Oct 22nd

Had a really nice ride today, I'm very pleased with him :)
I tried a friend's saddle on him. It's a smidgen tight over his
shoulders, but it has an adjustable gullet so as he fills out more I
can have it changed so that it's wider. For now it'll be fine as we're
just hacking gently for the first couple of weeks.

Had a couple of wee issues with him, the first being that while he was
very friendly to everyone in the paddock and took carrots from them
without hesitation :) when I went out there with a rope and halter, he
was not having a bar of it. Ran off a couple of times, so we just
caught the other horse loose in the field and brought him down to the
yards, opened the gates and Jimmy ran himself in. Then I caught him no
bother. So that'll work at least for a while til he gets used to me.

He was good to groom etc but when it came to bridling, he was a
bit silly. He wasn't really scared or hurting - I've worked with
horses who've had this ear fungus that makes them hard to bridle but
he let me handle his ears no worries, he's just making it up a bit.
Anyway Lisa showed me a trick she'd learned for bridling, she said
just go to put it on and then let him go backwards but don't give up,
when he stops backing move it up his face etc til he just gives in.
She showed me, had it halfway up his face. I took the bridle and just
put it straight on him, he didn't even bother backing up again. He'd
obviously realised that we'd had him sussed. So smart! :)

He was good when I hopped on him, no spinning around this time :) And
Heather and I just went for a walk around the cross country course. Up
the hills and down again, over some logs on the ground that barely
pass for jumps :) including one that's built into the side of the hill
to make the world's smallest bank. He led most of the time, although
when we trotted I had Roly in front/alongside to keep the momentum
going. He was great, no problems. Didn't like the idea of trotting
down hills but he worked it out by the end, it may have been the
saddle a little bit there too. Went into and out of the water jump,
then jumped up the tiny bank mentioned above from a trot. No bothers
about anything, I had him on the buckle for a good part of the time
and he was happy as anything.

After riding I gave him a small feed, mostly to help him associate me
with food so that he'll want to be caught! I gave him a couple
handfuls of lucerne chaff and a couple handfuls of Coprice Cool
Conditioner pellets.

He's settled in very well and is making friends with the other horses.
Lisa is pleased that he's so settled :) On Monday Heather and I are
going to ride again, this time around the park and maybe go into the
big arena and have a trot and canter around in there, so we'll see how
that goes!