Monday, May 21, 2012

Cantering


In the last week, I’ve begun to canter Smarty a bit. Nothing major, just down the sides of the arena. He has only picked up his right lead a couple of times for me, which is fine for now. I want to get him cantering before trying to force him on a lead; he is still figuring out how to balance himself at the gate. He goes just like a racehorse, not surprisingly, and really hangs on the bit. It has been fun so far! He’ll get his leads and learn to work off his hind end in no time.

I worked with an instructor a few days ago who helped me get Smarty going more forward and on the bit, which was great! Since he is still such a green horse, riding him effectively is or utmost importance.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Update



Hello! It’s been a while since my last post and I wanted to let everyone know how Mad for Smarty is coming along. We have been trotting regularly and he is doing well so far. After trotting for a few moments he will sometimes kinda fall apart, rush and drag himself around on the forehand (especially while I’m in two-point) but never horribly. He has never tried to run off, bolt, rush into a canter, grab the bit or buck. I’d consider that a success so far! Smarty is more comfortable traveling to the left and is able to carry himself correctly and stay in a nice, rounded circle more easily. We are still working on the right side!

I’ve been riding primarily in a dressage arena and an open trail area trotting in both places. There are a few places with mild slope on the trails, which I’ve been taking Smarty up and down to try and develop his top line a bit more. had planned to start cantering him this week, but it has been very rainy here and I have not been able to work with him as of yet.

A couple weeks ago I rode Smarty bareback for the first time. I enjoyed it, but I’m not so sure that he did! Smarty seemed a bit thrown off by my lack of saddle and was a bit reluctant to go forward. Overall, he was fine with it with no explosions or strong objection.