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| Seamus being his usual gentlemanly self in the riding area... |
It was also the first time I had loaded Seamus in my horse trailer which is a 2-3 horse stock trailer (depending on configuration) and it's probably quite different from what he has traveled in before. He loaded pretty willingly but then pulled back out before I could get Belle in so we did it again and he stayed in the second time. Seamus is also a trailer hog so the trip was spent watching them through the window in the trailer- Seamus would be in the middle of the trailer and we would see Belle reach over and warn him to move over! Seamus eventually learned stock trailer etiquette and stayed on his side of the trailer :)
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| There's quite a bit of size differential in these two LOL |
This weekend was a busy one at the park with the Stockdog trials, the Mounted Police clinic, various soccer games, and all the regular traffic going on together to create a bit of a noisy environment. We drove to the back and parked near the outdoor arena where it was about as quiet as it got out there. Seamus was on edge and didn't appreciate being tied to the hitching post out there at first so had a bit of a freak out but we got him settled and tacked up shortly. It took a few moments for Heather to get Seamus to stand still for mounting, but she did get him still enough to get on without my assistance.
We headed into the outdoor arena first for Heather to get Seamus's feet moving and get his head into working in the newness of it all. He did well, giving in to all rein and leg pressure and walking over poles and through standards as Heather asked. After about 15 minutes in there, we were comfortable enough to head out to the area behind the arena which has a group of baby cross country jumps in different varieties, each of which has three levels- 12in, 18in, and 24in heights. Belle is capable of jumping most of them at the 12in and 18in heights, but instead we concentrated on being a steady force for Seamus and walked over them at the 12in heights with Seamus following us. He did very well and stayed calm and walked over most of them, though the tires were the scary part for him with him resisting walking over them for a few minutes. Heather persevered and eventually Seamus did walk over them, not pretty- but he did it!
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| Stepping out in the arena, lovely swingy walk |
We then moved on to walking through the cross country area which is basically rolling hills with jumps and trees interspersed. We headed towards the other outdoor arenas and the indoor where the Mounted Police clinic was ongoing. At that point, a horse whinnied loudly which sent Seamus into a bit of a tizzy- he stopped, tensed, and gave a couple of crowhops which Heather rode out commendably and she got Seamus settled and walking out again. In the arenas were many obstacles set up for the clinic including a couple of "cowboy curtains" made up of lots of fluttering caution tape. We stayed rather far away from the action, but the tape could be seen clearly though didn't seem to faze Seamus too much. We walked around the arena where there was a crowd of people on horses and bleachers and he stayed calm. Further back in a wooded area, Seamus saw kids on bikes, balloons, and more people. We then came around to a creek crossing which gave Seamus pause for about 10 minutes. He practiced typical avoidance techniques like refusing, backing, and walking sideways... but in all this, Seamus never did anything panicy or dangerous. Heather again kept working him towards the water and before I actually had to step in and pony him across, he finally capitulated and walked into the creek then stopped to paw the water a lot. Heather got after him and got him moving before she took a bath LOL On the other side of the water are more cross country jumps with some of them involving steps. We did the available steps and Seamus took them both going up and coming down like a champ! He stood calmly on the tallest and turned nicely to walk back down.
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| Out in the great wide open |
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| Down the steps... |
We then went over towards the dressage rings and walked out onto the practice ring where we could overlook a rider with a Border Collie whose job it was to herd fresh sheep down to the area where the Stockdog trials were going on. Seamus looked at the sheep, rider, and dog with interest but didn't seem fazed by any of it, even with the smell of sheep coming straight towards us on the strong wind. Seamus was getting tired by this point, it was more work than he's done in a long time so we headed back the way we came. When we got back to the water crossing, Seamus walked directly in and out of the water with no hesitation or pawing- what a good boy!
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| Checking out the sheep |
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| Champion water crosser! |
Back out and just past the arenas, Seamus' skin started really twitching and he started acting up then he popped up into a half rear and crowhopped twice again, we think at this point he got bit by something nasty... despite copious amounts of fly spray, he had twitched quite a bit on the ride but had not acted up like that before. The flies were very bad and even Belle was bothered by them constantly. We made it safely back to the baby cross country jumps and walked them again, with Belle and I going over a few of them a little faster to see how Seamus would react to Belle leaving him behind. He pretty much took it well, but at one point I heard Heather squawk a bit and it turned out that Seamus had taken his own little leap over a jump which she wasn't ready for. Heather reported that Seamus took a couple of canter strides as if asking to go faster and she asked him to go back to a walk which he readily did. At this point, we'd been riding for over an hour and we were done. I think he could have gone longer, but it was quite a bit of exercise for him, even at a walk most of the time.
Heather is quite taken with Seamus, she says he has a good brain and lots of heart and she was very impressed with his first time out at the park. She expected him to be quite a bit more uppity than he was and didn't feel in danger at any point, despite the little crowhops he threw in twice. I think that I know more now about what Seamus needs in a rider- he's going to need a confident rider who can be a leader when he needs one so that he can work through his little issues when they arise. Not a surprising conclusion- he is a green OTTB, they mostly come that way from the racetrack. I also have reaffirmed my belief that this is one smart and easy-going horse... once he knows something, he knows it; and with a rider he trusts, he'll go anywhere :)
