Tina trotting patterns and Gem Online

Nice night! Cool and breezy...

Started with Tina in the arena. We did a little groundwork, but I wanted to focus on riding. We rode the bowtie pattern at just the walk for a bit and I was asking her to feel of me and talking specifically to the inside fore as much as possible. Then, we trotted the pattern for a while. She was relaxed and calm and very responsive. She kept pulling to the other side of the arena and after we'd been riding about 40 minutes, I decided to let her take me where she'd been wanting to go.

My arena has some weeds growing around the edges and that was what she wanted! Some of the weeds must be her favorites. I let her take a few bites and then we went back to work. It was a nice, confidence building ride focusing on building softness.

Tomorrow we'll go back to the large circle and work on transitions on the circle. We'll also get some cantering in.

I then pulled Gem out for a little Level 4 groundwork. We didn't spend much time, maybe 30 minutes. Worked on transitions online, sideways, and teaching him to follow my focus on the feet to change gaits. He was soft and easy, but thinking about the herd more than I'd like. Still, we got some nice things done. I drove him from zone 5 through the trees before going back to the barn. He did nicely with that!

A good night with a couple great horses.

Gem Online - Trailer loading

Spent a good 90 mins online developing Gem. Had a fantastic session! We played on the 45' in the front pasture. We started with zone 5 driving and point to point. Then, I moved to transitions online and COD's. We also did some trailer loading and I started to build distance into his loading. He and I will need to trot (minimally) into the trailer from 45' away to get L4 ratings. I want to slowly build up to the distance. Today, we got to about 15' trotting in, so we have a clear path to get to 45'. He has no trailer issues, which makes this easier than it was with Z.

I also need to build his circles and gait maintenance. I was able to get 3-4 canter circles before he broke gait, which is an improvement. I'm using DE's technique of COD every time he breaks gait. This technique is VERY effective at getting him to stay on the circle and maintain his job. Neat stuff.

Afterwards, I hosed him down and took him into the round pen. I'm trying to use "scan and capture" to teach him to lay down when I ask. For now, I paw the soft sand when he does and when he goes down, I give him treats. He's so smart - I expect him to figure this out in no time.

Fun session!

Then, I spent some time with Tina while coaching a student. This was great for Tina and me. I wanted to ride Tina through the lesson, but I'm not positive she's relaxed enough and I didn't want anything too exciting to occur during the lesson, so I stayed on the ground and demo'ed some of the things I wanted the student to do using Tina. Tina did great for me! After the coaching, I got on Tina and we did a nice trotting session. She seemed relaxed and back to normal, so I think we're back on track. I asked for a canter, but she felt tight going into it so I brought her back down and stayed in the trot. We'll canter tomorrow.

Chrissy had Cowboy out today and had a change to try the sheepskin seat cover I bought her for her birthday. She seemed to like it! I sat in it and I was definitely a huge improvement over her hard seat. I think I need one now... :-)

A nice afternoon with horses and a student.

Horse Time - Tina and Gem

I started with Gemini today and played a little before hopping on. I wanted to ride the cloverleaf pattern for a while and build his stamina and while engaging his brain with transitions. However, he was a little tense so I started with just serpentines and getting him soft. I used the snaffle bit today instead of the C2 as I'd used the C2 in the clinic and I wanted to see if I felt a difference. He had nice, nice feel and was extremely responsive to the snaffle. I'll be switching back and forth between the 2 bridles to see if he shows a preference.

I didn't ride him long, just some nice work at the trot. He was a little anxious about being away from the herd, surprisingly. I finished up with spraying him down and taking him to roll in the round pen. I treated him once he was down as I want to start building the lay down as a response to a cue.

I then warmed up Tina and decided to ride her in the round pen. I want to get her going steady at the trot and bending on the circle. She's been a little tense since her Jeffco experience and I want to keep any excess energy contained for now. She warmed up nicely and we headed into the round pen. We walked for quite a bit and I was paying special attention to her mental state - checking for tense muscles or nervous behaviors. We sat at one point and stood still to see how long it would take her to lick. Surprisingly, it took several minutes! We then moved on and got some movement going. She didn't feel tense any longer and I found a good place to stop. Tomorrow we will steadily trot for a while.