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| Spring must be coming - everything's turning to mud |
I took Rory out for another longe session with side reins tonight. Once again it was later in the day than usual and there was a fair amount of activity outside the arena to distract him. When we first went into the arena his older paddock buddy was already there walking with his owner. Totyo's whinnies got their buddy a little up, and his owner took him back to the barn. That's the first time Rory's had to watch another horse leave while he was working. Naturally he was a bit distracted and whinnied a couple of times, but he still walked and trotted when I asked. I had set up four trot poles on one side of the arena and made sure we didn't start over them until after refreshing the longe commands. Rory bolted, or tried to, several times tonight, once managing to pull the longeline right out of my hand. He only bucked once, and walked out of a couple of halts without being asked. But Rory did give me some very good work tonight as well. He walked and trotted over the poles, and stayed in a steady trot as I jogged with him along the long sides of the oval.
The barn was busier than usual as well, but Rory stood still on the cross ties while I untacked him, put things away, and got his blanket. It's frustrating when the youngsters get distracted and seem to forget all they've learned, but it's just as important that they learn to deal with distractions. I just have to keep that in mind.
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