the shaft....and he just pushed me around like a pro:eek:

Either driving is definitely his vocation or he has been driven before...we have never seen him this quiet about anything! So far he has been even easier than the shetlands to break to harness - even they usually hesitate a bit when they first feel the breeching/breast-collar and have to be taught to push the shaft around...

That was not the only revelation today:

Pablo came to be caught and put his head into the halter for the first time ever in the field!

Then he positioned himself next to the mounting block (aka the stool ;) ) - we have been working on this recently - and let Stephen lie over him! No-one was holding him and he was totally unpreturbed...I will post another thread and photos on this..

Amazing day all around........(incidentally Polo seems fine today after scaring us on Sunday :rolleyes: )
 
Looking very preturbed by his first feel of the breeching taking up:rolleyes: ;) He just acted totally unphased and rather bored by the whole thing...you can see how hard I am pulling on his breeching - and not a flicker...and he was hardly being held either...Stephen had hold of the end of his rope and was taking the photo!
 

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Rupert has bad associations with riding, right? You've spent a lot of time working with him on those, working on trust issues, methodically working to develop a relationship which will help him be more calm and trusting while ridden.

If he has never been driven before, then he probably has no prejudices about it whatsoever. So even if this is all new material, at least you're not starting from *worse* than nothing--just from nothing. And as much time and effort as you've put into him, I can't think it's suprising that he's calm about new things that you introduce :) It's wonderful! But not necessarily surprising ;)

After all, with the work you've done with him, if he had never been ridden before, he would probably be very calm and willing about everything associated with riding--right? Instead, you started off with a guy who had very negative associations about riding, and brought him almost full circle. If you can help him overcome his problems with riding, to the point where he is now calm about riding, then what is there for him to fear in NEW stuff you do with him?

So...is he going into full driving training now? :D Or will you continue with mixed riding/driving training?
 
We are currently in full driven training, with the plan of concentrating on driving while Pablo is out of action as Rupert really needs to get fit...and I was hoping Pablo would be riding soon to allow proper hacks, but as this is not likely to happen in the immediate future he might as well complete his driven training and get some exercise while Pablo is recovering. Then we can work on the ridden stuff again - with the added advantage of schooling in harness in the mean time. However he will always be ride-drive rather than purely a driving pony.

Good thoughts galadriel...you may well be right :)
 
Pablo has finally (on our third vet...) been diagnosed as having a sacro-lumbar injury - long term muscular damage that probably occurred before we bought him and appear to be the cause of his issue with being mounted. When we first bought him he had so many other issues it was masked but now he is brilliant and a proper 'ploddy cob' but just won't let you mount...and I was sure there was a physical problem there but two vets said he was fine - the third poked his loins with a finger and he nearly collapsed :( but at least we were right and there really is a physical problem that we can now treat. We have been advised to massage it daily to try and relax the muscles sufficiently to allow it to heal properly. Hopefully this will allow him to work normally but it may need to be continued long term..possibly even for the rest of his life...However if that means he can work then I would rather pursue that course of action than have him on Bute and just mask the problem....
 
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