Prince: Lots of patterns!

August 16 2010

After I played with Twosox I played with and rode Prince. We had a lot of fun and did quite a bit. We went up to the riding ring at liberty and saddled up there. Before I saddled though I sent Prince over to a barrel that was away from the fence and he walked up to it and jumped it!! And he cleared it too, which was extra cool because so far when Prince jumps a single barrel he will hit it.

We did Circles, Figure eights, Change of directions (we even did some at the canter!!), Transitions, Sideways, Falling Leaf, and lots of other things. We had a little bit of issues with the Figure eights. We haven't done them for a couple weeks and so Prince had some trouble with it. But I remembered what helped last time and we stuck with it and after a while he figured it out. Prince cantered some nice circles and we were even able to do some transitions and change of directions!! They were really cool and a lot of fun :)

We had an amazing ride. We started out with Sideways. I really want to get that better. Prince will go sideways but he will drift forward because his hindquarters are lagging, so he really isn't going sideways. After played with that for a while we did Follow the rail, A million transitions, and Figure eights. Last time I rode my lower back was sore afterward and I figured out why. When Prince started trotting really fast I didn't go into the rising trot and so I was sitting it but I wasn't moving enough to match his trot. So that was why my back was sore. Today I noticed it was a little sore when we started trotted so I started raising the trot and that made a big difference.

We did lots of transitions and such until Prince relaxed and then I asked him to canter to the left, something we haven't done yet. Going to the left, whether it be when we are doing circles, Follow the rail, sideways, or most other things, it is our hard side. So at first Prince's canter was rough and he didn't canter long but I rewarded the slightest try and we then after a couple tries he gave me the most beautiful canter yet! It was slow, relaxed and it felt amazing! Of course Prince got a long rest for that. Then we helped my mom with a couple things and then we went to the right. Every time I asked Prince to canter he went into it pretty nicely. Each time it was a phase 2/3!!! I was kind of surprised but it was a pleasant surprise :) Prince did really well and we got some nice cantering. I felt well balanced, confident and it was comfortable.

It is amazing to see how each time I have cantered my comfort zone has gotten bigger and bigger. At first I felt nervous but I knew it wasn't to far out of my comfort zone not to try, and then for a while I felt the same, each time I felt something before and after I did it but that was okay. Then today I felt nothing before, during and after! It was really cool! Of course I know that there is a lot of growing to do but it is nice to feel confident doing something that used to scare you a great deal!!
 

After that Prince and I hung out in the shade and then after a while I got off. I let Prince dry off before I let him go and I brushed him. It was itchy in a couple spots so I scratched him and then I played with Ruffian!!

I was really happy with how today's play time and ride went. Especially cantering to the left! That was a big thing!! I want to try and keep them equal so that our lead changes should come easier ;) 

Naturally,

~Keri