Gumption has come back off his holiday but is still not yet ready to put his heart and soul into his work, but anything is better than nothing :-)
Ace and I hacked out on a cold but brilliantly sunny morning. He was spooky but only in a looky way, not a whole body spasm. I was able to practice turning away from home, but he was so good I only did it once.
He was the best he has been to get on today, and his back movement under the saddle is extraordinary. I'm having to learn to go with it more myself to avoid roughing up the hair right under my seat bones.
The saddle is slipping back when coming up the final hill to home. It used to do that when I first had him and I used to ride him in a breastplate, then later I did not need to. It's interesting that it is happening again now his back is fixed.
He seems ready to carry his head higher now, because he's doing it by choice out on the road. I'll be experimenting with that tomorrow on the arena. There is a different, softer, feel in a muscle in his back which connects to the sacroiliac. I think this is the latest stage in his realignment of his body, and may be connected to the higher headcarriage. It's very interesting, whatever.
Radar is much sounder today so I think his bruised foot is finally getting sorted. Funnily enough, when he thought Ace was going to get his breakfast, he wasn't lame at all? Now why would that be, I wonder. :-) ?????
C
Glad to know you are feeling a bit better about riding Ace. The more positive experiences you have with him the easier it will become. He's probably just as unsure about all of it as you are.
ReplyDeleteInteresting how a lameness can disappear with the right motivation. Then again, in the wild, a horse would not want to show his vulnerability when it comes time to compete for food, so that may well come into play as well.
And he is SO competitive over food, as we know Jean :-)
ReplyDeleteC