Day 1: Evaluation

I decided that with such nice weather, (and no one to bother me) it would be a shame not to play with Sketch today.

Sketch and Never

He eventually came when called, and I rewarded him when he did. We went to the cross-ties and had a really good grooming session. I got most of the mud off, but the rest is going to have to wait for another day (just his socks). I'll probably have to clean his sheath as well, as it looks a bit cruddy. Joy.


Sketch after grooming

After the grooming and a liberal dose of fly spray to repel the horse-sized horseflies, we went to the round pen. Walk and trot one way, walk and trot the other way. He mostly listened to voice commands. He does have a problem with stopping when he wants to (especially by the gate), and after he warmed up he offered extended trot to canter, with the occasional buck, but all in all he wasn't to bad.

When he was warmed up, I saddled him. He took it pretty well, just a little snort while he watched me put it on. I worked him both ways with it, and I'm not totally sure that it fits him right. His walk was fine, but his trot was short and upright, if you know what I mean. I then worked him both ways with the bridle without reins, to get used to the bit.

Sketch all tacked up

After all this, he seemed to be okay, so I thought about it for a second and then went to get a bucket to stand on. We need to work on standing still while mounting, as he stepped forward a bit (but not much, I think the bucket made him nervous). We walked for a bit, testing his response to leg and rein cues. Not too bad, so we tried a couple steps of trot. I had triple checked the girth, but apparently I should have checked it yet again, as it slipped to the right as we turned. I'm proud that I didn't panic, and I'm glad to find he has a good whoa! I dismounted and walked him in hand, then un-tacked and brushed him, let him graze a bit, gave him a couple of treats, and put him out in the paddock with his buddy Never.

Not a bad first day. I know what we need to work on now, and it's really not too bad. I'm going to try to work with him a little every day, as we're both out of shape, but the next day I'll be able to do anything is Sunday, as the Wisconsin Renaissance Faire opens tomorrow and I need to help Ken set up.

Here's to a good first day!