So many new experiences and a Happy New Year.

Well magic is doing super well, yesterday we did some more ground work with him, starting to really build up the work that he's doing so that when it comes to the time to ride him there is a solid foundation for it in place. So we gave magic a fuss and a cuddle. Then went to work. We slowly placed his roller and his saddle pad over his back and then got to work on slowly doing it up, the idea was to gradually do it all up while giving him fuss so that he saw it as a rewarding thing and not a punishment or something that he does not do.

We then walked out to the school and got to work on lunging, we started off on his bad rein (left rein) we did walk work and really built up the idea of getting him to lunge and stay out not fall in. We then added in a little bit of trot, not a lot but enough that he was experiencing something different. We lunged to the left for 3 mins 30 seconds. After this we stopped changed the rein and lunged to the right, this way he was much happier to pick up walk and trot, although this way he tried to push his luck by stopping while he was on the circle. However a firm no, a flick of the lunge whip and off he went again. Magic still tries to push his luck but he is also much more open and willing to learn and move forward. He picked up walk and trot and again we went for 3 mins and 30 seconds this way. While we were on a roll, I then decided that we would try a little bit of ground driving, long reining, long lining whatever you want to call it we gave it ago. Magic didn't really get it at first but that was because I wasn't being clear enough in asking him what I wanted him to do. I then asked my mum to help by starting off with her walking next to him and then with her slowly slowing down so that he was walking on his own. Once I felt like he had a rough idea of what I wanted to do, we took the opportunity to walk down the rows of caravans and walk around. Listening to word commands and trying to really get magic to listen to what I wanted. We did this for about 10 minutes and then walked in to the stable, before I slowly removed all his equipment, gave him some fuss and put him his rug back on. This was a massive accomplishment for magic and proves that he really is wanting to learn more and he wants to try new things. 

Today Magic had another new experience, although this one came in the size of my 6 year old nephew. My sister is in hospital after having an allergic reaction to something, although the doctors do not know what to. So I offered to have my nephew for the night, and this meant that Brody got to go and see Magic. So we were stood in the stable with magic just relaxing and giving him some fuss. When brody said he wanted to know what it was like and how far up his back was. So I lifted Brody up so that he was level with his back and then let him lie on it. I was holding Brody's body weight and Magic didn't even bat an eye lid. So then I put him down and Brody asked if he could sit on Magic. So I lifted Brody up placed him on Magic's back and held him there for a few seconds, before bringing him down. We did this a few times and Magic didn't even bat an eye lid just stood there eating his hay. I did get a video of this but I haven't got around to uploading it to youtube yet. So that will feature in tomorrow's blog post. 

Now I am fully aware that some people will not agree with what I have done with Magic and Brody BUT here's the thing Magic is MY HORSE and I know my horse better than anyone else. I can 100% say that Magic would  never do anything to hurt anybody and that I would also never put Brody in that situation where he could get hurt either. So before people have negative comments, this was something that I thought about and that we tried and that worked for us. I'm not saying that it would work for everyone but it did work for us and that's all that I am bothered about. He is happy, cheerful, and enjoys doing the work that is asked of him. 

So on that note I am going to wish you all a Happy New Year! I hope that you have all had, having or will have a fantastic night and that 2018 is a great year for you all. 

Until Next Time 

Amber, Magic, Casper and Diesel