I have been diligent about doing my lesson homework with Jetta--lots of suppling exercises on the ground and under saddle. I am also working on being very clear about what I am asking her and getting an immediate response. It seems to be paying off. She is much stiffer on the left, but I am seeing progress.
I was able to put these exercises into use on the trail yesterday as well. I rode the Ponderosa Trail with Tammy and her gelding, Chevy. One relatively short section of the trail follows a dirt road which the county "improved" last year by laying down crushed rock. We avoided the road with our barefoot horses by winding through the sagebrush meadow alongside the road. I practiced the bending exercises as we wound our way down toward the trail. Jetta is definitely more flexible and bendy and moved almost entirely off my seat and legs.
We had a great ride. It's a tough trail, with a few extremely steep climbs, bouldery descents, ledgy sections, and other technical spots. Jetta handled most of it very well. She did have a short-lived issue with a gate up on top. I don't know why since she's seen it before, but this time it looked too scary. She stopped, stared, and spun around to leave. I stopped her, and Tammy took Chevy through the gate--Jetta followed calmly. She handled "Sam's Rocks" just fine this time, but they had been an issue on our last ride up there. She's just young and inexperienced. Overall, I think she is fairly bold, forward, and very smart.
I am heading to the arena this morning. Keno has a lesson to teach, and Jetta has homework to work on. After that, I need to trim her hooves and play with the Easyboot Gloves to see if I can get a fit that could work. It will be tricky; there is a gap in the toe area. She has very short toes and wide feet. I need Glove Extra-Wides, size 0! I need something for protection for her!
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