A cob that does dressage... well sort of

So once again I've been unbeleivably useless at updating this.

The last 7 months have been full of ups and downs for magic and me. We've made massive amounts of progress only to go backwards and have to learn all over again. He's gone through stages of showing what a brilliant pony he can be. His canter work was good and he was holding himself then he'd regress and at times both canter and trot went out of the window.

For now he's excelling himself. But just two weeks ago I wondered if someone had swapped him for another horse. He wouldn't round even in walk, his trot wasn't relaxed and he'd tense and just run. Canter was dreadful, super fast and he was bucking when I asked for it. It was at this point I realised just how sensitive magic really is.

He'd been getting quite strong when hacking, both alone and in company, so I changed his nose band from a crank cavesson to a drop. I had the drop made for him a couple of years ago so it fits him perfectly. At first his school work didn't change but after a few sessions he became a bit stiff in his neck and wouldn't round. Figured it might be worth trying his new bridle on him, a dhh Renoir, it's a beautiful bridle and the padding should make it super comfortable. Tried it with the flash at first for added breaks. Magic hated it, he just wouldn't work properly or concentrate. So I tried it without the flash the next day, slight improvement but not much. Finally gave in after one more try and put his old bridle back on. Seems its quite clear which his favourite is so I won't be switching bridles again unless I really have to.

In our last schooling session we had a first. Magic managed to canter over a pole on both reins and even when he misjudged it a little he still managed to sort his legs out and stay in canter. Big achievement considering what his canter used to be like.