June 12, 2011 - A little oops

It's been really hot and humid this week so I didn't do anything with Rory until today.  I decided to work outside in the sand ring.  Rory was looking around a bit, but was listening well enough.  We started on the longeline as usual and he was okay going left.  He did tend to fall in on the side of the circle near the middle of the ring, but went out again.  After I changed direction he cut in at that point of the circle even more.  I pushed him out a little harder and he jumped away sharply and kicked out, managing to get his inside hind leg over the longeline.  I held on for a moment testing to see if Rory would respond to a little tug, then let go rather than get him worried about the line. 

Rory ran down to the far corner of the ring and stopped near where there was a horse beign hand grazed on the grass.  I started over, but Rory realized the horse wasn't one of his buddies and he took off along the fenceline between the sand ring and his paddock.  He ran back and forth a couple of times, ignoring my attempts to slow or turn him, then he started off around the whole ring.  Every time he ran over the back of the sand pile in the far corner he paused for a moment, so I let him run, walked over and blocked him the next time he came round.  His buddies were up in the shelter out of sight and Rory was upset about not finding them.  It took a while for him to calm down and relax again.  I worked him on a shorter line with more transitions and he listened well even when his buddies did wander out for a bite of hay.  The footing in the ring is fairly deep and I don't want to overdo it with Rory so I decided not to ride today.