<----- Ok, so, my work did Wizard of Oz for halloween this year. Ya like?! I was the cowardly lion, obviously. It was a blast. Alrighty, onto the horses...
I worked Leo yesterday, for the first time in....oh, uhm....hmmm....6 weeks at least?!! Lunged nicely, got on and we had a beautiful ride. Leo is progressing nicely seeing as hes had about 30 rides over the past YEAR! Cant complain about anything really. I mean, he isnt trying to buck me off so everything else is just a bonus basically. He is so relaxed under saddle. Stretches down at the trot and has an excellent whoa. He is on the lazy side, well more unresponsive really, but he is still super super green. After he loosened up I did a lot of w/t transitions. Getting him used to what leg means and learning to move off of it. After awhile he was really getting it and was already keeping his back engaged waiting for the next time I would ask for a transition. It was quite nice. It was even a cool and windy day where the horses are on high alert and he was calm and easy. Hopefully tomorrow will go just as well with riding. I love this horse. I have so many hopes for him!!
I rode Sophie down in the jumping field, somewhere we haven't been in months, and other than being a bit more of an arm workout she was great! Her step was nice, being spunky makes her more engaged and lifted so its a great back workout for her. There was very little stiffness from her too, mainly only resistance towards the beginning of the ride when I would switch directions and bend. We mainly focused on trot work with a little bit of hills thrown in. She truly was stepping nicely and other than the spunk making her heavy and pulling she was quite soft and supple with me. More responsive to my leg than the other day! And then we bolted galloping up and over the hill. Twice. Because shes fun like that :D
I rode Stormy last because hes the vacation ride, nice and easy. WELLLLL. Not today. I planned on an easy 25 minute trot session. He wasn't wanting to move forward, he can be kind of unresponsive when hes out of work for awhile, and was fighting the bend. Nothing bad though. Decided to try some canter take offs since he likes to give a hassle sometimes with his right lead. Well today was one of those days. Little stinker. But after lots of drilling and pushing him to gallop and move up numerous times, we finally ended on a nice note. I rode him harder than the other two! Stormy was soaked, and this pony hardly ever sweats! But he ended soft, flexed, and moving out beautifully. He can have such a great step! I love my three! Cant wait to do it all again Saturday!
I worked Leo yesterday, for the first time in....oh, uhm....hmmm....6 weeks at least?!! Lunged nicely, got on and we had a beautiful ride. Leo is progressing nicely seeing as hes had about 30 rides over the past YEAR! Cant complain about anything really. I mean, he isnt trying to buck me off so everything else is just a bonus basically. He is so relaxed under saddle. Stretches down at the trot and has an excellent whoa. He is on the lazy side, well more unresponsive really, but he is still super super green. After he loosened up I did a lot of w/t transitions. Getting him used to what leg means and learning to move off of it. After awhile he was really getting it and was already keeping his back engaged waiting for the next time I would ask for a transition. It was quite nice. It was even a cool and windy day where the horses are on high alert and he was calm and easy. Hopefully tomorrow will go just as well with riding. I love this horse. I have so many hopes for him!!
I rode Sophie down in the jumping field, somewhere we haven't been in months, and other than being a bit more of an arm workout she was great! Her step was nice, being spunky makes her more engaged and lifted so its a great back workout for her. There was very little stiffness from her too, mainly only resistance towards the beginning of the ride when I would switch directions and bend. We mainly focused on trot work with a little bit of hills thrown in. She truly was stepping nicely and other than the spunk making her heavy and pulling she was quite soft and supple with me. More responsive to my leg than the other day! And then we bolted galloping up and over the hill. Twice. Because shes fun like that :D
I rode Stormy last because hes the vacation ride, nice and easy. WELLLLL. Not today. I planned on an easy 25 minute trot session. He wasn't wanting to move forward, he can be kind of unresponsive when hes out of work for awhile, and was fighting the bend. Nothing bad though. Decided to try some canter take offs since he likes to give a hassle sometimes with his right lead. Well today was one of those days. Little stinker. But after lots of drilling and pushing him to gallop and move up numerous times, we finally ended on a nice note. I rode him harder than the other two! Stormy was soaked, and this pony hardly ever sweats! But he ended soft, flexed, and moving out beautifully. He can have such a great step! I love my three! Cant wait to do it all again Saturday!