Kate & Pro - 7/25 (lazy again)

I need to learn to just post on the day I ride. Ugh.

Anyway, Dare came out to watch and we took pictures of Pro in his handsome native costume halter. I'm so glad I kept his mane long!!! I think he looks just stunning.

The ride was pretty decent, nothing extra-special but at least I tried to focus on the new purpose of my outside rein. He did have one temper tantrum but was fairly good throughout. I think that after lessons, he realizes how good he's been and feels a deep-seated need to "reclaim his dignity" by acting naughty and testing me. Shame shame, pony.

We tested out a few "no pull" downward transitions and I really feel like we have a good handle on those. Overall, he's sacrificed his need to pull, at least in the downwards. He caught on pretty quickly to the idea and seemed okay to giving it up. Now it's just fine-tuning between the half-halt, release, walk and what he wants to do is half-halt, release, jig. No, Pro - just because I don't continue the seat/hand pressure all the way down into the walk doesn't mean you can pick up your trot-walk mutant combination, the jig. But we're working on it.

Still practicing the use of kicking with my inside leg to correct looky-ness instead of using my inside rein. It's a mental habit that I'll have to get myself to break. I need to switch from thinking "fix with the hand" to "fix with the leg, THEN the hand if necessary". Which of course means that it's making a mental switch in his mind, too. It's keeping the whole "You have two options, Pro. You can put your head back down, or you can continue looking. But if you continue looking, you have to get rammed repeatedly with my inside leg. Very unpleasant."

Gayle did say that we're about to the level where we need to be riding with a whip. Yeah yeah, I know. Thing is, someone in Pro's western pleasure past scared the %#@* out of him with a whip, which I hear is pretty common in the Arabian world in general. So he gets all nervous if I ride with it, and BUCKS if I even tap him. On the ground he gets pretty freaked with it, too. Gayle says we'll have to retrain him from the ground. We'll see.

Just a random thought I had the other day - if anyone is ever in the area and feels like stopping by, just let me know and you're more than welcome to come by and try the Redheaded Arabian. :) It'll be fun!!! Besides Dare of course, who needs to COUGH COUGH bring her riding clothes the next time she comes to visit. ;) It was great having her as photographer but she needs to try him out again!!!