Ok, so good news and... A bit of a problem too.

H

horseless jorge!

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Just took Sam out in his new bit. :)
It's a JP Korsteel curved snaffle with loose rings. Fits him lovely, he goes nicely in it and we DO have brakes. :)

But. The problem. Well, I took him up to my friend's school, and had a bit of a walk and a trot. The wind was up his backside and he was all het-up about things, so I didn't canter him, as I knew that new bit + new place + wind = recipe for hitting the dirt!!

I'm just worried that I'm kidding myself though, I'm worried that I'm nervous of this horse. When I think about cantering him, I don't get properly worried about him, I just tense up a little bit, but once we DO canter then I'm fine.

Am I just being silly by wanting to wait till he's in a school he knows, and wanting to wait till he's used to the bit before I canter? Or am I being a big chicken? :rolleyes:
 
No harm in waiting until you feel confident about it! What is going to happen, are the schooling police going to come and get you if you don't canter straight away?! Do what you feel happy with, and if that is waiting until a less windy day after you both are a little more used to his new bit, then what is the harm?
Go easy on yourself!
 
ThePony said:
No harm in waiting until you feel confident about it! What is going to happen, are the schooling police going to come and get you if you don't canter straight away?! Do what you feel happy with, and if that is waiting until a less windy day after you both are a little more used to his new bit, then what is the harm?
Go easy on yourself!
Click to expand...

Haha the schooling police, I must say that made me chuckle. :p
Thankyou so much, I just sometimes get so worried that I'm just making up excuses for myself!!
 
Well, in this situation, with the wind and the fact that it's a new place and a new bit, I don't blame you particularly. The fact that you were hesitant to canter and he was already het up about things would, for me at least, signify that to canter with both of you feeling somewhat anxious probably wouldn't be the best idea.
So no, don't worry about it. Also... what's the rush? I know that I've been guilty in the past of going down the 'I must do this' route simply because I feel as if I ought to, when in reality there is no such thing. Unless you have some reason to need to push yourself faster, I'd say there's no shame in sticking to where you're comfortable until you actually want to experiment a little further. There's plenty that you can do in walk and trot- and in fact, plenty that you can do which will eventually lead to improvements in the canter. We've had to go back to basics a bit with my girl, as she had a couple of months without schooling prior to when I bought her, and just a week or two of working primarily in walk and trot on transitions, lateral work etc, to help her balance, has done wonders for the quality of her canter. There's no 'right', except what feels right for you and the horse. And in these particular conditions, I don't blame you! (recently attempted to school my usually uber chilled mare in insanely strong winds... it was interesting. :o)

Don't worry about it, and just work on enjoying what you feel comfortable doing and really getting that going well before asking for more ;)
 
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