Happy day.
I have mused on Radar yesterday and I am chuffed to bits with three things -
1. how he had not forgotten a single thing with the jumping and was happy to jump immediately.
2. how much more sure on his feet on uneven terrain he was. Last time he would have stumbled, tripped and slipped with some of the stuff we did, but not this time.
3. the windgall on his near hind that used to come up after serious work was not there at all this morning. It was quite big the first time, but it has been less and less evident the fitter he gets, and for it to disappear completely is good news!
He is doing marvellously in his progression towards being a hunter that the Master will envy me being on!
He had the day off today and I schooled Jazz. Who was in a TERRIBLE mood! I was very proud of myself today. He was trying to pick a fight about the sleeper, but I didn't let him rile me or make me tense up or try and force him into work. I gave up on some stuff I went out there to do, like medium trot, and concentrated on finding ways to loosen him up and get him listening.
He was in his own little world - ploughing along on his forehand, missing all my cues to turn and/or slow down. We did some shoulder in (for flexibility and to raise his forehand), some canter/walk and some trot/walk/trot (to get him listening) and finally I had a trot I could sit on and ask for leg yield. After a stretch on a long rein, we did some quarters-in on a circle left (as Sonia says, you never run out of room on a circle, the end never arrives :-)
I then tried for half pass by turning up the centre line but he dropped back off the bit on the turn so I couldn't get it. I put him in shoulder-in and took the bend in shoulder-in, which stopped him dropping off the aids. I continued the shoulder in up the centre line and then put a travers aid on too to get the half pass. He was a bit lacklustre the first time and did not reach anywhere near the track before reaching the end of the school. So the second time I asked for the half pass immediately we were on the centre line. For the first time in several sessions, he did a half pass well enough to reach the track before we ran out of space.
I stopped immediately to reward him. I think we have half pass left in trot under control now. We know what the issues are with it, so I think we can improve it pretty rapidly now.
Best of all - it hasn't rained (yet) today!
C.
posted by cptrayes @ 5:08 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
Your descriptions are great - I can see, and almost feel, what you are describing. A good days work, it sounds like!
Lots of good points for Radar, then. Good boy. At this rate, the Master will be green with envy.
But then, there's always Jazz to question you. However, it seems you are finding the right answers more and more now. What I like is that, rather than fighting him, you actually outwitted him, both physically and mentally. Well done. Put Tucker and Jazz together and we could start one good horse psychology study.
Once more said--Well done.
Meant to add the compusory weather comment--thunder this morning at 7, rain, more rain, BIG thunderstorm around noon and more rain. I think it may have stopped now, at around 4 PM, but more is in the forecast. YUCK!!!
Thunder at seven a.m., crikey. Your weather isn't any better than ours, is it Jean.
I try to describe what I feel Kate, I'm glad you think I succeed.
C
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