by Isobel Hudson
29. March 2010 19:23
Ronnie has come to me for a couple of months whilst his owner Angela has wisely chosen to find some sun in Portugal after such a harsh winter. Since being in training Ronnie was first turned away and has since done nothing but hacking so the whole notion of schooling and jumping in an arena is completely alien to him.
A happy, bouncy character he loves to be ridden and has taken to it all really well and he has lovely paces and presence, although his inquisitive nature means that gaining his attention when other things are going on is a bit of a challenge. In the photos below he was mesmerised by horses jumping in the adjoining arena!
Initially he found the jumps in the arena a great source of fun for spooking but once we put down some trot poles he was very happy to oblige in trot and canter.
Next we introduced a crosspole with a trot placing pole before and another one after and we a few attempts he managed to co-ordinate himself to produce a lovely jump.
Next progressed to a small upright again with the placing poles to help him get the right take off spot and again after a couple of attempts he clicked and started to give the fence some air.
So all in all a very successful introduction to coloured poles. We left it at that as he was beginning to tire and will now give him a couple of days to digest it all before giving him another jump and progressing things further.
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