After Thursday's success, I was hoping that I could get some more of that nice trot on Saturday. It was an unbelievable 60 degrees here in southern Indiana in January, and our gorgeous outdoor footing was just perfect, so I decided to take him outside. Should be a good work day, right?
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| BOING! |
Nope!
My reactive little pony had never been in the outdoor before, and was paying attention to everything but me. He also spooked in place at the sight of his own shadow moving on the white barn, and then proceeded to spook or look at it every time we passed after that. I just laughed and pushed him through it into a long canter. We haven't been able to do that in the indoor since the footing and size makes it hard for him.
The rest of the ride looked something like this:
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| "Hi, I'm a giraffe. Did I mention I'm a giraffe today?" |
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| As far as he overtracks, it's amazing that he doesn't interfere, though I have thought about precautionary bell boots. |
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| Just past the spooky place. |
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| You can see the white spot on the top of his hindquarters here. I call it his Rorschach blot - everyone who sees it sees something different in it. |
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| He's reaching so far under himself with that right hind! |
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| Just starting to listen to me. |
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| Terrible picture, but my husband thinks he looks like two men in a horse suit in this picture. |
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| So cute, it's stupid. |
For more photos from this set, see our Flickr page, which is linked above.
I love the clipping you did on him so cute!
ReplyDeleteThanks! He's a cute color under all that hair. You should see the height difference between the clipped area and the hair, it's seriously like an inch and a half.
ReplyDeleteOh, the fun of a green horse! You sometimes never know what you'll get. :-) He looks great - spookiness aside. He seems to have really nice leg action - high knees, extended trot, etc. - is that a cob thing? Either way, he looks like a fun ride!
ReplyDeleteGreenies are a blast! The movement is all Cob. They were bred to be compact and thrifty, but with a stride long enough to match that of a full-sized war horse. That driving trot and powerful, ground-covering canter are trademarks of the breed. That said, I've heard that the canter can be hit or miss with the breed, but Lisa's all have outstanding canters. Even though it's that big, it's so smooth.
ReplyDeleteI have horrible outdoor arena ride envy right now! I so wanted to ride outside yesterday...but our footing was not quite ride worthy.
ReplyDeleteLove the pictures!
I've read about cobs before, but never really *known* one or seen one in action before. The breed is totally growing on me! :-)
ReplyDeleteHa, he sounds like Comrade. Somedays he is convinced the dog is a boogy monster and spooks. What he does not realize is that the great cob movement comes out during those times and I think it is great. Contender looks wonderful. Keep having fun.
ReplyDeleteMy haffy could be your man's twin. It is uncanny! Maybe he is a cob-- he is unregistered. :) wishful thinking on my part I know. I bought a haflinger because in my mind it was an "affordable cob." I lucked out and got a taller more athletic one so he is similar. I rode a few cobs, and cob crosses when I was younger. I have been obsessed with the breed ever since!
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