Yesterday morning, I was out early to play with Destin. It's so hot here
already, that early morning and late evening are the only reasonable times
to be outside.
Destin was particularly attuned to me from the start, so I intended to stay
soft and keep that softness and attention in Destin as we did some ground
prep work and then rode for a bit.
Destin beautifully, calming and willingly responded to my life up and focus
for backing, circling, moving from walk to trot - really nice! No opposition
reflex.
With the saddle on, Destin easily came up to the barrel for me to mount and
we started to ride. Walking around, checking out my hinges, checking in with
Destin - all good. He is still pretty poor at following the rail, but that
wasn't the 'goal' for the session. Got a few *really nice* strides of a
smooth trot and slowed down to a walk. Destin can have a really bouncy,
rough trot, but I have occasionally found the treasure of his relaxed,
smooth trot. Nice.
Then our communication took a nose dive. Just doing some seemingly basic
turns, Destin was very heavy, not responding to leg pressure at all. Not
even responding to rein when he didn't turn. So I thought I would help
Destin and picked up the carrot stick for support.
Our communication declined even further, unfortunately. Destin did not
understand and was just confused. At one point, after stopping, I asked him
to move forward with a casual rein, and slight leg pressure. He backed up
instead! Yikes!
SO... it's back to basics. Porcupine Game on the ground, focusing on getting
light. Day 1 of 7 days of focusing on our steering. Not much point on
working on my sitting to his trot or posting, if we have no steering
communication. (Sigh)
Now to keep it interesting so we don't both get bored...
Keep it Natural -
already, that early morning and late evening are the only reasonable times
to be outside.
Destin was particularly attuned to me from the start, so I intended to stay
soft and keep that softness and attention in Destin as we did some ground
prep work and then rode for a bit.
Destin beautifully, calming and willingly responded to my life up and focus
for backing, circling, moving from walk to trot - really nice! No opposition
reflex.
With the saddle on, Destin easily came up to the barrel for me to mount and
we started to ride. Walking around, checking out my hinges, checking in with
Destin - all good. He is still pretty poor at following the rail, but that
wasn't the 'goal' for the session. Got a few *really nice* strides of a
smooth trot and slowed down to a walk. Destin can have a really bouncy,
rough trot, but I have occasionally found the treasure of his relaxed,
smooth trot. Nice.
Then our communication took a nose dive. Just doing some seemingly basic
turns, Destin was very heavy, not responding to leg pressure at all. Not
even responding to rein when he didn't turn. So I thought I would help
Destin and picked up the carrot stick for support.
Our communication declined even further, unfortunately. Destin did not
understand and was just confused. At one point, after stopping, I asked him
to move forward with a casual rein, and slight leg pressure. He backed up
instead! Yikes!
SO... it's back to basics. Porcupine Game on the ground, focusing on getting
light. Day 1 of 7 days of focusing on our steering. Not much point on
working on my sitting to his trot or posting, if we have no steering
communication. (Sigh)
Now to keep it interesting so we don't both get bored...
Keep it Natural -
Keeping it interesting and not micromanaging will be the most important and difficult part. Just a suggestion, add in obstacles on the rail! That will keep it interesting and fun for both of you. :)
-Michelle/arabhorselover1
http://naturalhorselover.blogspot.com/
Posted by: Michelle/arabhorselover1 | Jun 20, 2010 at 12:48 AM