IcarusGirl
6th April 2010, 10:19 AM
It's not very often i say that, because Icarus can be a right lazy ***:mad:, but yesterday everything fell into place. I think it was because i spent a lot longer warming up with no contact, so he HAD to carry himself for the first 15 minutes - i wasnt going to hold his head up for him! I think i usually rush the warming up stage (i know, i know....i shoudnt. I think sometimes i imagine i've been doing it longer than i have!) He was turning really nicely from my legs, doing serpentines/circles/simple transitions while i just held the buckle.
After a while i started to creep my reins up into a contact and i tried to keep him long and low. He's never been very good at long and low, but i'd like him to be able to do it a bit more, so it's something i'm working on. I think he's been forced into an outline in the past (something i'm guilty of) so that as soon as i pick up the reins he tenses, lifts his head too high and goes hollow. I want him to relax and swing along, so i left my reins fairly long and tried to push him onto the bit. He didnt seem to get what i was asking, so i shortened the reins a bit more and tried that. Success! He started to relax down and listen.:D
He was swinging along so nicely i thought i'd try some lateral movements. A bit of leg yeilding each way and he performed it without any resistance, though he found it much easier one way than the other, something else for me to work on.
After that i moved onto a bit of proper canter work, after doing a few figure of 8s and serpentines i tried some shallow loops with him down the long side. I've never asked him to do this before, but he attempted it willingly (without any stress or resistance :shocked: ) and he did it fairly well. I tried it on the other rein and he found it a lot harder and fell back to trot the first time, so i came back and tried again and he started to fall out through his shoulder, one more attempt and we got it! :thumbsup:
I'm not suprised he's a bit stiff as he's had two weeks off with his scabby eyes, but as they arent too bad i've started working him in the last couple of days. I took him long reining on saturday evening (i really MUST get fitter, it nearly killed me!:o) then on a long gentle hack on sunday, and today back into the schooling.
Whether it's because he's had two weeks off, or whether it's because we have glorious sun today, or whether we just both happened to be in the right frame of mind for schooling i dont know. But i had one of those morning where you get home and keep saying to yourself "i love my pony :love: "
After a while i started to creep my reins up into a contact and i tried to keep him long and low. He's never been very good at long and low, but i'd like him to be able to do it a bit more, so it's something i'm working on. I think he's been forced into an outline in the past (something i'm guilty of) so that as soon as i pick up the reins he tenses, lifts his head too high and goes hollow. I want him to relax and swing along, so i left my reins fairly long and tried to push him onto the bit. He didnt seem to get what i was asking, so i shortened the reins a bit more and tried that. Success! He started to relax down and listen.:D
He was swinging along so nicely i thought i'd try some lateral movements. A bit of leg yeilding each way and he performed it without any resistance, though he found it much easier one way than the other, something else for me to work on.
After that i moved onto a bit of proper canter work, after doing a few figure of 8s and serpentines i tried some shallow loops with him down the long side. I've never asked him to do this before, but he attempted it willingly (without any stress or resistance :shocked: ) and he did it fairly well. I tried it on the other rein and he found it a lot harder and fell back to trot the first time, so i came back and tried again and he started to fall out through his shoulder, one more attempt and we got it! :thumbsup:
I'm not suprised he's a bit stiff as he's had two weeks off with his scabby eyes, but as they arent too bad i've started working him in the last couple of days. I took him long reining on saturday evening (i really MUST get fitter, it nearly killed me!:o) then on a long gentle hack on sunday, and today back into the schooling.
Whether it's because he's had two weeks off, or whether it's because we have glorious sun today, or whether we just both happened to be in the right frame of mind for schooling i dont know. But i had one of those morning where you get home and keep saying to yourself "i love my pony :love: "