The countdown to Ace's operation is really hotting up now we're in single figures. In only nine days we will be deivering him to the hospital. I've told him what's going to happen and he seems very relaxed about it :-)
I've discovered finally how to get Radar to school properly - interval train him the day before! I've never done this before, because I would usually take a day off riding him after interval training, to allow him to recover. But he's my only rideable horse at the moment and I really felt like playing around on the arena. Not to mention that he was terribly bossy yesterday and I wanted to remind him who calls the shots round here!
I was stunned when he walked off quietly on a loose rein, and stayed that way when I picked up the reins. He has never, ever done that before. He trotted beautifully too, and everything was calm and quiet until I asked him to do figures of eight in trot with the change through walk. He tried to canter the trot transitions, but nothing like the bullet out of a gun that he normally does. And even then, a small number of trot circles with a firm contact into the outside rein (with a counter bend to start as well), sorted him out nicely.
Well blow me down, I thought. Do I dare risk ruining all this with a canter? Well, to hell with it, I said to myself, if he goes crazy he goes crazy, we haven't got a dressage competition tomorrow. I am sitting here still not quite believing the calmness and balance of the trot/canter transitions he gave me. I can't remember him ever doing anything like it before.
It's ALL in there for him to be a spectacular dressage horse, you just have to wear him out first!
C
Very interesting. Maybe the concept of allowing Radar to blow off steam one day and then work more quietly the next is the answer. You'll have to try out the theory after a day of hunting too, just to see if it holds true.
ReplyDeleteYou'll have to get some videos of him working quietly when you get a chance. I suspect even you do not know for sure how good he probably looks. He is quite an elegant horse in his own enthusiastic way.
I was surprised how well he moved when I saw him on the lunge Jean.
ReplyDeleteC
Sounds wonderful!
ReplyDeleteIf he'd do it in a sniffle, it would be :-)
ReplyDeleteC