Back between the Shafts

5 more days for the CPEAP Contest. There are 4 entries, how about a few more... Plus question #3 is turning out to be tricky so keep in mind the words Student and Twice.'

Five years ago Peggy started Comrade driving, but it kind of was pushed behind riding. With the loss of Addie it makes getting him driving more important. So this weekend was his refresher. It went surprisingly well. Saturday we did ground driving. Comrade moved like he was walking through molasses. Peggy had to push his butt a few times to get him moving. Even though he was slow, he listened. He used his head and remembered his long ago lessons. Comrade is really maneuverable and sensitive. After Peggy  played with him, I took the reins. He walked and trotted like he had done it all recently and his connection with my hands was soft. Very cool pony!

Peggy decided that we would ground drive him again Sunday morning and hitch him in the evening. While I was feeding my guys, she went and took down the barrier. When I went to help her, I found she had set up some stuff. There were two sets of two poles, jump blocks spaced a horse's width, a tarp and muck buckets. Not only was Comrade getting driven, he was getting challenged. Rosemary was full of it, so I volunteered her to test drive the course. Once she settled her drama mama ways and went to work, she tackled it wonderfully. The tarp made her hesitate, but she did go over. Then it was Comrade's turn. No problem there either. Where Rosemary went through the buckets, he went over them. Very true to each Cob. We did decide Comrade needed a whip to help encourage him to move forward. After him Dottie and Roscoe took turns. Dottie volunteered to be photographed.

Pole tunnel

Pole tunnel

jump spaces

tarp

buckets

In the evening we cleared the arena to drive Comrade. Roscoe thought the cart was way to strange to go near, silly boy has no clue. Comrade had no problem with it except when he was actually hitched. Then he totally whined about the weight and having to go through the sand. This time Peggy had the whip to encourage him. He was a bit of a drunk driver, but he made his turns without worrying about the having to push against the shafts. Roscoe watched in amazement seeing Comrade between the shafts of the weird contraption he himself did not want to go near. Peggy kept the session short and ended on a good note. Pretty darn good for his third time hitched in his life.