Sunday, January 8, 2012

This is not a test

We had forward.  Neither trainer was at the barn today so I sucked it up and got on.  I had decided that I was going to ride through whatever she gave me.  She gave me a swish and a half hearted attempt at a buck.  I sat down and tapped her.  She went forward, I praised her lavishly.  It wasn't as forward as Laura had her going, but it was forward.  With no bucking!  We did multiple canter transitions with NO BUCKING!  She was soft and forward and lovely!  

We did have some minor steering issues where she would get bendy in the neck and throw a shoulder out.  Part of the problem is we're still using the Happy Mouth Mullen bit, which is wonderful in many ways, but when you have a horse with a crazy rubber neck it can make it hard to capture their neck/shoulders.  I just held a firm outside rein when our twenty meter canter circle turned into a thirty meter hexagon.

I kept our ride short because there was a lot going on the arena and I got such great transitions that I didn't want to jinx it.  Here's a little pre-ride yawn from the pony.

I have ordered our new bit, a Herm Sprenger KK Ultra Snaffle and am anxiously awaiting it's arrival.  I am also really looking forward to the rest of this week and getting more and more forward!

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