Clearly I have not been doing enough arena riding. I am sore all over after yesterday.
I spent 2 hours on the tractor working the arena. It is amazing! The only problem is that it is still open on one end which causes Trax to gravitate toward that wide openness in hopes of being done.
I am going to go try to throw up some temporary panels to close it off.
He actually did pretty well. Of course all we did was trot and lope in circles and work on some downward transitions. I am starting at the beginning and taking things slow. I let him lope his brain to a happy place and then we went to work. Our entire goal was "move off the leg, pick up the rein instead of pulling on it" When I thought we had a good handle on things I turned on the camera. I should have checked my disc space. It shut off after just a few minutes and the best stuff did not get recorded. Don't know if I will get out there again today or not.
What was hilarious was at the end of the ride we rode out the gate that is the only piece left of the west end of my arena. I thought it would be good to make him work the gate. He did ok with it but as I was trying to close it he got impatient and pushed it shut with his nose. He was clearly saying, "Get on with it lady, I want to go rest now." He's a funny boy.
Anyway, here is my video. Not exciting, but good for me to watch. I think we could use just a tad more contact to get him flexing a little better. He is getting pretty good a lowering his head at a canter though. Or maybe he is just pulling the reins away from me.
Oh, I almost forgot. At the end of the loping I asked for a stop and he gave me a perfect one. I was quite happy with that so we ended there. Good Boy Trax!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OHGb4N8y0A
not boring at all, I am jealous though, short sleeves ??? I am bundled up in everything I own and have the wood stove going
ReplyDeleteOne thing stands out to me and that is Drop your hands. I heard this all the time so I see it too. When your hands come up and you make contact, his head pops up too. This is when the line from your elbow to the bit isn't straight.
ReplyDeleteYou're riding him in a snaffle? Work towards using your little finger to 'tickle' the reins and give your cues. Sometimes you may have to use a little more pressure or even take a hold of the rein and get the point across, but you can always come back to a soft hand and light pressure. I'm still in the area if you want some one on one. Glad you finally got to meet Anne. She's a helluva nice gal too.
One thing stands out to me and that is Drop your hands. I heard this all the time so I see it too. When your hands come up and you make contact, his head pops up too. This is when the line from your elbow to the bit isn't straight.
ReplyDeleteYou're riding him in a snaffle? Work towards using your little finger to 'tickle' the reins and give your cues. Sometimes you may have to use a little more pressure or even take a hold of the rein and get the point across, but you can always come back to a soft hand and light pressure. I'm still in the area if you want some one on one. Glad you finally got to meet Anne. She's a helluva nice gal too.
ARE YOU KIDDING???? I would love some one on one if you have time for it! I'll shoot ya a text here in a few and see what your schedule is like. THANK YOU!!!!!!
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