Crosshill Pacers
Well-Known Member
Apologies for the slightly late report, lambing has well and truly taken over my life! Thank goodness I have a reliable trainer in J 
Week five has been the first week where problems have really come to the surface. J has told me quite firmly that Missile will be the last horse he trains that was broken by someone else. Nothing major has happened; Missile is still behaving in general terms, however after four weeks of trying to chill him out on the track, he still seems to be in 'race mode' constantly.
J likes to jog a horse on a loose rein, at the horse's own relaxed speed - Missile is jogging too fast. He doesn't bolt, but the speed at which he wants to jog is too fast in J's opinion. Therefore to maintain a steady speed that J is comfortable with, he has to keep a strong contact for the full 25 minutes (week 5 is the next step up in length of jogging time). We both know that hanging on to him for that length of time isn't good for his mouth. The dentist is booked for this week to make sure that the reason for the strong hold that Missile takes isn't pain related in his mouth, but in the meantime J has switched to a rubber bit. He's also tried out ear plugs which seem to have chilled him out even more, but we don't want to have to rely on gadgets to get him to relax, we both want it to be a natural state for him.
So it's back to basics again. Missile must learn to walk before he can run, literally. Trying to undo months (or even years) of someone else's work is difficult, maybe even impossible, but J is as stubborn as a mule (one of the reasons I love him so). In order to teach Missile that jogging too fast is 'wrong' (at least whilst at home and in basic harness), he is making him walk several laps before jogging. Initially it was 2 or 3 laps over the first few weeks, but this has now changed to however many laps it takes for him to walk a complete lap without trying to trot/pace. On Tuesday, this was 18 laps before he completed his first walk-only lap. His reward for doing it right is his 25 minutes of jogging. I was disheartened by the number of laps when he told me, but he then told me about a horse he had a couple of years ago, Beach Bound, who had to walk 19 laps one day before being allowed to trot. Beach Bound won some rather high profile races for J and had a very good work ethic, so fingers crossed this method works with Missile! Thankfully on the days since, he's only needed to walk no more than 6 laps before jogging so hopefully this is working.
As mentioned above, this week has been jogging of 25 minutes per day, for six days. J came down to Wales over the weekend so Saturday was his day off and J's uncle, our stable driver, jogged him yesterday. His brief report was that the horse seems in good shape and moves well, and didn't pull at all. J fears his uncle let Missile dictate his own pace the whole time, whereas I wonder whether he's slightly softer in the hands, what with having 20+ years of driving experience. Either way, it was a good report all round!
This week ahead sees Missile in hopples for the first time in 2014, so the end of week report may be a more interesting read (although I can't promise anything!). My new saddle has landed in the UK and will be with me before the big move, and I will be heading up to Scotland over Easter for my inaugural drive. I promise these reports WILL become more interesting as we go along!
Simply for perservering and getting this far, here's a photo for your troubles - Missile before heading out onto the track this week:
Thanks for reading,
Sarah & Missile
Week five has been the first week where problems have really come to the surface. J has told me quite firmly that Missile will be the last horse he trains that was broken by someone else. Nothing major has happened; Missile is still behaving in general terms, however after four weeks of trying to chill him out on the track, he still seems to be in 'race mode' constantly.
J likes to jog a horse on a loose rein, at the horse's own relaxed speed - Missile is jogging too fast. He doesn't bolt, but the speed at which he wants to jog is too fast in J's opinion. Therefore to maintain a steady speed that J is comfortable with, he has to keep a strong contact for the full 25 minutes (week 5 is the next step up in length of jogging time). We both know that hanging on to him for that length of time isn't good for his mouth. The dentist is booked for this week to make sure that the reason for the strong hold that Missile takes isn't pain related in his mouth, but in the meantime J has switched to a rubber bit. He's also tried out ear plugs which seem to have chilled him out even more, but we don't want to have to rely on gadgets to get him to relax, we both want it to be a natural state for him.
So it's back to basics again. Missile must learn to walk before he can run, literally. Trying to undo months (or even years) of someone else's work is difficult, maybe even impossible, but J is as stubborn as a mule (one of the reasons I love him so). In order to teach Missile that jogging too fast is 'wrong' (at least whilst at home and in basic harness), he is making him walk several laps before jogging. Initially it was 2 or 3 laps over the first few weeks, but this has now changed to however many laps it takes for him to walk a complete lap without trying to trot/pace. On Tuesday, this was 18 laps before he completed his first walk-only lap. His reward for doing it right is his 25 minutes of jogging. I was disheartened by the number of laps when he told me, but he then told me about a horse he had a couple of years ago, Beach Bound, who had to walk 19 laps one day before being allowed to trot. Beach Bound won some rather high profile races for J and had a very good work ethic, so fingers crossed this method works with Missile! Thankfully on the days since, he's only needed to walk no more than 6 laps before jogging so hopefully this is working.
As mentioned above, this week has been jogging of 25 minutes per day, for six days. J came down to Wales over the weekend so Saturday was his day off and J's uncle, our stable driver, jogged him yesterday. His brief report was that the horse seems in good shape and moves well, and didn't pull at all. J fears his uncle let Missile dictate his own pace the whole time, whereas I wonder whether he's slightly softer in the hands, what with having 20+ years of driving experience. Either way, it was a good report all round!
This week ahead sees Missile in hopples for the first time in 2014, so the end of week report may be a more interesting read (although I can't promise anything!). My new saddle has landed in the UK and will be with me before the big move, and I will be heading up to Scotland over Easter for my inaugural drive. I promise these reports WILL become more interesting as we go along!
Simply for perservering and getting this far, here's a photo for your troubles - Missile before heading out onto the track this week:
Thanks for reading,
Sarah & Missile
