Settling in

For the next two weeks there was a lot of activity for Stat. Getting him bulked up a bit more along the topline, use to me handling him, trying to keep him away from Bree because my independant horse had succumbed to her vixen like ways. He plowed through the hot tape the first time we moved her out of his line of sight.

Typical.

We also began him on an intensive course of ground work. First out of the bag was getting him to respect my space, trying to keep him out of my boots when I lead him anywhere. Next was standing still. There was a bit of a battle of wills over this one which resulted in constant repositioning of him back to his starting point every time he decided to wander. 

I also started to notice changes in his general attitude towards me. As he started to fill out on the food and supplements he started to feel better about himself and so why did he need to be around me. He stopped following me around in the field, didn't like hugs anymore and refused to let me pick up his feet without a long drawn out battle. 

Excellent. This is working out nicely.

Left or right, who knows?!

As for getting ready to ride we decided to bypass the great saddle hunt and go straight for the treeless Barefoot saddle that worked out so go for Bree. In short order Sarah had tracked one down and after a rigorous clean under the watchful gaze of the resident cleaning freak I was deemed ready to have sit number two on my horse.

As with last time, Stat and I did a little dance as I tacked him up. The jiggling got worse once the girth was tightened which lead us to have a little lesson in standing still. Over time we improved more and more until we got to the stage that on the days that he forgets, the most movement he makes is a couple of side steps when the saddle is first presented. The rest of the time he stands perfectly still.

Working on standing still

But today he was impatiently doing the two-step until I got onto him. Then he sort of walked off as I struggled to get feet into stirrups and sort myself out. I was feeling good. I'm actually sitting on my horse, we have things to correct which will help us bond, so a project to work on together. 

We moved around the arena being lead by Sarah. The Barefoot saddle was so comfy to sit on and after the third circuit of the arena Sarah handed me back the lead rope and we were cut adrift. 

Adrift is probably the best description, bobbing away in no particular direction. Stat steered as gracefully as a geriatric cow. It was like my first ride on Bobby all over again. No response to leg pressure, no acknowledgment of shifting weight, no flex in the neck. A lump of concrete would follow direction better. But I was ecstatic. Sure I might not be able to actually go where I wanted too at the moment, but I was actually riding a horse that I owned. My horse! For better or for worse.

I know, we learnt a lot today.....

The next stage was a trip down to the beach. As this is quite a full on place of new activity, noises, smells and things that move, I decided to lead Stat down while Sarah rode Bree. Depending on how Stat reacted, i would mount up down there.

You could almost hear the processing that Stat was doing when we got to the beach. it was an almost audible whirring. So many THINGS! so many potential dangers!

Bree I am sure was not helping things by pointing out all the horse eating things that were present disguised as seaweed, grasses, sand, surf, driftwood etc.

After a bit he started to settle down to the point where I thought I could get on him. After first introducing him to a large tree trunk that had washed up on the beach, I climbed up onto the trunk to mount.

Stat promptly pulled me off as he spun away from the driftwood. I lead him back over and tried again. this time he turn 90 degrees to face me. So I lead him back alongside me again, just to have him walk on past me. And repeat.

Backwards and forwards we moved along the tree trunk, Trying to get him into a position to mount. Bree started getting in on the game and she started pacing backwards and forwards that further unsettled Stat.

Finally I got Stat in close enough to get on. We sort of pranced around for a bit until he got use to me being on his back in a such a new and terrifying place. It probably lasted fifty metres before he really started to react. Not wanting to push my luck I climbed down off of him and lead him for the rest of the journey.

Over the next few weeks we built on these firsts. I was still having trouble on occasions when he suddenly departed from the riding plan and I had to bring him back in line. Our rides varied between beach, road, forest and work in the arena. We had good day and bad days.

One day we would be spot on with standing still, lining up for mounting and standing still once mounted before we moved off. But then on the same session I would would be just a passenger as he moved out of the arena and headed back to his paddock. I happened to be talking to our next door neighbour, who was on her own horse in her paddock when this happened. I called back to her as we suddenly lurched away mid conversation that I seemed to be experiencing a little command and control problem at the moment. She seemed to take my explanation and not think that I had suddenly bored of the conversation and left.

Taking to the forest like a natural

Our first trip to the forest was a special moment for me. The trekking horse that I wanted came out in Stat. It started soon after we began the ride through local forestry. Sarah failed to appreciate the height difference between her on Bree and me on Stat. This differential was quite important when pushing through tree branches. We came across one overhanging branch and to me it looked like i could push through it as limbs looked small and bendy this was true until I got into the centre and came across a thicker less yielding branch. It stopped me cold while Stat kept moving, lifting me up and back out of the saddle, dropping my reins.

Uh oh, this was not going to be pretty. Stat, bless him, before I had time to say anything must have felt me shift upwards and back in my seat, just stopped moving.  He stood perfectly still while I untangled myself from the foliage, got back into the saddle and found the reins again. Once I had collected myself, he sort of looked back at me with his "what a numpty" expression.

The Bulldozer

Later on in the same ride Stat demonstrated his bulldozer mentality. One of the challenges of riding in the forest is the fact that what had been a clear path previously, could now be blocked by fallen trees. This necessitates in some unplanned deviations into the forest when the tree(s) blocking the path are too large to be sawn through with the pruning saw that is carried. The bush bashing that Stat had to contend with for his first time was quite epic involving pushing through small saplings, while I ducked under large branches and we both maneuvered up and down banks. He handled it without faltering or tripping. I was must chuffed at his performance.

Yes, he did do the weird things, like soon after starting out in a ride, he would start spinning around trying to head home and every now and then he would just stop and it would take a lot of encouragement to get him started again. I was unsure as to the reasons for this behaviour. Was it just him showing his independence, or was there some other reason? I was reluctant to push in case he was in pain for some reason. something wasn't right in his world.

Stat recovering form his first forest ride. Brain on overload