Cob Jockey

Every Friday can be Foal Friday now!

One week on, Disco has settled in quite well. My barnmates have all handled him successfully and love him. Every night, I spend some time just hanging out with him and some time doing active training.

I introduced clicker training using the method I did with Aeres, which is where I stand next to his shoulder facing forward and he doesn't get a click treat until he's also facing forward (i.e. not hunting for cookies). I don't think he's QUITE figured this one out yet, but he does get the memo quicker and quicker each day.

What he did get quickly - backing. Within 5 minutes of introducing the concept of backing, which I cued for by poking him in the chest, putting some slight pressure on the noseband of the halter, and saying "back", I had a 100% success rate every time I asked, and that continued all week.

These two would not make good turnout partners, but they were good for supervised turnout in the indoor on a rainy day. The paint fella is not quite 3, and WAS the baby on the property until this week!

We've introduced some other things too, such as moving his hip (maybe 60% success rate), the beginning stages of tying, which is just me holding onto the lead rope threaded through the stall bars (TOTALLY got this concept immediately and stepped forward every time there was pressure; even my barnmate commented how good his reaction was), picking up his feet (he does it reliably but not for too long yet), and walking over poles.

I spend a lot of time thinking about what I want installed in Future Disco, and an awareness of where his feet are in space is a big one. I think that's important to do early, just like how in CrossFit the folks that pick up new skills quickest were almost always gymnasts as kids, never runners like myself, because the gymnasts learned proprioception of their bodies in space from a very young age. Eventually we'll work up to walking over all kinds of surfaces in all kinds of places, but for now, we're starting with walking over a single pole in the indoor.

No idea why this is, but this tree reliably turns this shade of gold every single year. And the tree next to it, which is the same age and species, stays green until late in November.

He was really not quite sure about the pole at first - first stopping and thinking about it, then cautiously sniffing it, then racing over it as quickly as he could the first couple of times. But by the end, he was chill about it, and this was our last attempt:

Good baby

Baby school is in full swing!