Pippin continues to be the cutest little bugger around. He's still jumpy when something comes up behind him, you toss a saddle pad on his back, or a rope over his neck. However, deep down I think he's a pretty unflappable guy. He's not worried about normal scary things like horse eating plastic bags. And if you do something scary he never panics. He just takes a step back and wants to look you in the eye.
The week before last we lost a little ground so no riding happened. My friend Frankie and I were busy so Pippin got loves but we didn't have time for anything serious. Last week I added back in saddling and torturing him by wearing weird stuff. He remembers quickly and seems to thrive off the attention. One of my other good friends comes on Sunday's and played with him. She can do all the stuff my hip won't allow like trotting in hand. She took this great photo of the boys practicing tying. It's a big deal for Pippin because he gets worried about stuff happening behind him when he can't swing around and give it the direct stink eye. It's a big deal for Dickie because he thinks standing in place for too long will in fact kill a horse. I need him to be able to stand all day at the trailer without causing a scene.
We've been working at the mounting block quite a bit. This accomplishes a few things. It gets him used to me being above him. From the mounting block I can get him used to me smacking him on both sides, touching him on the flank with my leg, swinging the rope over his back and all that fun stuff. It also creates a horse who will stand stock still at a mounting block to matter what. Human lines you up with with tall thing, horse stands there and doesn't move until human says so. Dickie learned this when he was two long before he couldn't handle standing still at the cross ties.
I love them both. So adorable! Pippin is lucky he has so many people who love him and can work with him. :D
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