2/24/08
Miaren Schooling Cross Country

Nero and I were going to school cross country at a local
course, so I threw Miaren on to get him out and about.
In general, it went very well. He stood at the trailer while I schooled
Nero, only neighing every once in a while.
He was hand walked around the course, and settled down pretty quickly.
He was a little spooky about the jumps and everyone running and jumping,
but after 15 minutes of walking over down logs, he was searching
for stuff to go over and asking his handler for more.
At that point I got aboard, and we walked and trotted over the same logs
 and banks. He was pretty proud of himself, as was I.
He's learning what he is capable of and I'm learning to trust him.
Walking over the smaller stuff on the cross country course. He was very curious about the horses running and jumping, but listened and didn't get upset that we kept our distance.
 

He focused on many things other than me, so going over the logs helped him concentrate on a task.
Trotting around in the woods. Weaving through the trees was good. He had to listen to avoid running into things.
 
No jumping for us, but he did have to have some spring to get over the larger logs.
When he saw we were going up the bank, he picked up a trot to help with the push to get up it.
 
I worry on drops that the horse might get away from me. He was very careful and slow, and didn't get plungy.
Calm and relaxed isn't a bad introduction to cross country courses.
 
For some reason he started to get nervous in this area. He was shying at the cow (who was far away across the water), a bit jumpy about the logs and upset by the water (when I asked him to walk in).
This was my second ride, and I didn't feel like trying to ride leaps and spins. So, I got off and asked him to go forward into the water like loading in the trailer.
He declined.
 
My trainer pointed out that I was probably going to have to get my boots wet. We wished there had been another horse to follow in the water, but it was getting late and there weren't many out on the course by that time.
That did it, and he sauntered in and enjoyed the water. He used to play and splash in the parents' pond, so water shouldn't be an issue. Like the squirrel that he startled at, I think it's not knowing what to expect away from home.