Oct 21 2010
Prince and I had an interesting playtime but an amazing ride today. I still haven't quite figured out how that happened but anyways it was how it happened. We started out with Backwards "S" and then we did circles! Prince did well at the trot so we took it up to the canter but he totally lost all connection and pulled a lot. Another "Oh boy" moment! It took a while but finally he started putting some slack in the rope. I figured out that instead of just letting him canter around and pull like that I have to interrupt the pattern. I think what has happened is that Prince has become dull to that pressure on the halter while he is cantering. It has been like that for so long that it doesn't mean anything to him.
So that is why interrupting the pattern worked I think. Because it shows him that the pressure does mean something. And that is why back in the summer when we got our Falling Leaf really good that made a huge difference in our circles, because Prince learned to respond to the pressure.
After lunch I saddled up and we then met our next challenge for the day. Our Figure eights. It was our second day of the doing then at the canter but Prince seemed to have a lot more trouble doing them today. He had a really hard time cantering and if he was cantering he was pulling around the ends. So we had to play with that for a while. We ended when Prince was trotting around the ends and cantering through the middle (on the correct leads) and he wasn't pulling on the ends. Even though it wasn't as good as yesterday's it was the best it had been today so we left it there.
Our ride on the other hand was really cool. We started out with the Weave at the trot. Prince was so responsive. On the last complete Weave we did I didn't have to use my carrot stick except for a little bit near the end! It was amazing to say the least and I couldn't get over how light Prince was at the trot!
Then we did Follow the rail. Doing the corners game yesterday really helped. Prince's follow the rail was a lot better and he was going deep into the corners and he was going straight! Once that was going well I decided to try some cantering. I was really, really happy with how Prince did. He surprised me with how well he did!! We started out to the right because that is our easier direction. Prince picked up the canter really easily and cantered about half of the arena, which is about 100ft and then I brought him down into the trot and we stopped in the corner. Prince picked up the correct lead no problem and put a lot of effort into it. We cantered one more time to the right and Prince picked up the canter even nicer and cantered for longer. The transitions out of the canter was beautiful and very smooth.
To the left the first time he didn't get the correct lead but the next time he got it and it was so smooth!! Prince hasn't cantered that well to the left... in well a long time! He really likes the straight, long lines!! We then did some jumping. Prince didn't want to jump at first but in the end we got two good jumps and that was where we finished. It was fun!!! We ended by riding through the field that is between the arena and were Prince is staying. It was so much fun to ride on a casual rein and totally trust Prince to uphold his responsibilities!!
So I have lots to think about but I think I am on to something in regards to our circles. It seems to make sense but we shall see how it goes tomorrow!
Naturally,
~Keri
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