Thursday, January 2, 2014

The day of a thousand transitions - and the limits of 'brotherly love'

Single digit temps (F - not C) translate into "No riding". I made my way to the barn through snow and slush, thanks to our 4-wheel drive truck. (I now forgive you for being a gas-guzzler!)

The boys had turnout this morning, but they still needed exercise. So I longed them both. Remy was very "up", clearly the kid needed to blow of some steam. While I understand completely his need to get rid of some of the pent up energy, the same rules apply: "No bucking, no bolting" when on the longe line (and of course, especially NOT when under saddle). After the initial excitement Remy settled into it, and we were able to do a ton (OK, not quite a thousand) of good transitions just by voice commands. There are people that don't believe in using the voice at all when training horses, I'm obviously not one of them. Actually, our boys understand multiple languages, how about that? OK, realistically, it's probably the tone more than anything else, but still it's impressive (proud mother speaking).

Saumur, as usual, had to throw himself on the ground as soon as we hit the arena, grunting happily while rolling. He took great exception to the snow coming through the outside door, but then got with the program.

I was handwalking Saumur after longing when I heard Remy calling - so I got him, too, and turned into a 'human horse-walker'. However, the 'brotherly love' clearly did not extend to sharing: Saumur, who usually gets bossed around by Remy, felt very strong having me in between them. He tried with all the ugly faces and flattened ears he could muster to get Remy away from me. No such luck, the kid stood his ground.

Ah, it sure feels good to have two guys vying for my attention!

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