Sunday Ride

I had a good ride on the beast this morning. I'm amazed at how well he's doing considering how little he's been worked this summer. I'm not pushing him at all, taking it slow, but adding a bit more difficulty to each ride. Today, instead of starting out with 1/2-pass at the walk, we went right to 1/2-pass at the trot as our warm up. This is an exercise I really like to get him supple and bending. We 1/2-pass from the rail to the quarterline, change bend and 1/2-pass back to the rail. Do as many of those as we can fit in along the long side. After 2 or 3 long sides, I'll do a stretchy circle, just make sure he's not holding any tension anywhere. Especially since he's such a big horse, it's easy for him to get stiff and hold himself in a "frame". So, doing the stretchy circle gets him longitudinally supple and the 1/2-passes get him laterally supple.

Then, after a break, we did some canter work. Nothing too strenuous, just asking for forward and round. My other rides last week, we did some shallow broken lines. Today, I asked for some deep broken lines. So, later in the week we should be ready to try a canter serpentine to see if we still have a counter canter!

After another break, we did more trot work. Started out doing a square, asking for a quarter turn at the corners, trot to the next corner, walk transition, quarter turn, trot, etc. The transitions keep him paying attention and sharp to the aids. The quarter turns get the hind end engaged. After a few of those in each direction, I did some 4-loop serpentines at the trot, focusing on maintaining the rhythm and balance especially through the change of bend. Then, I asked for medium trot along the long sides. Like in the 1/2-pass, I didn't ask for much, just a few strides of forward, big trot, then back to a working trot before he could lose it and fall on his forehand and get heavy. My trainer, Kathy, has helped me see that it's better to ask for small efforts--only 1/2-pass to the quarterline, instead of the centerline, only do medium or lengthenings for 1/2 the long side or 1/2 the diagonal. That way, the horse isn't tense or worried about being asked for more than he can do. We can get a few strides of brilliance and build on that. Tomorrow, we'll get a few more strides.

He felt really good, nice elastic contact, rounding through his back, some nice push from behind. I love that feeling of connection, of being one with the horse that you get when it all comes together.

I was going to do another session of canter work after a break, but I noticed the neighbor across the street (my riding arena parallells the street) walking around his yard with his (adult) sons, looking up at some trees in his yard. I knew from experience that the chain saws would be out soon, so I decided to end the ride then. Discretion is the better part of valor. Sure enough, by the time I had Jeeves in the wash stall, the trees were toppling. Fortunately, the wash stall is well back from the road, so he wasn't bothered by the trees crashing down.

After a quick bath, I hand grazed him for a while. I really enjoy doing that. It's a time when he can just be himself and do what he wants. I'm not asking him to stand quietly in the cross ties while I groom him, I'm not fussing over him, not asking him to work. He can just relax and munch grass. It was a good way to start the day. :-)