Weds 17th Feb 2010
I've got a bit behind so this will be brief! I didn't ride Mon as Rich & I took Ed to the Natural History museum! Loved the dinosaurs!
On the Weds, I was on my own so decided to try the Old Macs on. D was absolutely great to put them on. He was not phased at all! We went down the road to the woods and back, not much as not a lot of time. D's feet were coming up inside the boot as I could hear a whoomf a second after he put his boot down as the foot landed. He seemed happy enough but he was a bit wary going downhill - rightly so as the boots don't have a lot of grip (I wouldn't purchase the same boots again for this reason).
I got on at the bank going away from home this time. D baulked at going forward and after checking he was not nervous, I slowly built up to a sharp crack of a ph 4 with the rope on his flank. I made a game of going forward - fixing my gaze on a nearby object and rewarding and resting when we got there. I don't know why I was surprised but it amazed me how quickly he picked up on my focus. After a couple of goes he was going forward happily on ph 2. Need to get this to ph 1 and, just thinking about this as I type, I think the answer is a longer ph 1 as I never wait for long before putting the leg on. Plus D's used to a leg aid. Yes, will try a longer ph 1!
Walked home no prob, little trot going uphill back. D lifted his knees up high! definitely looked more comfy in the boots. I have been in contact with old Macs since and D is a size smaller than my boots (I have a 4 and he is a 3). On their advice, I've bought inserts to take up the room at the side. I've also bought some thick mouse mats to make pads which I hope will improve the fit too as I can't afford £95 for a new pair!
No comments:
Post a Comment