May 4, 2011
Where do I start? There is so much to tell!! I guess this would be a good time to say "Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start..."
Seeing as our friend was delivering hay in her trailer anyway she offered to trailer Knightly and Prince to her place for the day. So even though it was threatening to rain we headed out and it only sprinkled a little bit in the end.
Before she arrived I let Prince lick the honey off of the bridle because I forgot to do that last time when we ended. Prince had no hesitation to lick it all off. I guided it into his mouth for a couple seconds and then out again. Prince had no brace and was very soft and light.
Trailer loading went well. The first time Prince walked in fine but I decided to back him out and send him back in again just for good measure. Prince did fine yet again so this time I tied Prince and then it was Knightly's turn.
When we got to where we were going we left the horses in the trailer for a little bit while we got our tack unloaded and ready. Then we unloaded and I let Prince graze for a little while before heading into the arena to saddle and then we started with played Touch it. There were a couple new things in the arena since the last time we were here. The ball and a barrel with some plastic. Of course Prince has seen the ball before and the plastic and the flag where no issue. But I wanted to what sure Prince was okay with them anyway.
Then we got a little creative and played Touch it with zone five. So Prince had to back into different things. We started with a barrel and then the ball. Then I asked Prince to push the ball with his back legs. He did this very well and we backed quite a ways down the fence. Then we turned around and played with pushing the ball at the walk and trot. Prince did really well at the trot and we followed it even when it went away from the fence. Prince trotted past it a couple times but I made sure not to tell Prince the answer but helped him find it instead.
After that we blacked between two logs, stopped halfway and then went sideways over the one log. It was so light!! Prince and I were having a lot of fun by this point and I was really happy that I was able to get things interesting and start off the session at a pace that we both really enjoyed.
Then we played with sideways at a trot. Something that last fall when we were here for two and half weeks Prince and I had a really hard time doing. Well I am so pleased to report that this is no longer a hard task. We still have to get sideways at a trot when using the porcupine game but that will come. Prince picked up the trot on both sides from a sideways at a walk and we trotted about 75ft sideways!! It wasn't a fast trot but Prince was going sideways and trotting so I was more than happy!!
Next we did some stick to me in small circles at the walk, trot and canter. Prince had a way better expression on his face this time and even offered to canter closer to me with the same positive expression!! It was really cool to see the progress to quickly.
Then we switched to the 22ft line and did traveling circles at the canter to the other end of the arena so that we could do other circles. I couldn't believe how light Prince was while cantering!! He definitely had the rhythm, relaxation and connection! Prince only took the slack out of the rope once or twice and the arena is 200ft long. It was amazing!!
We did three laps each direction with a flying lead change in between. I couldn't believe the change of directions with the flying lead change. It was so smooth and soft! Prince didn't miss a beat the whole time.
Since that was so amazing and our first attempt at a traveling circle at a canter we headed out to graze for a bit. I definitely wanted to reward Prince for the effort!!
Next I bridled Prince and rode! We started with Follow the rail at the walk with my arms folded. My goal was to be able to walk and trot with my arms folded and then canter with a casual rein. We haven't done enough canter Follow the rail to be able to fold my arms.... yet :)
The walk went great and Prince did well going in both directions. The trot was 90% good but there was one side where Prince would want to go towards the two other mares that were in the arena. So we played with this for a while until Prince was able to trot along the rail and not move off of it.
We also played the corners game. At first Prince wasn't really sure what to do but really quickly he started walk, trot and cantering into the corners with really seeking them. But not making assumptions that we were going to stop there.
Canter follow the rail was interesting. Prince had a hard time picking up the left lead so we played with that, doing partial disengagements down to the walk to get his ribs and mind in the right place. If he broke gait we would go back down to the walk and then to a canter transition from there. If I didn't Prince would just rush into the canter from the trot again and we wouldn't be a head any.
Recently Prince has found another gear at the canter and his canter has become huge and that is an understatement. Some one commented on it and said that it looked and sounded like a big draft horse canter.... so needless to say I have been trying to gain new fluidity at the canter. My back has been hurting after I ride so I know that I am not moving my back enough. It was been interesting!!
We also played with jumping... very badly :) Prince did well but I wasn't the most fluid jumper to say the least. But considering I haven't jumped since November I guess I did alright. Next we did opening and closing gates. Prince gets a little to ambitious and wants to help before I need it. So we played with doing one step and then waiting, the next step, wait, next, wait and so on. He soon figured out that even though I needed his help he had to wait until I asked for it :)
We rode down to the round corral and dismounted then we went into the round corral and I let Prince eat for a while. I mentioned this in a earlier post that the next time I had the chance to play in a round corral I wanted to just hang out and to very little. That way helping Prince to see that it isn't all about circles and pressure.
So with that in mind after Prince ate some grass for a while we played with some small things. We did do circles but they were very low key and they weren't just "circles" There were two small barrels lying on the ground by the rail with a narrow gap between them. So my goal was to have Prince maintain gait while either going over the barrels or through the gap. We did this at the trot and at first Prince would break gait down to the walk while going through the barrels.
So I would playfully tag behind him when he got through the barrels and pretty soon he trotted through the barrels so I brought him in for a rest. This really got Prince's mind engaged, which was my goal also. Which is something that I wasn't able to do before. After a rest we did it in the other direction and Prince caught on really quickly.
We also got two beautiful changes of directions at the trot. The whole time I made sure to be as light as possible (lighter than I would ever have imagined) but also being ready to be firm if necessary. I kept it really short because we had already had a huge ride but I just wanted to play with a little bit and take advantage of the round corral.
Prince grazed for the next 30-45minutes or so until it was time to leave and then we walked, at Liberty, from the round corral all the way to the trailer which was on the other side of the arena. We went and got some water at the stream, Online, and then loaded up and went home. I loaded Prince all by myself which was really fun. He stood so well. Before we closed the trailer door just before we left both horses were sleeping while munching on some hay :)
Naturally,
~Keri
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