Well, it has been seven weeks now since saying goodbye to Spice. A friend said that grief was like standing on a beach with your back to the sea, having a lovely time when suddenly a big wave crashes over you. Other times smaller waves lap at your ankles. That is a good picture, I am getting along ok than suddenly a wave of loss comes over me. If I sound chirpy in the blog it is because I can be, but it is not always so; for the sake of any readers' sanity I will not mention Spice again in these adventures of Sheltie. Sheltie has settled so well into his new home and has already come on in leaps and bounds in his work. He loves his stable and walks in from the paddock without an escort! He is a friend to Fudge, Goldie and Whisper. He would make a fantastic companion pony as he is so sociable with others, but that is not to be his destiny yet. He has finally understood what I want when long reining him. He responds to the signals to turn left and right with just a tweak on the reins, and an open rein to allow him to turn. He is able to do a figure of eight and circles now, without stopping or booting me. He has stopped mouthing the bit so much and carries it quietly . I even trotted him on long reins this week to prove we have control at speed. I am very proud of the way he has changed in the last year, if you read back to January I was as thrilled when he finally understood lunging. You might think that we are making slow progress but I want him to be rock steady in the things he can do, not just say that he has done it once...If you read between the lines of some horse sale adverts you get the impression that "has had tack on" means literally that and just once! I have also sat on him a few times...short of a mount now aren't I. He has carried on grazing or walked a few steps. He has not batted an eye as I have hitched my welly over his rump or shifted about to get comfy. I am only on for a minute and he is not concerned, so when a small child wriggles he is not even going to feel it. Also, to get off I put my hand on his neck and lean a little, again he ignores my movements. This is really to make him a safe mount. I am long reining so that he will understand rein aids from a rider though a child would never be left alone on him anyway.Got a crazy teacher friend who is tiny though and I expect to see her off the lead one day!! I have taken him a few walks back around his old farm on Hartshead Pike, and he is really doing well leading now. Remember back in Spring he was very nappy and I had to go back to some change of direction work. It has all paid off. Five days a week I do a short training session with him after he has had a couple of hours grazing while I do stable jobs. He comes away from the others nicely, does his little tasks and then has a big roll when released as if to say thank goodness that is over. He is a lot of fun and a source of exercise and through him I met my new friend with the lovely stables and land, so most everything in the garden is lovely ...just don't mention the S word xx
