What on earth has got into Radar?!?!?!?!
I have not ridden since Monday last week because of the rain, and I took him out to the arena expecting some radaR moments. But he walked nicely, trotted nicely, and then cantered nicely - well actually his canter is absolutely superb! He did have a little moment between the trot and the canter, when he decided to march instead of walk, but that was easily restrained with some shoulder in and some leg yield. I'm not sure if I have ever leg yielded him in schooling before, but he does it on the road to avoid cars, and he did it really well. I also tried canter/walk, and he got that almost straight away. Half halt, half halt, walk. The half halts sit him right under himself and the transition to walk seemed simple for him. I could hardly believe it! If he carries this on, and can do a bit of medium trot without exploding out of the arena, I am seriously tempted to put him in a double bridle and see what a dressage judge makes of an elementary test. It would be such a laugh, since he was never bought with any intention of doing anything with him but hunt. I must get you some video of him, because he really can move!!
I took Ace out for a hack and he is getting braver every time. He will be a lovely hack in a few months time. He is still nervy at the moment but has completely given up any real spooking, never tries to turn for home any more, and is very easy to put my leg on and send forwards past whatever is bothering him. Our campaign to increase his strength started today with a trot up a very steep hill that I have never asked him to do before. He managed 3/4 of it very easily and just tired towards the top but carried on.
His leg is getting more definition in it every day. He has got the sharp point on the inside of the hock back now, and all the thickening is below that. I think in a year's time it will be difficult to spot it ever happened. It's difficult to remember now that he was at death's door in mid May. I hope it will be a long time before I have any more spells like that one!
C
Maybe Radar is one of those horses with a long learning curve. They say it usually takes a day or two for a horse to process a lesson. So something you teach on Monday may suddenly be confirmed on Wednesday, with a not so great ride on Tuesday. (Which does speak well of variation in the training program.)
ReplyDeleteAs I recall, Jazz was kind of like that. He had those "lightbulb moments" a day or so after you had a tough schooling session. Could be Radar just needs a few more days to process?? I'd love it if it were so, mostly because I have a feeling he'd be really fun to show. He has one of those big personalities that would do well in the arena. Here's hoping this was not a freak incident in your rocky radaR road to training, but was a true "lightbulb" revelation.
Ace's not quite making it all the way up the hill without getting tired says it all. He's had a long layoff with that hock--thank goodness it's looking so good--and now needs to build up some muscle. How nice that he's getting to be a good hack. That will make everything more fun for you both.
I didn't explain properly Jean, Ace has never done that hill before, it's the toughest thing I have ever asked him to do.
ReplyDeleteI think Radar's timescale is years rather than days :-)
C