Day 45

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

45 days boarded
30 days training!

Today was Shane's last day of work, and he did great! We did a lot of rail work, much like he was in the show ring. Long and low, stretching out, and keeping relaxed through it all. Direction changes at the trot.. he's doing a lot better now, able to keep up the gait throughout turns.

Loping was also really good, nice big circles around the arena, no drifting! He's catching on.

It was a long ride, and I really drilled him, but he did great and it wasn't really hard work for him today.. he knows whats expected of him.

Overall I'm very happy with his progress.. he's come a long way.

He'll head home on the weekend!

Day 44

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

44 days boarded
29 days training

Shane and I had a really good ride today. I really drilled him on getting his bend correct, focusing on the inside of the arena (especially to the left) and not the outside, and keeping to the outside, rather than drifting. It was tough work and we had to take lots of breaks because he stressed and really chomped the bit, but with breaks in between he picked up on it well. He's not used to me being in his face when he's working so it was a harder concept for him to grasp.

His lope is really smoothing out, he seems a lot more sure of himself, but he still thinks he's going to fall if we do small circles. That's to be expected from a young horse and I don't really push it on him. He's got to figure out where his feet are, first.

Lastly we went on another small trail ride. He had to open and close the gate (with me on his back the whole time) and did really well, both leaving and returning to the arena. We rode beside traffic, and while he tensed up when vehicles approached, he never thought about running off or anything. He had to walk over big fallen trees, too, and did it like a pro!

Day 43

Monday, August 10, 2009

43 days boarded
28 days training

Shane had the weekend off because I'm still trying to get the plumbing in the house fixed up.

And we went out in the evening tonight. This will be the first time he's been ridden after dark, and I can't tell whether it was the rain, or the darkness.. but he wasn't all there tonight. Not willing to focus, all he wanted was to get back out in the paddock and eat, or sleep.. not sure what was on his mind, but it wasn't work!

However, we didn't really have any fights because of it, I just had to ask him a little bit harder for everything. He didn't want to back up, he ran over cones because he ignored my turn signals.

But we primarily worked on transitions tonight, getting a nice clean trot transition, and then up to the proper lead canter, and woah.

That said, I wouldn't call it a bad night. He finished up just fine, and even learned how to half pass today! It's good for him to have to work when he's distracted by other things.

Day 40

Friday, August 7, 2009

40 days boarded
27 days training

Shane's mom came out to see him today! I had him in the barn waiting for her, because he got a full bath earlier in the day so that he would be nice and clean for her to see!

We went through the day like normal, tacking up in the barn, and out to the arena where I rode him for a while to show Melanie everything he's doing. He did great, as always.

Before the day was through, Melanie hopped up and tried him out for herself. I think she's thrilled, and I'm sure she'll be happy to have him home soon!

Day 38

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

38 days boarded
25 days training

Great ride today. I focused on walk and trot only today, giving him a break from his loping work, just so that he would relax and concentrate on the trot a little more. He still wants to pick up the pace, so we did a lot of transitions, walk to trot, and stop. Lots of direction changes, weaving, etc, all while holding the trot. He has a hard time balancing around corners but he's doing better and just needs a bit of leg support to keep him going and up.

I also put Nick on him today, just to make sure that he was happy to carry a rider other than myself. He was just fine.. it was obvious that he didn't know what to do with the extra weight, but he didn't offer to do anything bad whatsoever.

Day 37

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

37 days boarded
24 days training

Today was a good day. I pushed Shane a little bit harder since he's been doing so well, upping my expectations of him. He wasn't entirely pleased about it, but he handled everything in stride.

Basically I just worked on fine tuning everything. Getting immediate responses when asking for transitions, both up and down, faster turns, etc. He got a bit uptight and had a real hard time standing still at each woah, immediately trying to anticipate what I would ask next by backing up, and then stepping from side to side. So we did a lot of woah with nice calm rests between.

He's getting his leads wonderfully now.

Day 36

Monday, August 3, 2009

36 days boarded
23 days training

Oh boy, was Shane ever dirty today! Rain, sweat, and dirt... He just wanted to see me work in thise heat!

Our ride was wonderful. I can't say it enough.. this is one smart horse. He's learning so quickly, and he holds onto everything.. I don't have to reteach things the following day. Show him, and he has it down pat.

He still wants to break into a pace instead of a trot when asked to transition from a walk, but he's doing a lot better.. I just have to make sure I have a nice loud, clear command.. if I'm lazy with asking, he picks up the pace. As this video shows:

The next video is the better one.. he picks up a nice brisk trot, and then we pick up the lope, nice and easy! He has a bit more trouble with his right lead and needs a lot of support in order to pick it up, but again, he's really figuring it all out. At the very end of this video I ask him to sidepass. He was only introduced to this on our last ride, so it isn't perfect. But I think its pretty good for the second time!

And lastly, this is a video from before the ride, working on some ground tying. When I throw up my arms its just me saying "Woah!" nice and loud, to get the point across. He really wants to follow me where ever I go. This is harder for a horse like him because he always wants to be with you! But as you can see, he figured it out, too. I try to work on this a little bit every day.

I lunged him after the ride, just to make sure he hasn't forgotten what it is! And he did great. And he got a nice hose off to try and rinse away some of the dirt before he was turned back out for the night!