July 30 2010
This morning it was really nice out. It got a little bit chilly last night so it was beautiful this morning and there were no bugs!!
Saddled Prince in the corral and then mom and I talked for a bit about different things. One being my goals for my future (to become a Parelli instructor) it was really nice. Knightly and Prince enjoyed the nap time I am sure ;) Prince and I went up to the riding ring a little bit differently today. I sent him sideways up the hill part way then asked him to back the rest of the way up and then while I stood 22ft away I asked him to turn and put me in zone 5 and then walk into the riding ring and I was at the end of the 22ft line the whole time! It was fun! Normally when I saddle Prince he carried up my hackamore, helmet etc so normally we will turn right after we walk through the gate and to unload that stuff and then go play. But today I wanted to change things up a little bit so after we went through the gate I sent Prince sideways over to the far fence, then sideways over to the other fence, then from zone 5 I sent him a long the fence, past the spot where we normally unload everything then asked him to stop and back up to it, which was about 15-20ft. It was a lot of fun and it really got Prince's mind engaged!
Then we went and did the Falling Leaf Pattern. Prince did really well and at the end he cantered both to the right and left with the belly of the rope on the ground. Right now he is only cantering about half a circle before I bring him in but that is perfectly fine with me because I know it will advance as we go a long. I am just so happy that Prince is learning that he can canter with slack in the rope!
After that we rode! It was really an amazing ride. My mom challenged me to do transitions a long the rail with out using my rein, savvy string or carrot stick, so just my body. I figured that I would try it. So off we went. First we did some Follow the rail and I thew in some direct and indirect rein. Prince was really good so then when we were trotting a long the one side I relaxed and Prince went from the trot to the walk and then we walked a little ways and I relaxed again and Prince stop then I shifted my weight and moved my legs a little bit and we backed up 5 or 6 steps. It was really cool! We did a couple more like that and Prince was really light and so responsive!
Then we did Figure eights at the walk, sideways across the riding ring, pivots/spins, the Weave at the walk and trot, and lots of other really fun stuff. Then my mom needed the ball moved out of her way so Prince and I trotted off to do that. We actually trotted while pushing the ball too! We pushed it about 20ft and then walked it the rest of the way. It was fun! It wasn't on the rail so Prince had to put more effort into pushing it.
After that we just stood in the shade and I helped my mom with some things with Knightly. Then we ended. So it wasn't a huge ride but it was only our second ride since our week off so I was really happy with it.
Naturally,
~Keri
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