After removing the arrow rest and re-gripping, I practiced getting my elbow down, keeping the arrow on by tilting, and changing my anchor point. Arrows took off a little knuckle, the shaft/vaning burned sans rest, I'm asking Santa for arrows that are feather fletched to keep my skin long term this year and adding riding gloves.
Next was getting Czech used to the look of the target, the sound of the arrows, and the pop that happened when the target was hit. It was interesting figuring out how to hold his leadrope with him behind me while using both hands to shoot, wondering if he was going to freak out. He was a pro after he realized the target wasn't the devil in disguise.
Last step before getting on his back and trying it out was to shoot while in motion, though nowhere near as fast as it'll be in the end, this is a good place to start.
And it's much harder than it looks! Even going this slow the aim point changes and you've either got to aim and release really fast or aim and let the point come to you, like finding distances to fences without that pesky risk of crashing.
After building hay bale targets in the round pen, Czech came up painfully lame with mild heat exhaustion from not getting to shade/water in his discomfort last night. Vet call out the next morning determined that he must have taken a kick or some other trauma to his inner thigh. Really weird location, but a treatable grapefruit sized hematoma that could have caused a life threatening issue in the heat. Thankfully, he'll be just fine and can do mild work soon. Watch out Katniss, my horse and I are going to take away some of your swagger!
*For those following along wanting to try it, horse bows range from about $40 to thousands. I recommend going with the very low end, you can't have anything on the bow anyway (and let's face it, it'll take some abuse while we're learning). Feather fletched arrows are not as easy to come by, starting at about $60 with a high chance you'll break some early on. Do get a good armguard!
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