Saturday 2 January 2010

11 minutes

Our 11 minutes of walking with Kingsley went really well today. He was eager to march forwards and as per physio's 'prescription' I attempted to work him on the aids, active and round over his topline.
Before we bought him he was ridden in draw reins some days and exercised with his nose in the sky on others so he doesn't really work 'on the bit' correctly.
I made sure his 'lazy' right hind was doing the job and encouraged him into long, round and low outline.
He has a habit of pulling on the bit left or right for a second or two as if trying to get away from pressure or going behind it for a moment which I noticed is a thing a lot of draw-reined horses do.
My method for now is to offer passive resistance when he pulls and give him steady, soft contact when he walks quietly as a reward. I want him to accept the bit in his mouth both immobile and when I use it to apply pressure when I ask for poll flexion.
Out of those 11 minutes half of it was more or less round and I was really pleased with him.
We are mostly straight lines bound for now so I didn't ask him to bend through the body as yet apart from some gentle sideways push into corners so we didn't negotiate them in a banana shape falling through inside shoulder. Let's hope we are on the right tracks and doing the right thing.

I am going to arrange for a dentist for him too just to make sure he isn't evading the contact due to sharp teeth edges etc.
Share:

5 comments

Anonymous said...

Nice that it went well - my Noble was ridden before I got him in draw reins, a lot, and had many of the same issues. Horses like that are often afraid of contact, either falling behind it or pushing into it - good work with him on that!

HorseOfCourse said...

Even if it is only 11 mins, now your up and working him at least...must feel good! Congratulations!

Unknown said...

Thank you :) It does feel good to be able to ride him, even just for those 11 minutes, even just in walk.
I'm not thinking too much ahead though until he is coping well with trot work. And for that we still have months to wait.
But onwards and upwards :)

Anonymous said...

I have not been by your blog for a while--it looks great! Love the new design. All the plans for the year sound well-formed and exciting. Best wishes for continued success with your career. And hang in there with Kingsley. :)

Unknown said...

Thank you for stopping by horsepants :) All the best to you too!

© Riding Instructor's Diary | All rights reserved.
Blogger Template by pipdig