The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The Good: JJ has adjusted very well to his new home in the paddock and is quickly making friends with his neighbor, Scribbles. It's only a matter of time until I find JJ's halter torn off his face and lying somewhere in Scribbles's paddock!

Also, riding JJ just keeps getting better and better. I tried a German Martingale on him for a few days, but didn't like how restricted it kept him so I decided to forgo that. I am sticking with the standing martingale for now, though, to prevent a broken nose. Honestly though he trots around with his head in a natural little frame (much lower now) and I can walk him around on the buckle. He really is going VERY well under saddle - Sue says we can try cantering soon... EEP!

Videos from Sunday:

The Bad: JJ has suddenly become quite the little devil when it comes time for me to climb aboard, so that's fun. This started Sunday, though was significantly worse on Monday. On Sunday he just wasn't interested in standing still while I tried to mount, which had not been a problem previously. Monday I tacked him up with every intention of doing all groundwork and getting him comfortable standing still again. I began teaching him to "ground tie" - i.e. to stand still unless I told him otherwise, even if I was walking away. He did not pick this up very quickly at all, and I literally spent about 2 hours with him in the ring. I did switch it up with some lunging between the ground tying exercises so he wouldn't get too bored. Finally I asked him to stand next to the mounting block while I walked around (I had him on the lunge the entire time in case he decided otherwise). He stood nicely until I approached either side of him. As soon as I came near he lifted his head and pinned his ears. That's different, was all I could think. JJ is the kind of horse I cannot yell at or he completely loses it, so I tried comforting him instead. He relaxed at that, and I climbed the mounting block. Ears pinned, mouth wide, head tossing, back legs flying. BUT, he wasn't moving. So.... progress? Erm... I petted and comforted him more and he relaxed again, but as soon as a touched the saddle or girth area the ears went back. More petting, more soothing tones, and I called it a day. He had stood still anyway, and I really didn't know what to do about the aggressive behavior.

On Tuesday Sue was in the ring to help me, and though JJ still showed discomfort and aggression at the block it was immensely helpful to have Sue holding him and I mounted without too much difficulty and had an excellent ride.

Awesome little man!

The Ugly: I'm really just going to vent about the weather. This weather sucks. I want spring NOW. It's been close to freezing for four days and when it FINALLY warms up this weekend they're calling for three straight days of rain. #$@$%)(@#$*#$(%)!!!