Skijoring Practice

It's been snowing heavily all day, but that doesn't stop us intrepid adventurers from practice skijoring! We're still in the process of finding some cheap skis off of craigslist, so the most we can do is tow rope work.

Moose sighting!

Post roll in the snow.

I pulled Brego out of the pasture. Even though it is snowing, it's a relatively warm 18 degrees F (-7.8 C). After the last few days of -10 F (-23 C), this feels like a heat wave. The horses were happy to ditch the blankets and hoods, if only for a few hours. We went for a short trail ride and then got down to business.

Um, yea, it's snowing.

Big trot through deep snow.

The practice went well. First I worked one some speed sprints in the snow. It's not as packed as I would like, but Brego beat a trail down pretty fast. Then I worked with the rope. I sacked him out from the saddle and he did very well. I then dragged the rope with it in front of him as he walked backwards, so he could watch it. He didn't seem to care, so we went for a stroll dragging the rope. He looked at it like a good boy, but didn't flinch.

More trot work in the snow

Working on my sliding stop after a gallop up the road.

Sacking out.

What a brave boy! Dragging the rope for the first time!

After a bit of that, the SO grabbed the end of the rope and walked behind. He seemed to like that even more, like he understood the notion of a human at the end of a long rope (e.g., longing). Finally, I dragged the rope at a slow trot. He was so good we quit with that.

So there ya go, once again the horse calls me a liar and comes out a star. The next step is to get some skis and ski around the pasture so he can watch. I don't think he's ever seen a human on skis and that might rock his world. Baby steps, but I am excited with the progress.

But first, this afternoon, we're hitting the slopes. I am going to rent skis and make a fool of myself, but it's all in the name of skijoring practice!!