Lesson Recap

The weather got a little chilly again this week after some rain brought a cold front in. By chilly, I mean it was in the low to mid-50s last night for my lesson. My biggest dilemma was figuring out how to dress, I thought I'd be ok in just a t-shirt, but wasn't sure, so decided to layer a long-sleeved shirt under it, figuring I could always roll up the sleeves if I got warm. 

The ride went really well! Riko was being very sweet on the ground--some nights he is pretty pushy and I have to remind him he isn't allowed to throw his weight around with me, even if others let him!

During our warm-up, K had me halting Riko every time he started to hang on my hands, release, and then carry on like nothing had happened. It worked and got him to be lighter while still reaching for contact. I also was trying to keep him out of the track on the rail, and got stuck on a couple of 20m circles, which worked out in my favor, because it helped loosen us both up even more. 

Post-lesson selfie with the ADD giant who was trying to lick my shirt

I was happy that she let me go around on a looser rein than normal to try to encourage him to hold himself up. Usually, she reminds me shorten my reins several times (I do have a very bad habit of loosening them as I go around, lol), and I feel like we get into a bit of a pulling match...he hangs on my hands, so I half-halt to get him to lighten up but when I try to softly hold the contact after a half-halt, he just hangs more. He is a lot softer on a looser rein but still maintains a nice contact and I think we both were happier with that!

I mentioned that he feels a lot nicer with a slightly longer rein and that I prefer it, too. She said, "Ok, let's see how he does with it!" So, we trotted and cantered around with the longer (but not loopy, but any means!) rein and even did a poles course with the same length (they have a big show this weekend, so no actual jumping happening unless you're showing, which my group is not).

Our ground poles course

We trotted the course the first time and he got a bit strong through the first line, so she had me halt him at the end and then carry on. We did the diagonal and he started plowing through my hand again, so I halted again. Then he kind of went, oh, I get it. And, we trotted the bending line with a nice quiet pace.

The second time, she told me I could keep trotting or I could canter it. I said, I think I'll start at the trot and see if he's figured out what we're asking, but I'm thinking I'll canter the 2nd half of it. 

So, I trotted in to the outside line and he was lovely. He stayed soft, kept his pace consistent and it was no big deal. We continued to to the diagonal the same way. As we went to the rail to turn left, she said, "Let's try the last 2 at the canter," which I had been thinking, too, so I asked for the left lead. He gave me a beautiful, prompt, uphill transition. I counted my strides, he stayed rhythmic and light on the forehand, and accepted my half-halt as a reminder to not rush or launch over the first pole (as K was calling out, "He might jump so stay with him!")! We turned slightly for the last pole and I half-halted about 3 strides out and he took it perfectly in stride. 

Now if we can only get back to jumping that way, too!