Update from a stormy night: Manny has stopped rooting and is now trying to figure out how to go on the bit. You can tell, because when he's cued he grinds his teeth on the snaffle until it sounds like someone's trying to start a mower in the ring. Our conversation Wednesday night went
grangh grangh grangh YOU'RE ON THE BIT YAY HERE'S A BIG RELEASE GOOD BOY
grangh grangh. It's as though he spends the days after each lesson thinking about what he was asked to do, then the next time, eureka, what's next. [
ETA:
D'oh. I need to check into this a little more.]
Unfortunately, his mouthiness continues to be a problem; he bit the ever-living shit out of one of the instructors while she was standing in his stall (she didn't have him on a lead rope, and she wasn't looking at him, two big mistakes with this particular horse and, really, any horse you don't know well). She didn't try to yank her arm away, so instead of a gaping exsanguinating wound she's got a perfect set of teeth marks in her inner forearm. Yikes. The barn is planning to move him away from Sterling, whose stall-proud shenanigans aren't helping Manny's whole "my food mine mine mine MINE biting you now" attitude. In the meantime, they've taken to saddling him before students arrive, always leaving his halter on while he's stalled, and plastering warning labels on his door. For my part, I stay well out of reach until I've poked his haunches away from me with the end of a dressage crop or a longe whip. We also did some of his de-aversion ear-petting therapy during the wait on crossties; 20 seconds of that, and his whole body relaxes, then he sighs deeply, leans his head into your chest, and commences to lick and chew like a Monty Roberts demo vid. Very cute.
Jon Stewart, my other crush boy. No horse connection, just love.
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