Contrition

Well, the sassy-bitey pony got a spanking last week. And it might have been just what he needed!

The day after I wrote the last post about how sassy Stitch has been as of late and how he was going to get a job a bit earlier than planned, I had him in the arena wearing his bridle for the first time since the fall. I was just doing some in-hand work with him - giving to the bit laterally, a bit of walking with me at his shoulder and steering with the reins, etc. 

One of the exercises I do is to stand in front and put my hands on the bit rings on each side with my thumbs looped through the ring, and ask him to flex slightly at the poll and ideally down with his nose. 

This opened up the opportunity for the sassy pony to get a little bit mouthy with my hands and arms.

The first couple of times he mouthed me he got a tiny bop on the nose and a "quit it". 

The third time, there were teeth involved. And I happened to be holding a dressage whip.

He got a thwack across the shoulder. A really loud thwack. Way louder than I ever thought it would be. I'm pretty sure I was judged by the other two people in the arena. (I think I caught him with the thicker end of the the whip closer to the handle instead of the skinny end.)

But you know what? He hasn't put a foot (or mouth) wrong since. 

He was immediately contrite and had the "mommy's mad at me" face. After living with geldings for far too long he realized that this boss mare has limits on what she would take from him.

We'll see how long this lasts. It's by no means something that I want to have to regularly repeat.

I'm hoping to get back on him within the next week or so, just waiting for the frigid temperatures and icy roads to get better, mostly so that I can ensure some consistency for the first little bit. The temperatures are going to be cold for the next couple of weeks, but the heated arena at the new place is lovely to hang out in.