I got a quick ride on Jetta in the outdoor arena this afternoon. I worked with her on the ground first, asking her to soften and bend and follow a feel. She is getting quite a bit more supple; I can definitely see progress since I first brought her home. I also worked her on the longer lunge line, but she got a little silly and acted up at the canter, trying to stop and change directions near Keno who was wandering loose. She behaved much better once I tied her distraction up!
I saddled up and rode first at the walk, working on a circle and changing direction often. Then we worked at the trot. Gotta say it---I love her trot! I can't wait till we're cruising down the trail together! It will be even nicer when we actually have some consistent softness and get her off the bit. It's coming, but I guess old habits are hard to break. She is used to leaning into the bit for race training (or perhaps because they used a running martingale incorrectly on her.) She did give me some nice moments, though. We also did a little transition work, mostly to start getting a real halt in there. I called it good when she was soft and gave me a nice halt and a few good rein back steps.
I trailered home and turned the horses out. Then it was off to the pony farm to trim feet. Tomorrow I'll take Flyboy out for a trail ride in the canyon. I haven't sold him yet, and I'm glad because he'll enjoy the Ponderosa Trail more than Keno would! It will be a couple of weeks before I feel comfortable taking Jetta out on trail, but she'll be fun up in the canyon!
No comments:
Post a Comment