Crosshill Pacers
Well-Known Member
Morning all.
Week 6 has been a week of two very different halves for Missile and J. After the debacle of the 18 laps of walking one day last week, which gradually reduced to no more than 6 a day, J and I both thought we were getting somewhere with the horse. However the beginning of this week saw Missile regress even further to what we can only assume to be his 'default setting'.
On Tuesday J rang me to tell me that whilst on the track, Missile had essentially taken a pull and gone off like a loony (I shan't use the term bolted as that always seems to me as though a horse is running blindly, whereas Missile was sticking well and truly on the track, just going far, far too fast for it). J had tried everything he could think of, but the more he talked to him to try and calm him down, the faster the horse went. Eventually he slowed himself down once he'd run out of steam. J said that he honestly didn't know what to do, because as he was, J wasn't happy for me to drive him (what with me being a driving novice). His words were 'we thought too much about winning, and not enough about the horse's temperament'. Now bearing in mind that the previous owners' 16yo son was competitively driving him, and more importantly the horse had been broken to ride and had raced under saddle, it's safe to say I was thinking more about what he was like to work with than about winning, especially as I'm not remotely competitive. J's interim solution, as Missile now had sores on his mouth from fighting with J so badly, was to tow Missile behind his other horse Stevie until the sores healed, and then jog him behind one of his dad's horses to see whether he settled better in company. Feeling disheartened, I left J to sulk and contacted his uncle who had jogged Missile last weekend and who only had good words to say about him. I passed on his response to J and suggested that he come over to drive Missile so J could watch him and see what he was doing differently to get such a different feel from the horse.
In this time, J had consulted his 'Care and Training of the Trotter and Pacer' manual, a book that is probably owned in some form by every trotting person in the UK. On the Wednesday he put into practice a couple of ideas that had jumped out at him from the book, which included changing the bit to a jointed metal one (from the rubber bit he'd previously changed to) and changing the bridle from a woven material one to a light plastic bridle with a tighter noseband. He took him out on the track and jogged him using two fingers and spoke constantly to him in a quiet voice, the result of which was a VERY relaxed horse who jogged flawlessly for 22 minutes
when they came back in off the track J made sure to over-praise him for his behaviour, to try and instill in him that this is exactly what we want.
On Thursday he took him out again and jogged him, again flawlessly, for 33 minutes, without him once taking a pull or fighting to go faster. Because he is now jogging so slowly, J decided to up his time on the track from 25 minutes to 30 minutes. Week 6 was supposed to be four days of jogging in basic harness for 25 minutes, with two days in hopples and a loose overcheck for the same length of time, however the latter part of this week has been 30 minutes of slow, relaxed jogging in basic harness. J will send me an updated training schedule later today as next week, and subsequent weeks, have now changed from the original plan. Yesterday was again another good day, however after 22 minutes Missile wanted to travel faster but J brought him back to walk, then tried again. He completed the remainder of his 30 minutes perfectly.
As I type, J is out on the track with Missile who apparently 'loves a walk'. The boys have spent the last two evenings enjoying a cuddle, as J is over the moon that the penny finally seems to have dropped. He's also noticed that Missile has started sleeping lying down, and just seems more chilled out than ever. Tomorrow is his day off and then we're into week 7 of 13 pre-racing training weeks. I'm flying up on Thursday so next Friday will be my first day in the jog cart and in light of the improvement in his behaviour, I can't wait to have a go at jogging Missile!
Another standard weekly photo of Missile in the crossties - finally looking a bit smarter (although I can't wait to get stuck into that mane with a pulling comb!):
Thanks for reading
Sarah & Missile
Week 6 has been a week of two very different halves for Missile and J. After the debacle of the 18 laps of walking one day last week, which gradually reduced to no more than 6 a day, J and I both thought we were getting somewhere with the horse. However the beginning of this week saw Missile regress even further to what we can only assume to be his 'default setting'.
On Tuesday J rang me to tell me that whilst on the track, Missile had essentially taken a pull and gone off like a loony (I shan't use the term bolted as that always seems to me as though a horse is running blindly, whereas Missile was sticking well and truly on the track, just going far, far too fast for it). J had tried everything he could think of, but the more he talked to him to try and calm him down, the faster the horse went. Eventually he slowed himself down once he'd run out of steam. J said that he honestly didn't know what to do, because as he was, J wasn't happy for me to drive him (what with me being a driving novice). His words were 'we thought too much about winning, and not enough about the horse's temperament'. Now bearing in mind that the previous owners' 16yo son was competitively driving him, and more importantly the horse had been broken to ride and had raced under saddle, it's safe to say I was thinking more about what he was like to work with than about winning, especially as I'm not remotely competitive. J's interim solution, as Missile now had sores on his mouth from fighting with J so badly, was to tow Missile behind his other horse Stevie until the sores healed, and then jog him behind one of his dad's horses to see whether he settled better in company. Feeling disheartened, I left J to sulk and contacted his uncle who had jogged Missile last weekend and who only had good words to say about him. I passed on his response to J and suggested that he come over to drive Missile so J could watch him and see what he was doing differently to get such a different feel from the horse.
In this time, J had consulted his 'Care and Training of the Trotter and Pacer' manual, a book that is probably owned in some form by every trotting person in the UK. On the Wednesday he put into practice a couple of ideas that had jumped out at him from the book, which included changing the bit to a jointed metal one (from the rubber bit he'd previously changed to) and changing the bridle from a woven material one to a light plastic bridle with a tighter noseband. He took him out on the track and jogged him using two fingers and spoke constantly to him in a quiet voice, the result of which was a VERY relaxed horse who jogged flawlessly for 22 minutes
when they came back in off the track J made sure to over-praise him for his behaviour, to try and instill in him that this is exactly what we want.On Thursday he took him out again and jogged him, again flawlessly, for 33 minutes, without him once taking a pull or fighting to go faster. Because he is now jogging so slowly, J decided to up his time on the track from 25 minutes to 30 minutes. Week 6 was supposed to be four days of jogging in basic harness for 25 minutes, with two days in hopples and a loose overcheck for the same length of time, however the latter part of this week has been 30 minutes of slow, relaxed jogging in basic harness. J will send me an updated training schedule later today as next week, and subsequent weeks, have now changed from the original plan. Yesterday was again another good day, however after 22 minutes Missile wanted to travel faster but J brought him back to walk, then tried again. He completed the remainder of his 30 minutes perfectly.
As I type, J is out on the track with Missile who apparently 'loves a walk'. The boys have spent the last two evenings enjoying a cuddle, as J is over the moon that the penny finally seems to have dropped. He's also noticed that Missile has started sleeping lying down, and just seems more chilled out than ever. Tomorrow is his day off and then we're into week 7 of 13 pre-racing training weeks. I'm flying up on Thursday so next Friday will be my first day in the jog cart and in light of the improvement in his behaviour, I can't wait to have a go at jogging Missile!
Another standard weekly photo of Missile in the crossties - finally looking a bit smarter (although I can't wait to get stuck into that mane with a pulling comb!):
Thanks for reading
Sarah & Missile
she used jog and jink about the road with her white legs looking all flashy dancing about 
