Woody and I have had a complete breakthrough on his schooling. He has given up control of his mouth to me. I can put him out and down, bring him up, flex him left and right and he is keeping the contact and working into it. As a result I have gained control of his back end and I can regulate the speed and he has also given up his hyperventilation. It's quite noticeable, because every now and then he does four or five puffs, then stops because he realises that there is nothing to fret about. His walk and his lateral flexibility are superb, especially so for a short coupled horse. I am looking forward to seeing what the dressage judges make of him in the spring.
It is disgusting weather here today and I can only manage enough time outside to do one horse. Poor Radar keeps looking at me with disappointment in his face. Ace just stood in his box as if the door was shut and refused to come out. "In THAT?", he said. "no thankyou". He is terribly polite these days :-)
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Love it when a horse realizes that working through the bit correctly actually feels better and being hollow and stiff. What a relief it must be to suddenly find loose muscles and that marvelous stretching feeling!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations! Now all you need is some good weather so you can enjoy all three horses.
Good weather? mmmmmmm, that wouldn't include another 3 inches of rain, would it Jean???
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