Andrea and Pro (8/7)

Pro overload for all you blog readers today. :)

Pro and I ended up riding around 7 last night, which with the clouds meant the light was starting to get iffy. Pro immediately seized on that as an excuse to spook at everything. Typically rides that start out with 3 spooks in less than 1/4 of the arena do NOT go well, but this was a rare exception.

First we worked on going forward (hands separated to funnel the energy forward, whip on the inside so he'd stop trying to run sideways, legs OFF but there for him to run into if he tried to scoot). Once we did that then I tried doing the inside leg bumping/giving inside rein to get him soft. It would work some, but then he'd find something to be scared of and his entire body would invert. So I used my new tool (which I'm aware I'm over using, but but but it WORKS) of leg yielding. He had to leg yield until he was doing it properly (not over bent, not just scooting sideways, but actually properly bent and THINKING) and then he'd get to go straight and forward. Well, we didn't spend a whole lot of time going straight for the first part of the ride, but eventually he got tuned into me and as long as I didn't let my attention wander, he was happy to cooperate.

We did quite a bit of work on circles once he'd softened. I was trying to make sure to keep my hands up since Kate gave me advance warning of how her lesson had gone. So we'd do soft, up, forward, straight and if any of those things got lost on the circle I'd ask for a step or two of leg yield. Especially at the trot I could feel him rebalancing through the leg yield and going much better. So then I cantered him. While holding the whip. I'll admit I wasn't sure how that would go. He tried to fall through his inside shoulder, but I'd ask for a leg yield at the canter and he'd sort of stumble and then there'd be a stride where I could feel him fixing his legs during the elevated moment, and then, omg, BALANCE. We never did more than one or two leg yield steps at the canter, but by the end of the ride we could canter a 15m circle and I probably could have done 10 if we weren't both getting tired. Just to prove he was still Pro though, I couldn't walk him out on a loose rein because he'd try to spook at stuff.

So, was overall really happy with him by the end. I actually got to use the whip for a reminder once or twice without him trying to run for the hills, his canter was amazing, and he even was willing to go forward at a much better tempo at the trot while staying soft and round. Now, anyone want to attempt to explain to me how to get him to bend IN to the canter so I can leg yield? I kept catching myself bringing the outside rein in and that's obviously not correct. I'm guessing it means we need to work more on bending with our seat/legs and less with our hands, but when I'm not supposed to use legs I just end up confused. :) Luckily I've got a lesson scheduled for next Wed, so it should help if Pro will not pitch a fit like last time.