Monday, May 7, 2012

Stinkpot Winston

Two weeks ago, training Winston was going great.  We were on a regular schedule and he was making noticeable progress each time I rode.  I was pleased as punch.


Brett took some video one day and you can see what a good boy he was.  We started out by practicing herding cattle Bella out of the arena.  About the time we got to work, our neighbor started mowing her property with a tractor.  She was hitting rocks and making all kinds of commotion.  Winston looked over, but never stopped working and came right back to me.  He was bending with the lightest of contact at the trot -- like butter.  At canter, he got the idea and started working with connection.  



I was so pleased with him, that he I went into the garden and picked him some of his new favorite treat.  Strawberries.



Then I went to New Orleans last week for a work meeting.  He didn't get ridden all week.
Saturday he was a total stinkpot. 
Trot was work, work, work.
Canter?  Interesting.  I slid my outside leg back and gave a little nudge.
He tried to kick my foot -- which was on the outside -- with his inside leg.
Got the picture?  He was all twisty underneath me.  He would take one stride, then twist and kick. 
It took five or six canter departs before he got with the program.
Poor Winston.
It's hard to be young.




8 comments:

  1. Hmmm - tell Mr. Winston it's hard to be old too! I guess you withheld strawberries Saturday then?!

    Seriously - that picture of him with the berry in his mouth is priceless.

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  2. The horse version of a teenager? Hide the car keys!

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  3. He may be a stinkpot, but he's a very handsome one!
    He looks fantastic in the video.

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  4. At least he's flexible?! :) Funny how they show us how they miss regular training.

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  5. Wow, it's nice to be young and so athletic! Go Winston. Seriously, I think it was the strawberries that did it, he must have missed them all week and let you have it when you got back on.

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  6. I got a giggle out of this. I love how you can break a horse, but never really break a horse. Such a personality he has. And Bella, despite herself, has a huge personality.

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  7. I have to admit that I was chuckling a bit trying to envision Winston trying to kick your leg. :-) Sounds like he's going to keep it interesting for you!

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Thanks so much for commenting!