Where to start... We've had some fairly terrible schooling sessions lately during which Magic totally forgot he could bend left and also seemed incapable of working in an outline in trot even for a few seconds. Canter on the other hand has improved quite a lot so I can't really complain.
I've been riding Magic in an almost constant long and low frame even when hacking to help build his top line muscles. He finds it very very easy in walk but he's not quite strong enough to work long and low in trot just yet and his first reaction when going in to trot is to stick his head in the air. I can get him to lower it again but only if I almost totally drop the contact for a bit and ask again. He's pretty much the same when lunged. He'll work in a fairly low frame in trot but if he gets his head up I have to bring him back to walk and ask for trot again when he's relaxed his neck. He finds it much easier on the right rein than the left.
I have 3 days left to prepare for dressage on Sunday. A walk and trot (that I still can't remember) and prelim 7. Magic still needs his mane thinned out and more importantly I need to make sure I can plait. Also his legs are only clipped to his knees and hocks as he hates being clipped so I'm hoping that my tiny trimmers will take some more hair off so I can just leave his feather to make him look more presentable.
Fingers crossed everything goes smoothly and that Magic doesn't buck or rear and I can remember both tests by then and that I don't forget them while we're in the arena!
24.11.10
1.11.10
Dressage in the dark
So it seems the key to a well behaved, forward going pony is schooling in the dark.
I'm very lucky that there is a floodlit school at the yard as Magic seems to go best when the fields are so dark that he can no longer see what's going on.
After a quite frustrating half hour last week where all he wanted to do was canter at speed and scary angles around corners it was nice to have a calm pony. I rode in spurs for the first time in almost a year (apart from 5 minutes when we first moved home where he clearly wasn't happy with them that day) and he accepted that I was wearing them and after a few swishes of his tail listened to exactly what I was saying.
I asked for lots of rein back, turn on the forehand and leg yield as a warm up again and then asked him to work round almost straight away. If I let him have his head to start with he thinks he can go the whole half hour with his head in the air. We had some lovely trot work and probably the best medium we've had in the school so far. He's usually not thinking forward enough or using himself enough so it's something we've been working on while hacking where he's naturally forward going. Sometimes his transition to medium is so powerful I momentarily get left behind.
After lots of rein back his canter tends to improve a fair bit and slows down enough that he's not motorbiking around corners in the school. He's still better on his left rein than his right but that's understandable as he went months not being able to canter on the right lead due to tight muscle in his back. He's still a lot weaker that side which also shows up as not being able to hold himself on the left rein while bending so his nose pokes a little but he's improving all the time.
I've also been working a lot on our canter while hacking and We've been making the most of the softer ground and having lots of long canters around the outside of big fields. There are a couple within ten minutes ride from the yard and they are doing wonders for Magic's fitness.
I have noticed that I'm going to need to give him his third clip in as many months by about mid November. He was very very sweaty by the time we got back to the yard and he hasn't even regrown much of his full clip yet!
I'm very lucky that there is a floodlit school at the yard as Magic seems to go best when the fields are so dark that he can no longer see what's going on.
After a quite frustrating half hour last week where all he wanted to do was canter at speed and scary angles around corners it was nice to have a calm pony. I rode in spurs for the first time in almost a year (apart from 5 minutes when we first moved home where he clearly wasn't happy with them that day) and he accepted that I was wearing them and after a few swishes of his tail listened to exactly what I was saying.
I asked for lots of rein back, turn on the forehand and leg yield as a warm up again and then asked him to work round almost straight away. If I let him have his head to start with he thinks he can go the whole half hour with his head in the air. We had some lovely trot work and probably the best medium we've had in the school so far. He's usually not thinking forward enough or using himself enough so it's something we've been working on while hacking where he's naturally forward going. Sometimes his transition to medium is so powerful I momentarily get left behind.
After lots of rein back his canter tends to improve a fair bit and slows down enough that he's not motorbiking around corners in the school. He's still better on his left rein than his right but that's understandable as he went months not being able to canter on the right lead due to tight muscle in his back. He's still a lot weaker that side which also shows up as not being able to hold himself on the left rein while bending so his nose pokes a little but he's improving all the time.
I've also been working a lot on our canter while hacking and We've been making the most of the softer ground and having lots of long canters around the outside of big fields. There are a couple within ten minutes ride from the yard and they are doing wonders for Magic's fitness.
I have noticed that I'm going to need to give him his third clip in as many months by about mid November. He was very very sweaty by the time we got back to the yard and he hasn't even regrown much of his full clip yet!
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