Our gardener Mike brought his son Connor over today for another visit to Sid. Connor was so excited, I have never seen a boy so cheerful!
We did everything. We went and caught Sid (treats = easy), brushed him, picked his feet out, tacked him up. Connor started to sneeze after 5 minutes and turns out to be allergic - but he said he didn't care, it was worth it to be with the horse.
Fortunately a pair of my jodhpur boots and my hat both fit Connor. So we led Sid into the spare bit of field, where my friend Alice has her little jumps set up. I hopped on and trotted him about for 5 minutes to be sure he was feeling calm, and he was, so then we did:
Mounting from the mounting block - Connor did really well.
Holding the reins.
How to sit - this was hard because my stirrups couldn't go short enough, so it wasn't easy for Connor to get his legs back and he was a bit in chair seat for some of the time, but he tried hard to get it right.
Aids for going forward and stopping.
Steering
After about 10 minutes I was walking beside Sid without the lead rein while Connor walked him here and there. Sid lowered his head and lifted his back and started walking with a hind foot whenever Connor asked, he was trying really hard to be cooperative.
Then Connor hopped off, and I hopped on, and Sid and I trotted round and popped over one little tiny jump, which feels increasingly natural )for me - it's natural as breathing for him). Sid was happy about that and did a few steps of flourishing trot to show off, with his feathers flying all over the place.
Sid was a saint. What can I say? Once it was clear to him that he wasn't going to get away with eating the whole time, he could not have been kinder or better behaved. I see why he came with the schoolmaster label.
Then I untacked and Connor trudged up the field with the barrow to pay for his lesson by poo picking!
By the end of the session he had red eyes and a blotchy face. He says he'll take Piriton before he comes next time, and that it was still worth it.
Sid got an extra treat when he did his stretches.
We did everything. We went and caught Sid (treats = easy), brushed him, picked his feet out, tacked him up. Connor started to sneeze after 5 minutes and turns out to be allergic - but he said he didn't care, it was worth it to be with the horse.
Fortunately a pair of my jodhpur boots and my hat both fit Connor. So we led Sid into the spare bit of field, where my friend Alice has her little jumps set up. I hopped on and trotted him about for 5 minutes to be sure he was feeling calm, and he was, so then we did:
Mounting from the mounting block - Connor did really well.
Holding the reins.
How to sit - this was hard because my stirrups couldn't go short enough, so it wasn't easy for Connor to get his legs back and he was a bit in chair seat for some of the time, but he tried hard to get it right.
Aids for going forward and stopping.
Steering
After about 10 minutes I was walking beside Sid without the lead rein while Connor walked him here and there. Sid lowered his head and lifted his back and started walking with a hind foot whenever Connor asked, he was trying really hard to be cooperative.
Then Connor hopped off, and I hopped on, and Sid and I trotted round and popped over one little tiny jump, which feels increasingly natural )for me - it's natural as breathing for him). Sid was happy about that and did a few steps of flourishing trot to show off, with his feathers flying all over the place.
Sid was a saint. What can I say? Once it was clear to him that he wasn't going to get away with eating the whole time, he could not have been kinder or better behaved. I see why he came with the schoolmaster label.
Then I untacked and Connor trudged up the field with the barrow to pay for his lesson by poo picking!
By the end of the session he had red eyes and a blotchy face. He says he'll take Piriton before he comes next time, and that it was still worth it.
Sid got an extra treat when he did his stretches.
