Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Long weekend--in the arena

I’m sure everyone has wondered where I was-vacation! Well, it was just a 4-day weekend. And the river was too high for 3 of the 4 days, so I didn’t do the kind of riding that I wanted too. Still, I wasn’t at work, and that is really what vacation is about for me.


I spent a lot of time in the arena with Cole. Here is what is happening is while working on consistency with his trot, I have lost the “big trot.” He would trot big for a while, and when I asked for a turn or corner, he would come above the bit and we would lose it. I was just trying to keep him from popping up, and when he did, to get him to reach down and round up, again. I figured that an ordinary trot was acceptable as long as he wasn’t above the bit. My plan worked. He is much more consistent through bends and corners, but he is not doing that fantastic trot. What I have been working on is more important, and I suppose the trot will come back when he is ready. Maybe when it does, he will have the skill to keep it. The weather was also hot for a horse growing his winter coat, and he was getting a lot of work, so he wasn’t quite bursting with energy by the end of the vacation.

I finally cantered him in the arena. We did it on 2 days. It wasn’t easy the first few times, because he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do. When we did canter, he didn’t get very far—but we did it, that’s what counts.

I just rode Cruiser on the hill to the river on the days we couldn’t cross. Sunday, we went on a nice ride with Starry. They are good buddies.

3 comments:

Achieve1dream said...

It sounds like you're doing well. It's okay that he's lost the big trot. It will come back when he has the strength to maintain it through turns. I saw the video of his big trot on FB and he's so gorgeous! Keep up the great work. Oh and congrats on the canter!

Judi said...

The big trot is back, as you saw on Facebook, but I lost the canter--he just keeps trotting bigger and bigger! I wish I could get him out on the trail often enough on my own to practice the canter transition so he knows it better. The weather has been so awful.

I can't wait to see how you do when you start riding...I know you will have lots more pictures and video than me.

Achieve1dream said...

It's funny how the young horses are huh? He's smart though and he'll figure it out in no time.

As May is fast approaching I'm excited about riding Chrome for the first time but I'm also getting nervous! Weird huh? I guess it's because I've only ridden five or six times in four years. Sigh.