Beautiful Day!

Wow, what a nice day it was! It's alot easier to get motivated when the sun is shining. After battling a cold this week it was nice to feel good again! Let's see, here is the rundown...

Rex was quite good for the first part of the ride, but then when I started working on hauches-in to the left, he got mad at me! I'm still trying to figure out why the haunches-in is so hard for him. There isn't anything about his conformation that should make it hard. Hmmm... we'll just keep working on this, and I'm sure he'll eventually get the hang of it!

I rode Kreo today for the first time and gained new respect for how hard Robin has to work! He really doesn't want to be round or bend much. Ha! We spent 10 minutes or so with "yes you can"/"no I can't"/"yes you can"/"no I can't". Eventually we did get a round and forward horse! Later, Robin had great trot and canter work. She is definitely learning how to let Kreo do the work so she can work less hard!

Duncan started the ride wanting to drift to the walls ... it was like the walls were giant vacuums, sucking him over!! After some discussions about staying off the wall, I had a great ride. His canter is getting so much more balanced, and he is now able to canter a 10 meter circle without struggling.

Fritz came up with an abcess in his right hind today. Thank you Lisa for soaking him! I was able to find the abcess and open it up. Poor Fritz was literally shaking while I was trying to find it....what a good boy he was to stand still! When the pressure was relieved, we had a hard time getting his foot out of the warm water.... poor guy! It's funny how satisfying it can be to find pus! HA!

Lonnie had a GREAT ride on Eternity. We worked on getting her elbows in front of her waist so she carried her arms and let her hands be independent. Sound familiar? The difference in the way that Eternity went was really amazing. Lonnie also rode Rex for a bit, and cantered in both directions today. Awesome!

Cessna was a bit lazy today, but he is such an easy baby to work with. I'm planning to take him to the next Blue Ribbon show, so I worked on Training test 1. He sometimes has a hard time picking up the correct canter lead, but today he was perfect in every transition! I really love his attitude!

Gen was especially good today. I started working towards passage and she was getting it! She is really strong in her top line, and it is fun now to start working on the more collected gaits. I also started working on schooling pirouettes, and she is doing great!

Wromeo was also very good today, and MUCH steadier in the contact. Today I felt like he was stretching and reaching in all his gaits. He is such a fancy boy! He is still settling in, but today I felt like I got some very solid work. Once I get him steady in the connection and forward, I want to work on straightness. He is pretty good with his balance, but the next step is for him to learn to move off the leg.

I think it's time for me to feed horses... I didn't get to everyone, but I'll try to write more this weekend.

Tracie