Canter on/canter off

We had a couple of nice rides over the weekend. I worked on getting Champagne into a frame, and I can do it for maybe ten minutes at a time, but that leaves me sweaty and huffing. I wonder if it is as much work for him? He doesn’t seem at all heated when we finish the ride.

I also worked on canter transitions, and he was pretty much willing to canter when asked (after being asked once, not doing it, receiving a correction, and then being asked again . . . in each direction). We did some transitions, all fine, and I took a break. Then I asked again and , he. would. not. canter. I think he thought, “Well, we did the canter portion of the ride, and now we’re done.” Oh my. Cath got on and he also refused her a couple of times, but he didn’t get away with it for long. He has me figured out, I’m afraid. Plus, I’m not as good a rider as Cath.

On the sarcoid front, Champagne has gotten so resistant to having the cream put on that we have to use a twitch. It is a two or three person job: one to hold his head while the twitch is applied, one to apply the twitch and hold it, and one to apply the cream. I really, really despise this process! Yet he needs the cream, and it is effective. The place where the sarcoid has been now looks like a pizza about the size of a silver dollar, and most of the warty tissue has sloughed off. Oddly, once the cream is applied he gives absolutely no sign that the area bothers him.

I’ve also been working on love puddle issues. Champagne still isn’t as people-centric as many of the other horses in the barn, but we’ve made some progress. He came several steps toward me in the pasture yesterday as I went to catch him. He comes to his stall door when I get to the barn and pokes his head out looking for carrots. When I groom his face I talk softly to him so he equates that with the pleasure of having his face groomed. I’ve also been hand grazing him. Next step: getting him to lean his head on me without bumping me with his nose.