No pics to share, but today's ride on Kai at the indoor arena went really well. I had the place to myself, and did some in hand stuff first- walked him around both directions so he could inspect the place for any horse-eatin' monsters- guess what, there weren't any! Good boy Kai.
Reviewed the work I did yesterday; I had him in the bosal. That was all good, so I switched to the snaffle bit and climbed on. I wasn't sure what to expect- it was my first time riding him in an arena completely alone, but I needn't have worried, he was good. It was really nice to get the turns on the haunches, on the forehand, sidepass, and the beginnings of the two track. I kept his feet busy, there were a couple of times he wanted to stall out, but I just asked him with more leg and that seemed to work. What I found was that he was reaching down into the bit and fussing and stopping his feet when he did that, so it made sense to increase the leg pressure instead of hauling on the bit which would be bracing.
In fact that worked really well, and I spent most of the ride (I only rode at the walk) directing his feet using my legs and very little rein. At this point, I don't care if he bridles up, I want to have control of those feet. The softness in the face will come in time- actually, he is pretty light there already when he isn't fussing. I will get his teeth done again as soon as I can, they were done in June and he was still shedding caps.
I am pretty happy that he did so well after 3 weeks off, must have given things time to sink in!
6 comments:
Good boy! And I am sorry to pick Shirley, but someone at least knew you were there right?
Sounds really nice - he's a great boy. He's likely to continue to fuss with the bit until the caps are gone - Pie still had some of his caps when I got him at 4, and I rode him in a side pull until his next dental appointment.
You're so right to not worry about the head - too many people start with the head and forget about all the rest.
Sounds like it was a nice relaxing session. Isn't it nice when you are the only one there!!
Sherry- there were two teenage girls there who were drooling over Kai and asking if he was for sale ;0)
good enough ! at least there was someone there
I think with young animals that yes, some time off periodically DOES help it all sink in.
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