He gets better every day.

Jazz was gorgeous today doing some precision circles and turns in walk with practically no aids at all. More like "think – turn here" and turn he did. The halts were great, he had continued on from where he left off yesterday. He is now more than willing to stretch down and out in walk. I have no idea why he suddenly decided that it would be good to stretch. One day he never wanted to, and the next he did and has ever since.

We did some canter transitions and he was superb to the right. Soooo smooth. To the left (opposite form how Tia was to start with, so it’s not me! :-) he would not give me that lead, and struck off constantly on the right leg. He was getting desperately strong and starting to throw himself around and I was going to call it quits. Then I took a deep breath and settled us both for one more try. This time I turned his head slightly right so that his left shoulder stayed up and forward and bingo, there it was. Immediately I had that I could praise it. His response to praise was to repeat it four more times in succession, more straight and more steady each time. Good boy! We stopped then.

I rasped his front feet a bit and he got bored by the second foot. He seemed a bit surprised to be yelled at for snatching his foot back off the stand. He did it a second time and I got really cross this time and then he was an angel and I finished it off. The trouble is he does suffer from ADHD so badly :- ) He is constantly looking for things to interest him, and digging holes in the floor if he can’t find anything. Superhubby has just told me that when I left him with Jazz tied to the lorry for 20 minutes on Wednesday, he ended up standing on one front and one back leg, with the other two waving in the air, while also snaking his head and neck around the end of the lorry looking for anything that was going on . How’s that for gymnastics! Superhubby said it looked as if it should have been impossible and he held it for around FIVE minutes!!!!

Tia is doing really well. She looks a picture of health and is shining brightly. Her foot is fine and there is no filling even after a night in the barn. Of course she is getting a mud poultice all day out in the field, which is probably the best thing for it. I didn’t have time to ride her today, but I shall tomorrow …….. before I go and see a pink papered 2 year old (3 in spring) who is only just up the road so worth a look. The owner says she’s had plenty of warmbloods, but has never seen a horse that comes so far off the floor when it moves. Sounds like my kind of boy!!!!

C.