December 10 2010
Prince and I had a lot of fun this morning! We played around with pulling the sled. Of course we took it in stages. This winter I want to play around more with getting Prince to pull me in a sled and such. So today we played with some of the ingredients.
First we started with doing some straight lines and circles with two 12ft lines dragging beside Prince (attached to the surcingle) he was okay with that so then I brought in the sled. Prince wasn't sure about it at first but after some approach and retreat it was able to be in all zones and Prince was confident with it being there. We were also able to do some walk trot transitions with the sled following in zone 5.
Next I attached my savvy string to the 12ft line that was tied to the sled so I could put it through one of the rings that way Prince would feel some of the weight but if something went wrong I could just let go of the sled. That went well though and Prince didn't have any problems.
So as the next step I attached the 12ft line to Prince so he was pulling it by himself. Again that went well and Prince didn't have any issues with that he was a little concerned going into the trot though so we had to play with that a little bit but pretty soon he relaxed and wasn't bothered by it at all.
Next I attached the other 12 ft line to the sled and attached that to Prince so the weight would be even, not that there was much weight as it was only a plastic sled but there would be weight in it soon. Prince liked that better and was calm and confident pulling it at the walk and trot.
About this time my test dummies.... oops.... I mean little brothers ;) came outside and the agreed quite willingly to try it out. Prince was perfect and we did both walk and trot! Both of my little brothers got a turn and then they both went. Prince was great and both my brothers enjoyed it a lot.
Then my older brother, uncle and sister had a turn, one at a time of course. To keep it interesting for Prince though we went from grass patch to grass patch. He really enjoyed that :) I was able to go for a short ride myself while at the same time directing Prince. He got a little bit confused because he had to walk a couple feet forward before I would follow and normally once he starts walking I will start. So we played with that and we were able to walk from one side of the yard to the other.
Prince got a long rest at the end and he got to graze for quite some time, until the hay delivery came and I had to go load it in the shed. But it was a whole lot of fun and I definitely want to play with it more this winter.
Naturally,
~Keri
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