Got in a ride today, yay! I went straight to the barn after dropping Kody off at school, and arrived at precisely 8 am. Got Tiki out of his stall (he's on night turnout now), tacked him up, and led him out to the arena again. He's better in there. I don't fight his pace so much ... he's a little more "self regulating" in there. Left him a bit 'au natural'; no ear net, and no martingale. Mounted from the mounting block I left in the pasture, and he skittered backwards. I do believe he is a tad cold backed ... it was definitely cooler today, and the mounting block is shorter than the step ladder I got tired of dragging with me out to the pasture. Anyway, got him stopped, patted his neck, and got straight up in my 2-point. Walked the perimeter of the pasture, then sat and walked into the ring. Asked for a trot, and he jolted forward with a shake of his head and a swish of his tail. Oh boy, here we go again! I totally missed an opportunity yesterday with totally beautiful weather so I could stay home and perform some sorely neglected 'wifely duties'. Sooo, we were tail swishing, then cantering, then I just breathed and dropped the reins. Oddly enough, that worked. The monotony of circling the ring eventually helped him chill, and before I knew it, he had settled down completely. I had thrown 2 pvc poles in the ring on the ends of the ring, and he dropped his head hard, and jerked his feet up over them for several laps. Finally, after lots of circles and reverses, the just trotted over them quietly.
Yay! Did the shoulder-ins again; he was good. Did totfh both ways today, and they were MUCH better! Maybe 75% good today:) Got the right lead on the 2nd try, and he swapped out. Walked, regrouped, and asked again. Got it long enough to circle, yay! Reversed, and cantered left; we circled and cantered over the poles. He was GREAT! I was super happy. Decided to finish again with the crossrail/trot pole. I circled at the trot a few times to get him quiet since we'd just cantered. Trotted straight to the crossrail, and he did NOT get fast at ALL! Trotted in, hopped over, cantered away. Went one more time with the same result, so I hopped off and loosened my girth. What a GOOD BOY! I planned to ride tomorrow and Sunday, but the rain is coming in, so that plan probably won't work, bummer. Bringing my friend's trailer home with me tomorrow to borrow for a few weeks so I can take him to PWF for her to ride in lessons on Saturdays. Hopefully that will help him continue to build muscle and gain confidence. Overall, I am incredibly happy with my little guy!!!:)
No comments:
Post a Comment