Not me, Buttie. I decided that it was time to get his metabolic rate up, so I put him on the lunge. He ran round and round until he was tired, and then did the same on the other rein. I didn't even have to try to keep him out on the end of the lunge rein, he just did it for himself. This is a pony who has never seen a lunge line in his life - I bought him at two years old, so I know. I intend to repeat this several times a week to try to keep his waistline under control without muzzling. We'll see how it goes. He is muzzled tonight and it will stay on at night until I can feel his ribs again.
I put Ace on the lunge too. He's done it all before, in Holland before he was imported. But what was new was that I put a jump out. I bought him five years too late - he has a FANTASTIC pop. Not only that, but he deliberately heads for the jump even if you don't want him to. It will make a nice change for him to jump every now and then, since he clearly enjoys it so much.
Jazz I rode, and he was super. Half pass canter left, a bit of a struggle at first but we got it. Half pass trot left - my goodness he really has got it. If anything he had too much bend, not too little, and he kept it all by himself and not because I held him in it. Marvellous.
C.
Good for you--lungeing. And great for Ace to jump as well.
ReplyDeleteJust a word of caution. It's a good idea to put a pole diagonally on the top of your jump standard down to the ground (Like a jump wing) when lungeing so the lunge line will slide up and over the standard--even if it's one of your barrels. I've caught my line on the standard a few times and it jolts the horse or makes you lose the line, neither of which is a good scenario. Trial and too many errors make it a good safety precaution.
Well done for Jazz. He is proving again and again the depth of his training. You're doing a super job establishing all the important stuff!!
Jazz is only interested in doing difficult stuff Jean. It's a devil of a job to keep him focussed on a working trot 20m circle!
ReplyDeleteC
Horses with quick minds can be like that. He is very "Thorougbred" in his thinking. What you need to do is really "ride" the 20 meter circle, focusing on absolute correctness on his part...and yours. Get him into the outside rein, bend and counter bend, spiral in a little, then out. What he needs to understand is that every step of the ride requires his attention. Little, subtle exercises built in by your clever brain will help focus his clever brain.
ReplyDeleteAnd, don't drill too much. Mix it up. Keep him busy so he has to wait to "hear" your requests.
However, all that being said, some of his cleverness can be a benefit. For example, Toby was SUPER at giving an amazing canter lengthening on the long side and then doing an equally amazing transition back down to collected canter at the marker. In that case, I'd let him think it out...anticipate my half halt...because it made the transition so much more accurate when he did it on his own.
Couldn't do that for everything as more often anticipation gets you in trouble, but now and then it really pays off to be able to rely on your horse's "smarts."
Sounds as if Jazz would prefer calculus to simple addition. *VBWG*