Yesterday, it was not my intent to take Lil' Richard out again, but it was still soooo muddy everywhere that I thought I'd just take him out for about an hour and ride him to get the mail.
The day before the temperature was nearly 70 here. Yesterday, it was only 50 with a bit of a cold breeze. I got Lil' Richard out and took him to the round pen. He rolled and then got up and bucked tossing his head.
This is his normal routine before I curry him and work a bit with him.
After a few minutes of a refresher course, I tried a different saddle on him. It is super light weight. He really had to sniff it all over as Siera had been the last one wearing it.
It met his Majesty's approval and we saddled up and then worked on trying the bit out again. I let him wear the bridle for a while and then swapped back to using a rope tied to his halter.
It was a good thing I'd used the saddle. Lil' Richard enjoyed the fresh cool air and was a LOT more lively. He pranced and bounced when we went outside. He was not ready to listen quite yet. We had to stop and go back to the basics.
So we did a bit more of walk, trot, whoa, on a long line and then he stopped and sighed.
He got to spend a bit of time at the thinking tree in the yard too while I changed coats.
We proceeded to ride up and down the driveway and take the challenge of going through some muddy areas.
Funny, he has no problem running through mud and puddles on his own, but with a rider ... the mud looks like pony swallowing muck!
He wanted so badly to just take off and run up the driveway, but I convinced him that he needed to turn around and listen to me.
I could see it in his arched neck that he was full of it. One of the mistakes people make about ponies is that they assume that all ponies are good for kids.
This pony will never be a kid pony.
His rider will always need to know what they are doing and have good balance.
We did ride to the ridge and get the mail, but on my terms, of course. We rode past screeching children, a barking dog that ran under his belly and all sorts of noises.
He actually ignored them and had his eye on the ridge.
Funny, I think he believes he is going visiting each time we ride up there. He is extremely willing to take on the long hill. He never fusses either when we just stop and get the mail.
Since my driveway is so steep, I lead him back down. I didn't want the saddle to slide up on his neck.
Lil' Richard is just a fun little project for me and we won't be doing long hard rides. He just isn't big enough for that.
Hubby came out and I asked him to take a photo of me and The Big Guy.
I have to admit, he is a fun little moped!
He probably would be fun to have on a cart, but I have no harness and no cart so we shall be content on getting the mail, and little fun yard rides.
Just look at this face? Doesn't it say..."Look at me! I may be small, but I have attitude and cunning! I'm a bit of a devil!"
Happy Trails. And many adventures getting the mail.
Lil' Richard came to us years ago.
Here he is with our Grandson, Dennis. This was 2009. I think Dennis may have been 3 years old here. You can see that Lil' Richard is not a Big Horse, but more of a crop out mini. He is somewhere between 33" and 34" at the withers.
He has always been very gentle to be around, but he was our 'teaser' pony for when we bred some mares to our donkey stud. Most of the time he spends his summers grazing areas of the yard that are too rough to mow. He can be happy tied to a tractor and clean up all around it.
This winter I started to mess with him. I worked with him twice in December when we had mild weather. I then worked with him in January and rode him bareback inside the round pen and outside of it.
Then the temps dropped and the weather was pretty awful. I let things slide and yesterday I decided I'd work with him after I'd ridden Siera. [Siera will get her own blog entry.]
I took the bridle that I'd introduced him to last time and put it on him. He chewed and chewed and chewed the snaffle bit. I put the saddle on him and he was very nonchalant about it. That bit kept bothering him.
So I tossed a leg over him and sat in the saddle. I made my noise for 'forward' and he took 5 or 6 steps, I gently took one rein and asked him to turn for me.
He stopped and dropped his head with his neck stiffened.
He then simply lay down.
I couldn't help but laugh as I stepped off to the side. This is one of the reasons I find him so fun. My inseam is 32" so it wasn't like coming off from a 15 hand horse!
I adjusted the saddle and took the bridle off. I put his halter back on and used some twine to make the nose piece smaller. The I jury rigged the large training rope and made reins [sort of] for the halter.
I would normally ride him bareback, but in January, I'd bruised my tailbone while riding my high backboned mule bareback, so I wanted a seat this time. I will sort through and find a much lighter weight saddle to put on Lil' Richard, or more than likely just ride him bareback.
I stepped on again and he was fine. He walked forward at every command and turned as I asked with the lead rope. He and I were bored with the round pen. So we went out to the muddy driveway.
I think it is easier for him to get his feet muddy than me to have to walk in it!
So we rode up and down the bottom of the driveway for a bit. I wanted to see how all of the distractions of the mares and mules whinnying at him would affect him.
I tried the blue bridle again and he refused to go anywhere while chomping.
I eventually took it off and redid the makeshift halter/lead rope contraption.
I guess my thinking is, if he responds so well and doesn't try to run off with this halter contraption, perhaps I'll keep him happy and let him ride that way.
He pretty much ignored the mares and molly mules who fussed and ran back and forth in their pasture. He was working out what I was asking him to do. I asked him to take me over water that was standing in big puddles. He looked the situation over and seemed to just shrug and walked through it.
Here is our Big Shadow in the driveway.
After a few laps up and down the lower drive, I pointed him up the hill towards the ridgetop.
At first he hesitated about leaving the farm, but then I think I heard little gears click and whirl in his brain. His ears went forward and he started to trot up the hill.
Of course this is his escape route if he gets loose or his tie out breaks. He runs up the driveway and out the ridge to another farm. The owner always finds him in the barn with her horses. She opens a stall door and he goes in and gets some sweet feed and hay. We generally get a call early in the morning to come and get him.
He hasn't escaped in a year, but I know that he knows that UP the driveway is on the way to Linda's farm.
Halfway up we stopped. Lil' Richard is not in super pony shape, let's just say he is a bit chunky and soft. He is not used to carrying my weight. I waited and let him catch his breath. He moved forward and pretty quickly we were at the mailboxes.
He checked the mail and decided it was mostly junk.
I let him have a breather at the top of the hill and let him find something to nibble on.
He'd done such a good job, that I led him while carrying my mail back down to the yard. Here is a shot of the saddle I used. It fits him well, but I'm going to try another much lighter one on him.
That is mainly for training right now. I will probably mostly ride him bareback because I don't need assistance to get on him, nor do I need a stump or a bucket.
When we got home, I rode him up to the shed so I wouldn't have to walk in the mud. I unsaddled him and then took the curry and led him to the south side of the house and let him graze on some green grass while I groomed him so more.
The Little Pony that could.
I am having way too much fun with him!
