Grant and Bullet - SJ Training

<sup><sub>Grant’s legs pressed firmly around Bullet’s flanks as they cantered a third circle around the outdoor arena. The copper colored stallion lurched forward with every stride, his ears pricked as he fought for control and shook his head irritably, letting out small snorts and squeals of defiance.

“Shush!” Grant growled under his breath, holding the feisty Thoroughbred steady with his seat, trying his hardest not to hang onto the reins, but keep them relatively slack, pushing his weight down into the saddle and shifting his centre of gravity back towards Bullet’s hindquarters.

This method seemed, quite strangely, to be working, but was mainly due to Bullet having never been forced to collect himself in his entire life, and therefore the shock of it all made him keep a relatively slow pace.

Grant drove him forward again, touching him lightly with his heels, ready to fight for dominance against the stallion if he were to do what was now called a ‘bullet’ and gallivant forward like an idiot and try and leap out of the arena.

Sometimes working with a stallion was a bit too much like hard work for Grant. He’d contemplated whether to ask if he could work with horses like George or Lennie more often, less temperamental than a mare and far easier to get along with than a testosterone-filled stallion. His wishes were amplified again as Bullet kicked up his heels and Grant was send flying backwards, almost losing his stirrups and fought for his place on the stallion’s back.

“You ass!” He snorted, tugging at Bullet’s mane sharply and then driving him into another circle. Don’t fuck with me! Grant thought inwardly, and Bullet’s ears flicked backwards as though he could read his mind.

Bullet bucked again, this time smaller, but threw in a larger one a few seconds afterwards. Grant retaliated by pulling him back into a short collected canter, which dropped into a trot. Bullet snorted again, flicking his tail, but before he could show off again, Grant turned him towards the jumps that had been set out the day before whilst free schooling one of the others. Bullet’s ears flicked forward again, he whinnied, jumped into a canter and drove forward to the jumps. He thundered three neat strides, before leaping up and over, a jump that would’ve cleared probably a 5ft oxer.

Grant hung on, trying not to seem surprised at the stallion’s eagerness, and held Bullet together as they landed neatly on the other side.</sub></sup>

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We've decided that, as though he's not racing at all any more, Bullet needs to be properly re-schooled. Schooling in itself isn't exactly one of Bullet's strong points, but he seems to have taken to jumping... as long as the jumps are a challenge. Otherwise he just gets annoyed and tries to buck Grant off.

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<sub>Art & Beaumont Stables ©: =Baringa-of-the-Wind

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