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glenatronSo today is a big day because it's the first working day since the clocks went forward, which means the first day when we could ride after work in daylight. Both ponies came in, but with Small having been in a bit of a funny mood ( in fact they both were yesterday, Zorro's endeavours to separate me and my kneecap using a gate post and subsequent grumpiness were also not appreciated ) it didn't seem fair for him to have to go in the school.
I did a little bit of groundwork with Zorro, which I have been neglecting lately but we actually got some really good stuff there- him being soft and responsive, not crowding me or trying to bite the rope and making smooth transitions and changes of direction off my energy alone.
I rode him a little, continuing the work I have been doing since I came back from Martin's, which was basically building up our forward in a straight line ( Zorro has a certain swagger that can make him very annoying to sit on and defaults to a lackadaisical amble if you don't make him do something else ) and then trying to keep some of that forward on circles ( round ones, please, Zorro ) and the generally find the attentive pony hidden inside the lunky cob.
After I had ridden for a little,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sleepsy_mouse rode him a little, giving her a chance to see whether he was any different from when she last sat on him ( while I was away ) and letting me explain a bit about how I've learned to use the rein and ride more with my weight. I'm glad to say that she enjoyed riding him and felt there was a clear improvement over the month ( already! ) since I got back. He certainly looked nice working for her.
I was so impressed that I got back on him afterwards and aside from the fact he thought he should definitely have finished by this point he was going really well. Our straight-line forward is pretty good now, he still has the nicest back up of any horse I've ridden and he's starting to do his rollback turns with a well-oiled smoothness. He even offered a little bit of canter, which was brilliant. I would have stopped after that, but we were right at the gate and the policy is that sessions don't end at the gate unless one wants a Zorro that bucks every time you ask him to leave the gate, so we went off in a broad circle that turned into shoulder in with him tracking up beautifully. Sometimes I get moments like this and I really wish I had the slightest idea how they happen.
Although the last few hacks have been a little eventful it seems as though the riding has done Zorro good because today he was an absolute pleasure to ride. A good start to summertime.
I did a little bit of groundwork with Zorro, which I have been neglecting lately but we actually got some really good stuff there- him being soft and responsive, not crowding me or trying to bite the rope and making smooth transitions and changes of direction off my energy alone.
I rode him a little, continuing the work I have been doing since I came back from Martin's, which was basically building up our forward in a straight line ( Zorro has a certain swagger that can make him very annoying to sit on and defaults to a lackadaisical amble if you don't make him do something else ) and then trying to keep some of that forward on circles ( round ones, please, Zorro ) and the generally find the attentive pony hidden inside the lunky cob.
After I had ridden for a little,
sleepsy_mouse rode him a little, giving her a chance to see whether he was any different from when she last sat on him ( while I was away ) and letting me explain a bit about how I've learned to use the rein and ride more with my weight. I'm glad to say that she enjoyed riding him and felt there was a clear improvement over the month ( already! ) since I got back. He certainly looked nice working for her. I was so impressed that I got back on him afterwards and aside from the fact he thought he should definitely have finished by this point he was going really well. Our straight-line forward is pretty good now, he still has the nicest back up of any horse I've ridden and he's starting to do his rollback turns with a well-oiled smoothness. He even offered a little bit of canter, which was brilliant. I would have stopped after that, but we were right at the gate and the policy is that sessions don't end at the gate unless one wants a Zorro that bucks every time you ask him to leave the gate, so we went off in a broad circle that turned into shoulder in with him tracking up beautifully. Sometimes I get moments like this and I really wish I had the slightest idea how they happen.
Although the last few hacks have been a little eventful it seems as though the riding has done Zorro good because today he was an absolute pleasure to ride. A good start to summertime.
