Sunday, November 14, 2010

Cantering and Trimming

... in the snow! Not a lot of snow, but a cold, cloudy Colorado day nonetheless.

I started with Tina. We warmed up and then rode in the arena. Worked on getting the canter depart lighter, leg yielding, and a soft feel on the bit. A great session and her work ethic is fantastic. She sometimes loses momentum when I ask her transition down, so worked on keeping her forward motion in the down transition. She's great with her leads naturally and I get some unexpected lead changes from her quite often. Her canter felt more from behind today, it's better every session.

I played with Reka in the round pen. I haven't been playing with the young ones for November, but she goes home in a couple days and I wanted to spend a little time alone with her and make sure she's in a good place for leaving. She's an introverted horse and I believe her to be more left-brained. She saw my Great Dane in her winter blanket for the first time and was startled and wary, but her very next move was to go closer and check the dressed dog out. (My Dane in her winter coat typically takes every horse by surprise!) She was fine in the round pen with me, easy to play with. We did a little porcupine game, working on her yield to pressure. She's a sweet, sweet mare.

I then pulled M out and got his fronts trimmed. I'll trim his hinds and touch up Reka before they go home on Wednesday. It's strange to think of them not being here. I'm going to miss Tina terribly. :(

No comments: