Whisper & the Bucket

We continue with the groundwork. It’s slowly drying out so we’re able to work a little faster i.e. cantering. Whisper still gets excited when cued for a canter (throws his head, sometimes humps his back a little) but is improving in paying attention at speed and is pretty reliable at slowing to a trot when cued. The biggest problem (if it can be called that) is his tendency to lean on the lunge line going around corners.
Yesterday I decked him out in his new bridle – thanks to Sam for putting it together for me. English bridles are a little different. It fits him fairly well – believe it or not it is too big in spots. I threw on the Western saddle and we went out to work. Just for giggles and grins I reached over and flapped the stirrup leathers a few times. I got a look. Seems he has totally gotten over that particular phobia. He also didn’t mind me pulling on the stirrups and horn, jumping up and down beside him, putting weight on the saddle, or swinging my leg up. He doesn’t like standing beside the wall – he swings his hindquarters over so he is perpendicular to it. We’ll work on that and also standing beside him on a mounting block (or reasonable facsimile).

The reasonable facsimile turns out to be an upended bucket. Whisper, being Whisper, is absolutely convinced that the bucket has its own agenda and that he would be best served by always keeping an eye on said bucket. It is difficult to watch anything unless you are face with it which moves the accompanying hind end away from the bucket. Hmmmm, difficult position to mount from. I stood on the bucket and walked Whisper around it stopping him periodically. Back end still swings away. I fell off the bucket. Surprisingly this elicited no reaction although I suspect he was secretly laughing. I walked Whisper around the bucket at ground level then mounted the bucket again and managed not to fall off. I stopped Whisper, moved the bucket to the appropriate position, climbed on bucket, and leaned on saddle. Whisper stood calmly. I had wanted to stand in the stirrup but decided to call it good for today. Whisper got a hug and a treat.

We also got some relatively good news. The equine dentist has arrived for her annual teeth floating, sheath cleaning, and general horse maintenance week. Whisper’s appointment isn’t until Wednesday but I had her take a look at him so we’d both have a better idea with what she’ll be dealing. Good news is his molars don’t have outrageous hooks and his upper front teeth don’t actually touch anything. Sounds weird but apparently the only maintenance they need is to make sure it remains this way. That’s not to say she’s going to have an easy time but it’s doable and he will probably be more comfortable afterward. More good news – she’ll give me a 10% discount because he’s a rescue horse. The bad news – a parrot mouth can’t be corrected, at least not one as severe as his. I’ll have more information after his appointment on Wednesday and if allowed, hope to take pictures.

Tomorrow he gets a day off. His next training session will be Wednesday morning before the dentist. He should be tired enough to appreciate the sort of nap he'll get. And...I don't imagine he'll care much about going into the washrack so I hope to finally wash his tail.