Ghetto longeing ...

(sorry for the bad pic!)

Wow. I am so ghetto, lol! Longed in the halter with the bridle sans noseband. Why Halter? So I could attach the longe line to it and not have to switch every time I changed direction, of course! Duh! Pic is terrible; he looks really fuzzy (he's not), and he looks like a monkey. Every time I whipped out the phone to snap a pic, he would slow down and shoot me a quizzical "Wha ...?"

I've been watching the Advanced dressage posted on Eventing Nation at the Fork. I figure Tiki ought to look like that, so I slapped on the side reins, cracked the whip, and sent him in a circle around me. Lol. He does look MUCH better, though. He comes into contact much more consistently, and doesn't get so behind the bit any more. I also don't have to nag the crap out of him to just go FORWARD. He gets it. I made him do lots of transitions both directions. Tightened the side reins 4 notches, watched him with a critical eye, then tightened 2 more notches the other way. Reversed ONE more time, because he appeared to really lay on his side tracking left. Tightened JUST the left side rein 2 additional notches, then made him w/t/w/t/c/t/c/w. He looked much better with that much contact; let him be done from there.

Super exciting news. I'm going with Susan on Monday to RIDE in a Gigi Nutter clinic, woo hoo! This is thanks to my wonderful, fabulous, incredible barn owner. She is the best. I hope that some day I can win the lottery and shower her with lots and lots of fun stuff:) I'm super nervous, but super excited too. I think Tiki and I both will really benefit from her input, and continue to progress forward.