Penn State Equine Blog

Wow!  Much has taken place since I last posted here.  Sorry for the delay but I’ve been quite busy in the indoor lately.  When I left off Jazz had just gone out on trail with no rider and with some other horses we were riding and had done quite well.  You might expect as much – as a wild horse what can a simple trail ride offer him that he hasn’t already seen?  Most of the other trainers I ride have to learn to deal with numerous “obstacles” on trail, most of them mental in nature, because of their limited exposure to such experiences due in part to modern management practices.  Jazz on the other hand has likely seen most of what would normally spook a domestic horse.  He was fabulous on the trail and much of his ponying experience with that first trip functioned primarily to get him used to me petting him from atop another horse – a different angle from his perspective of things.  Also it played a role in getting him used to leading.  All of which has functioned to assist in the training process.  Now however, I have actually ridden him both in the indoor arena and out on trail and by ourselves.  Can I just say – WOW!  He is so awesome to ride.  When we started out for the first trail ride I thought I would make it short so he could continue to build his confidence.  But then as we were going along I could tell that it was already there.  He was not at all spooked by anything even without any buddies tagging along and marched right up into the hills.  I decided then and there that he was thoroughly enjoying himself and I let him go.  It was amazing.  Our first ride outside of the arena together and we were galloping through woods and open fields at a pace that was so comfortable and relaxing for both of us.  I didn’t need to urge him on or hold him back – we just went and went.  I’m so convinced that he just loved what he was doing and was comfortable doing it.  You can imagine the smile on my face when I returned.  If you’ve never ridden a horse it is a very difficult concept to convey – that feeling of freedom and serenity when you’re riding in such a scenic environment.  It’s very therapeutic at least for me.  Anyway….back to the issue at hand (sometimes I can get carried away and I don’t want to lose my audience ).  Jazz has obviously progressed.  At this stage we are continuing to work on advanceing his repertoire of skills and mixing things up with trail rides to keep it very interesting for him.  He is crossing physical obstacles and enjoys our little bag of tricks that we come up with to continually keep his mind fresh.  Hopoefully when the time is near and the competition is at hand everything we have done will melt into a very interesting demonstration of Jazz’s talents and unique personality.  Stay tuned for more….