I am SO excited. I am finally getting to ride Desi. I threw my english tack on her tonight. Please excuse my hideous shirt, it was cooler than I planned on and that was the only shirt I had in my truck. The pictures are dark but hopefully you'll get the idea.
We mostly walked. I had the farrier look at her and he said that her shoe don't fit quite right. He is going to have to make her special shoes. So she is sound for the most part. She get sore if trotted on the harder ground for more than a lap.
I wanted to work on her moving off of my leg and getting softer in the bridle. Now if she doesn't want to respond to your polite request, she throws her head up and the opposite way that you are cuing. We got a really good handle on that and she was much softer.
She is very herd/gate/barn sour. She was resistant to walking the other direction of the horses in the arena. She wasn't violent or anything but we are going to have to work on it.
I can't wait to put the hours on her. I got to trot her a little bit, I stayed in the deeper part of the arena. She is SOOOOO smooth!! She really pushes with her motor and reaches up underneath herself. I can't wait until she can REALLY be put to some hard work.
7 comments:
Im glad she is feeling better. She looks really good.
she's adorable
Aww Alex she's so cute!! You said you got a really good handle on her "throwing her head up in the opposite way". Just curious, how did you attack that problem? And the herd sour-ness?
Ahhhhhhh and I realized we missed each other for the October 4th...the week was crazy for me and it was the 5th before I remembered what day it was. We'll coordinate better next time. :)
Kate, we worked on staying in between my aids. No bulging, not popping shoulders. She isn't bad just un-deucated so she took her lessons VERY well. When I would ask for a give/bend/soften with the left rein she would twist and pull her head to the right. Instead of fighting, I kept the pressure the same but moved her shoulder back across her nose so that she was where I wanted her in the first place. She was MUCH stiffer and stuck on the right rein and we had to move hips/shoulder/ribs, everything to get soft. She got the message though and was extrememly soft at the end of the ride.
For the herd/barn sourness I ignored it for the most part. She wasn't THAT bad, mostly tail swishing, and rooting her nose. Instead of fighting I would put her back within my aides and we would keep doing what we were doing. I made sure not to stop/rest near them, to change directions frequently, and dismount facing away and on the other side of the arena. Once she is in shape and can sustain a trot for a good 10-15 minutes then we will work with LOTS of riders in the arena, playing leap frog, against the grain, poles and barrels around other horses and we will do the gate exercise that I teach at the clinics if she is still having issues. Hope I answered your questions, let me know if you need more info.
I'm not sure when I am heading back to Raleigh, it will probably be Nov sometime. I would REALLY like to meet Pro though.
Awesome...I know you're psyched to finally do some riding!
I wish I could see pics here at work...but it sounds like she is doing well.
Awesome! Glad you're able to ride her now! I hope all continues well, too!
Ah I like it, moving the shoulder!! I think it's a general problem with most horses, as Andrea and Gayle and I have discovered that Pro is unwilling to move his shoulders as well. I wonder if she wasn't surprised that you didn't just try to pull her face around...you tricked her! :)
Makes sense!
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