Unphased

For a few weeks now I have been wanting to take Dobby XC schooling to see what he thinks. When trainer mentioned that she was planning a schooling trip for this weekend it was a no brainer to go. The stars finally aligned this weekend. Or so I thought. The weather prediction pretty sketchy but after riding while getting pelted in the face with sleet on Friday Amanda and I figured Saturday’s weather would be an improvement.imb_ox3wbt

Unfortunately the footing at the facility we went to was way too saturated to do much. I was not about to go skidding into fences with Inca. Introducing a few things to Dobby seemed like the best way to make the most out of our 4 hour round trip though. I figured worst case I would get to show Dobby around a future show venue. Best case I hoped he could pop over some starter fences.imb_wx7u5o

Dobby totally exceeded my expectations. From his very improved loading to how he handled the new environment I couldn’t have asked for more. The only thing that he balked at was what I am now calling a troll bridge from the stabling area to the rest of the facility. To be honest I can’t blame him. imb_qkx7pa

imb_rz1xomFor the most part it was all super uneventful. Dobby was more interested in surveying the property or eating than he was about worrying. I will take it! He is all try and had such a pleasant attitude for everything that I asked. This horse continues to impress me every day. I can’t wait to see what he thinks about the horse show this weekend. Intro dressage here we come!

Have you all introduced horses to fences on the ground? I have free jumped before but this is the first time I had ever worked a horse in hand like this. It was really fun!

7 comments

  1. Niamh says:

    Love this! What a good kid! I love the idea of introducing solid obstacles on a line! I’m a big fan of free jumping too. I think allowing them to figure out their confidence without a rider is really important, especially when they are dinosaur babies:)

  2. Nicole C says:

    Awesome baby! I have done a lot of in hand work with my yearling (now 2 yr old) filly. We work over trail type obstacle (bridges, tarps, pool noddle monstrosities) and done some lunging over crossrails. I like to do the in hand work because I think it allows her to figure things out for herself and develop some natural bravery and curiosity. So far she’s bravely gone over everything I’ve pointed her at, and I’m really hoping that work will translate when we start going new places and jumping things under saddle!

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