New Buttons
Dino has been giving me some awesome work lately!
I think it's a combination of the estrone, the fall change-of-season hormones starting to even out, and the new tools we learned at the clinic.
The most significant change I've seen since the clinic has been NO DRAMA. Previously, when Dino declined to participate in the day's activities (which, let's face it, happens on almost a daily basis) I'd end up getting in a huge fight with him. While he wasn't nearly as bad as he was in his college days, there was still a lot of kicking and spanking and spurring and angry ears and tail swishing and stomping and the occasional crow-hop until he finally relented and did what I originally asked him to do. Eventually I just gave up picking a fight and let him go at his own pace, which was often not conducive to actual, productive work. But it saved us from fighting.
Now that I've had a few weeks to re-train both of us using our new Magic Go Button, there has been a significant decrease in the drama factor. 80% of the time, if I ask for forward or sideways, I get it. If I don't get it, all it takes is a few taps on the shoulder to remind Dino what the rules are, and he happily complies. No drama. Our past few rides have resulted in some of the best canter work we've had in a while, and I'm slowly figuring out how to keep him coming through without nagging with my leg.
The real test, though, was when Michael rode for the first time in what's probably been a month or so. He was totally amazed at Dino's new buttons! Michael was able to get lateral movement for the first time EVER, which was huge! It was awesome to see the work I've been putting in really paying off when a novice rider was able to pilot my pony without having to put in a large amount of physical effort.
To top it off, I've also been getting instantaneous, perfect walk to canter transitions, and clean flying changes in both directions. Both of those things usually took us a few tries to get right, but Dino is becoming much more forward and responsive as we fine-tune our new skills.
I'm hoping to get to jump around a little bit this week, but it's been tough with the time change and having to ride in the dark most evenings. Hopefully I can get to the barn a little earlier today and still be able to see the jumps!
I think it's a combination of the estrone, the fall change-of-season hormones starting to even out, and the new tools we learned at the clinic.
The most significant change I've seen since the clinic has been NO DRAMA. Previously, when Dino declined to participate in the day's activities (which, let's face it, happens on almost a daily basis) I'd end up getting in a huge fight with him. While he wasn't nearly as bad as he was in his college days, there was still a lot of kicking and spanking and spurring and angry ears and tail swishing and stomping and the occasional crow-hop until he finally relented and did what I originally asked him to do. Eventually I just gave up picking a fight and let him go at his own pace, which was often not conducive to actual, productive work. But it saved us from fighting.
Now that I've had a few weeks to re-train both of us using our new Magic Go Button, there has been a significant decrease in the drama factor. 80% of the time, if I ask for forward or sideways, I get it. If I don't get it, all it takes is a few taps on the shoulder to remind Dino what the rules are, and he happily complies. No drama. Our past few rides have resulted in some of the best canter work we've had in a while, and I'm slowly figuring out how to keep him coming through without nagging with my leg.
The real test, though, was when Michael rode for the first time in what's probably been a month or so. He was totally amazed at Dino's new buttons! Michael was able to get lateral movement for the first time EVER, which was huge! It was awesome to see the work I've been putting in really paying off when a novice rider was able to pilot my pony without having to put in a large amount of physical effort.
To top it off, I've also been getting instantaneous, perfect walk to canter transitions, and clean flying changes in both directions. Both of those things usually took us a few tries to get right, but Dino is becoming much more forward and responsive as we fine-tune our new skills.
I'm hoping to get to jump around a little bit this week, but it's been tough with the time change and having to ride in the dark most evenings. Hopefully I can get to the barn a little earlier today and still be able to see the jumps!
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