A Quarter Turn
12 October 2006 21:46![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
glenatronSince the clinic a few weeks back I've really been noticing how Othello uses his shoulder to try and push me out of his way when I'm leading him- he will move his head away slightly so he is curved to the outside and start stepping across me with that shoulder. By carefully timed pokes at his shoulder I can move it away again, but that doesn't seem to be stopping him from doing it the next time and it's a problem that has been bothering me for a while so this week I decided to try and tackle it properly.
It may make me a bit crazy but when I'm trying to confront a problem like this, I try to imagine what Steve would say if he was watching me work and in this case my internal monologue version of him asked me to show him the basic turns and backup. Sure enough when I asked Othello to move his shoulder away and turn on his hindquarters he couldn't do it without starting to walk forward. If he couldn't follow that request it's not really fair to expect him to offer me any more subtle control when we are moving around the place.
The outcome has been that for the last few schooling sessions this week I've been asking for a lot of turning on the quarters, backing him up when he starts to move forwards out of the turn, more strongly so if he does it by moving into my space. Since the clinic I've become a lot more definite in my requests and that obviously makes them clearer and easier for pony to follow because he is responding better than he ever has. He's even managing to flex and curve his neck rather than just moving it straight, like a plank with hinges at his head and shoulder. This is a radical change for him and it shows in the greater softness that he is bringing to all his work. By this evening we managed to get a complete circle in both directions with hardly a step forward to it.
Right now he seems lighter and more responsive than he ever has, more so than I thought he could be. I am, once again, amazed and proud of that pony. This weekend it will be a year since he first came to stay with us and although I have hardly ridden him in all that time he has taught me more than I had any right to expect or to hope for.
It may make me a bit crazy but when I'm trying to confront a problem like this, I try to imagine what Steve would say if he was watching me work and in this case my internal monologue version of him asked me to show him the basic turns and backup. Sure enough when I asked Othello to move his shoulder away and turn on his hindquarters he couldn't do it without starting to walk forward. If he couldn't follow that request it's not really fair to expect him to offer me any more subtle control when we are moving around the place.
The outcome has been that for the last few schooling sessions this week I've been asking for a lot of turning on the quarters, backing him up when he starts to move forwards out of the turn, more strongly so if he does it by moving into my space. Since the clinic I've become a lot more definite in my requests and that obviously makes them clearer and easier for pony to follow because he is responding better than he ever has. He's even managing to flex and curve his neck rather than just moving it straight, like a plank with hinges at his head and shoulder. This is a radical change for him and it shows in the greater softness that he is bringing to all his work. By this evening we managed to get a complete circle in both directions with hardly a step forward to it.
Right now he seems lighter and more responsive than he ever has, more so than I thought he could be. I am, once again, amazed and proud of that pony. This weekend it will be a year since he first came to stay with us and although I have hardly ridden him in all that time he has taught me more than I had any right to expect or to hope for.
