Moving On
It's been a little over a week since the Horse-Show-That-Will-Never-Be-Spoken-Of-Again, and we're moving on.
Dino has, of course, been 100% his normal self. A little punky, a little lazy, but definitely not possessed by Satan. I dedicated our first few rides after The-Show-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named to jumping around some very small fences. My barn owner had some teeny tiny jumps set up for her 4 year old mare, 2ft tall at the most, which were perfect for my purposes. My purposes were namely to have a positive jumping experience, and to instill in my pony's evil little brain that Jumping Is Not Negotiable.
It didn't take long for Dino to start rolling around the course like an old pro, hunting down the fences instead of executing drive-bys and dirty stops. I relaxed, too, and started seeing distances 7 strides out instead of picking and worrying until my only choice was to pop the clutch. The next step is to bring the fences up a few inches and see if we can maintain the calm, forward, focused ride we achieved over the baby jumps.
Dino's flatwork has also been absolutely great over the past week. I spent the first part of yesterday's ride without my stirrups (I can be a glutton for punishment) which really tightened my leg and balanced my position. With my body balanced and under control, Dino was more than willing to give me some really fabulous dressage work! We executed our upward transitions using seat ONLY, which is a huge accomplishment for a pony who used to have to be beaten into a slow trot with a whip and spurs. He's also starting to develop some real carrying power in the canter, which is super exciting to see.
We're moving on, and moving towards greater things!
Dino has, of course, been 100% his normal self. A little punky, a little lazy, but definitely not possessed by Satan. I dedicated our first few rides after The-Show-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named to jumping around some very small fences. My barn owner had some teeny tiny jumps set up for her 4 year old mare, 2ft tall at the most, which were perfect for my purposes. My purposes were namely to have a positive jumping experience, and to instill in my pony's evil little brain that Jumping Is Not Negotiable.
It didn't take long for Dino to start rolling around the course like an old pro, hunting down the fences instead of executing drive-bys and dirty stops. I relaxed, too, and started seeing distances 7 strides out instead of picking and worrying until my only choice was to pop the clutch. The next step is to bring the fences up a few inches and see if we can maintain the calm, forward, focused ride we achieved over the baby jumps.
Dino's flatwork has also been absolutely great over the past week. I spent the first part of yesterday's ride without my stirrups (I can be a glutton for punishment) which really tightened my leg and balanced my position. With my body balanced and under control, Dino was more than willing to give me some really fabulous dressage work! We executed our upward transitions using seat ONLY, which is a huge accomplishment for a pony who used to have to be beaten into a slow trot with a whip and spurs. He's also starting to develop some real carrying power in the canter, which is super exciting to see.
We're moving on, and moving towards greater things!
Moving on is always good! I feel your frustration about that show-- that was me and Snickers back in the day, hah. But I'm glad that things are looking up. We all have our bad days, and it just sounds like Dino was having his.
ReplyDeleteBest of luck for all future frolickings! :D
Tory I am pretty certain he was literally overtaken by some sort of demonic force... but it feels good to be back on track! Hope your big babies are doing well and learning to be good horses! :)
Deleteyay for moving on! you can just suppress it into the depths of your memory, so other than the occasional haunting dream you won't even remember that weekend :-P
ReplyDeleteYay for it going well! The Horse-Show-That-Will-Never-Be-Spoken-Of-Again is a distant memory now...
ReplyDelete