Sluggish start

Having spent all Winter complaining about the ground being wet, the wind being cold, and not being able to ride, I am now in prime riding season and feeling so tired I'm really not making the most of it!

That said, the little bits that we have done have been positive. Trying, but positive. The third time of going to walk Rio out of his field after our first session, and he's walking up to it with no issues. I'm still leaving him to graze in order to close the gate a few yards away, but the panic is not as set in as it was before. I am hopeful that a few more sessions will crack that. 

I brought him up on Thursday evening and gave him a good brush down, before I hopped on and took him into the outdoor arena for some schooling. He was really not very attentive at all, and when my friend left the school with her horse, he was very tetchy. I decided to see if I could test his senses a little outside of our usual routine. Sylvia Loch has recently moved into the local area, and classical dressage is something that I would like to further explore with Rio. I think that with both done correctly, that CD and parelli will work nicely hand in hand. Both intend on creating a bond with the horse whereby a tiny movement or suggestion speaks volumes. 

So I decided that I would try simply dropping my inside leg weight slightly more into the stirrup, and see what happened. Now, Rio is still quite young (yes I know he's six now!) and is quite attuned to weight distribution. Something that I'm keen to utilise and not lose. I was pleasantly surprised that whilst keeping my line of sight straight through his ears, not moving my hands and reins to steer, that he started to turn. A little more weight in the stirrup, and he turned a little sharper. What magic this is. The basics are there for us, I just need to learn how to develop them.

For now, we will stick to small tweaks, and we need to do a lot of bending to ensure those corners aren't taking at a 45 degree angle to the ground when we make it up into canter. Moving forward, these little things are what give me the belief that my boy really can do anything, if only I can help him to learn!

Schooling success

We made a trip to Water Farm on Monday evening after work to do some schooling, with Sarah and Franks. It was a thank you for us helping out at the second dressage clinic last weekend. Can't ask for better payment than free use of a lovely indoor arena! It was made all the more interesting when Nancy joined us. This is Nancy:

She is very opinionated, and was not interested in the slightest in leaving us to it. Luckily Rio wasn't too worried about her, although he did avoid her for a couple of rounds. We did some lovely demi-volts along the opposite side of the school, and then set back to it, and he was fine. 

We had some fab movement and work in the trot, and he's really starting to work better from behind now - which followed through into tonight's session at the yard! I was a little disappointed with the canter work (or lack thereof!) at Water Farm, after we hacked out twice at the weekend and did none at all. I thought he'd be itching to get going. 

Tonight I was very pleased with everything he did, on the ground and in the saddle. He stretched down and forward beautifully by the end of the session, and we managed our longest canter in our grass arena yet - and he didn't drop out of it on his own, I asked him forward to trot! As a little bonus my friend was having her horse schooled by a mutual friend who teaches, and as we were trotting around at the end, he gave me some pointers on getting Rio working more effectively from behind and pushing down and forward. I was absolutely beaming by the end, but shattered! 

Absolutely brilliant discovery - take feet out of stirrups, and let them drop down, and Rio stops dead in a perfect square halt. 

Not so good when I eventually come to wanting to work without stirrups, but interesting nonetheless. I ride quite short, so it must feel very odd to him when my legs stretch down! 

After Franks had a bit of a meltdown on our casual walk out on Saturday, courtesy of the two practising trial bikes I inadvertently took us past, I decided to take Rio out for a casual walk up the road on Sunday morning. I was determined to clock up another solo ride, and this one was a bit of a challenge that I ended up being proud of. 

We crossed the road, where he took offence to something (still no idea what!) and promptly spun to the right, and took off up the 3 foot grass bank. Onto the farmer's field. Not good! I used my recently learned trick of lifting my right rein to bend him and disengage his hind, and brought him back quickly, before too much damage could be done to the crop... I whisked him straight back off at the corner of the field, where he still put up an argument about proceeding up the road. After a moment of discussion, with a couple looking on from their car across the road, he eventually got on with it, and we marched on our way. 

The ride was made up of little victories; sitting the spook, not turning back and making him listen to me, not turning around at the top of the road because my nerves were shot, and having a great trot across the two fields. The trip back down the hill was relatively uneventful, which was lovely. 

Positively Spring

The pole clinic went well! This is our first time over the new poles at Wendy's. Having done coloured poles before, it never struck me to take him over them before we started working with them. His beautiful bascule was from a trot, as he tried to keep us both safe from the blue and black pole monster! (Hubby says the poles are white and gold...!) When I took him back around to walk over it, he didn't want to go anywhere near it, but after 5 or 6 small figures of eight over the poles, we were all good. 

I definitely need to take Rio out off the yard for a hack this weekend, as we schooled on Monday night and this morning before the farrier visited. He worked very well both times, and has started to settle more in our outdoor arena. Or maybe that's me. We are working more consistently together, and I have been trying to work more on my breathing to enhance my communication with him. Bringing him down from trot to walk with a sigh along with my aids has proved to work well, but walk to halt still takes a little more. 

Today we did some canter work, and although the left rein was a little touch and go, his balance on the right rein was much better. We had a lovely rhythmic 3 beat canter from A, doing a 20m circle, and back up the long side, where I asked him back to trot before the corner. It was the first time I've felt able to ask him to collect a little, as opposed to getting him into the canter and letting him settle into the pace he wants to keep him in the canter! He is also responding much better to my carrying a schooling whip. It is only there for when he pushes through his shoulder, as he's lovely and forward anyway. He's really getting the hang of it now, and as soon as I touch it to his shoulder, he instantly straightens up and moves over. We even managed a bit of leg yield on both reins today (and once in trot too!)

Last night (much to Rio's dismay) was bath time as the temperatures had shot up. He was a bit of a fidget bum, but once he realised that the hose stayed on him no matter where he moved to, he eventually gave in. Well, for a couple of minutes anyway. Then he had to test it again. I did feel a bit bad, as by the end he was shivering as the temperature did seem to dip off all of a sudden. 10 minutes with his waffle rug did the trick to warm him back up again though, and he's lovely and soft today! 

I now have a copy of our dressage test, which I will be editing and uploading soon - super excited, you can see our super speedy dressage cantering antics!

Foto Friday!

New year new look

My Photoshop trial ran out 17 minutes ago, so I thought I'd use the last bit of time having it to update my header! My question to you, if you would, is which one do you prefer? Quote or photo?

Fingers crossed the weather tomorrow afternoon thaws out enough for us to have a good ride!

Walking on wind!

We braved the winds today. After our little play yesterday, and not having done anything else since last weekend, it could have been interesting. Except the Alfa rage seems to have dissipated!

We went out with Millie and Bailey for a wander around the village, and Rio tried out his new boots again! He does look dashing all dressed up with his smart booties and exercise fleece. All was going well, and then we came back in onto the field, where a lady was walking through the footpath that runs alongside the track. Rio was a bit on his toes, and had a little spook, which I'd contained. However Bailey is still learning how to follow, and had other ideas - all I heard was "my pony's going to explode!" The perfect cue before we took off full speed ahead down the field. I found a few seconds to realise that if I sat in, gave him his head and then checked him, he might come back to me. Hey presto - we had a lovely canter whilst we watched Millie disappear off into the distance and pull him up at the corner. 

We decided it would be a good option to get them to walk around the field so that the next time we went out on the field, neither of our boys would expect a good canter! We had a canter up the first side, then walked back to the yard, and I even had Rio on a long rein. Millie decided that she wanted to take Bailey in the school and hop a few small poles/cross poles. It seemed the perfect opportunity for me to address my fear of the outdoor school. I decided I would go in and walk Rio round a couple of times just to say that I'd done it. A building block as such.

 We walked around a few times, and he didn't put a hoof wrong, so I decided to try a trot. I was so pleased when he dropped his head down into a lovely contact, even though my reins were longer than usual when I would be asking for it. 

And then this happened! We were having so much fun, we "jumped" several times and didn't even think about being in the outdoor arena!

Needless to say, Rio got lots of cuddles, and was treated to an apple and pear in his dinner this evening.

Ride / play safe x

Goodbye Summer

Morning over the barn

I'm pleased I asserted authority with Rio yesterday, coming out of the field. Today he walked straight up to the gate and walked out with no hesitation and didn't bat an eyelid when I closed it behind us. What a clever young man.

I made my way down to the field quick sharp after work to make the most of what could be my last evening hack of the year. The clocks go back on Sunday, and with the storm rolling in who knows where the weather is going to be over the next few days. My friend's sharer was also there and it's her last day before she finishes sharing B tomorrow. Sarah and I yelled our orders for her to get changed and tack up as we stomped off to retrieve the handsome manicured beasts from their paddocks.

Rio spooked and had a silly minute when the generator was on in the office inside the barn. I untied him and walked him over so he could look through the barn and see that the big scary monster wasn't about to pounce. I tacked him up, and was so against the pressure of the sunset that I forgot to put his overreach booties on his hind feet so he was brushing them a bit. What followed was a fantastic fast paced hack, a race against the sun! Win for me, previously him spooking about like that would have really put me off tacking up and getting on. 

The outward trip was made up predominantly of trotting and cantering, and it was fantastic. Rio was keen and responsive. B didn't know what had hit him, bless his heart, but he kept up well. Franks was up front, and we even managed to keep up a more collected canter behind him whilst he was trotting (less impressive than it sounds - he trots fast!) but he didn't drop out of it until I asked him back into trot. Super exciting.

We had a lovely relaxing stroll back down the hill, including the boys walking three abreast, and doing a little bit of drill formation! They stayed in line beautifully once Rio had shimmied his way into the middle, the cheeky little git. 

I was relieved to get back and find minimal sweat after a ride with a more exertion than usual. Rio barely seemed phased by the run, which was great too. His fitness has sure come a long way in the last 11 months. I've just got to keep an eye on the saddle position as it looks like it may have slipped back a little this evening with his posh new clip. Here's hoping we can get him in the trailer over these winter months to do some schooling work. I'm really psyched and would love to be able to get him out doing some dressage tests at the local shows next year. He's such a charmer. 

Here he is, being a cheeky charmer and telling my friend that her hay net had been loitering around the yard for too many days:

So funny. I wanted to get a picture of him holding the net, but before the camera opened on my phone, he'd figured out that if he picked it up at the bottom of the net he could tip it out. No flies on my boy! 

Ride / play safe x

Sunday Musings - what works?

Hi there from sunny Montreal! I've been enjoying the opportunity to have a good play with the camera, what do you reckon? I do love a pretty little macro shot. 

So, something caught my eye on my facebook feed this morning whilst I was having a quick catch up. I dabble in a bit of Parelli natural horsemanship stuff with Rio, because I want to improve our relationship on the ground. I don't take it too seriously - I just use the bits that make sense to me, and ignore the bits I don't like (I will never whack a metal clip into his head... That's just not how we roll, OK?) and someone had posted this article. Obviously I had a little read.

Now, Rio usually works in a regular halter or his leather one. He will have a rope halter on the Play Days, and that is about it. This isn't so much an issue for us. At home, we work on his manners without utilising pressure and release with these more "pressure pointed" aids. Slobber straps - we don't use them. I ride with regular rubber reins, and we have been working for some time now on understanding each other and developing his contact in a much quieter way. We are past fighting over it, and for the most part, he offers a contact and supples quite nicely (when I ask properly...)

The carrot stick I have found to be of some use. On the ground it has proved invaluable on a couple of occasions, and despite being unwieldy and really quite heavy to carry regularly, I would always now keep one handy. In the saddle has proved a little less successful - perhaps we haven't played enough of the friendly game with it in that respect, but I am happy to use a schooling whip or regular crop to achieve the same end, with far less angst or resistance. 

As for treats, these don't get offered regularly. At the first couple of Play Days I ensured I got a big tub of treats ready for training and rewarding, because this was how I was being taught. What I actually ended up with was a horse that wanted to be in my space all of the time because that was where he got the treats. I don't want a horse that mugs me for nibbles. Since ditching the treats and opting for scratches/cuddles/grass munching time as a reward, I have had a much more responsive horse to work with. I'm lucky in this sense that Rio is such a people person, because he's usually more than happy for you to give him a good rub on his neck as a reward. 

The idea of "just get off" is a tempting one. I have however learned that unless you follow something through, it's likely you will find a brick wall develops. Once this happens, not only have you got to knock that wall down to achieve what you're after, but you've also got to build the bridge! Surely we all understand this one - aren't we always told when we're learning to ride, if you fall off the horse, you get straight back on? Why should it be any different if your horse is finding something a little difficult? Three strides of controlled canter and asking him back to trot is a better start than avoiding canter altogether (for example). That is something to build on. If you don't take the plunge, how do you build the foundation?

It's interesting to get a full picture of what goes on when we are training our equine friends, as we always seem to get so focused on what we want to achieve, that sometimes we overlook the side effects of what we are trying to do (and probably not quite getting right!) It's so important to take a step back every once in a while to appreciate the small things and the impact they can have. You can create something wonderful if you just take the time and make the effort.

That said, I do think that anybody going into horse ownership thinking they will automatically have a best friend for life should really reconsider if owning said horse is right for them at that time. I love Rio to bits, but I'm under no illusion that 10 months is an infinitely small time in the grand scheme of things. We have a lot of experiences to have together, many scary things to work through, and lots to develop in our relationship. I just hope that in 10 years time we can be in as strong a place as Sarah and Franks are together. Fingers crossed, we will have experienced half of what they have too - I'll be a very happy lady if we do!

Sweetie Pie - my dad's girlfriend's cat in Montreal!

Enough rambling from me, please feel free to share your views on training your horse (natural horsemanship or otherwise!) Are there any things you feel work particularly well for you and your horse, or indeed anything that you avoid like the plague?

Ride / play safe

Whirlwind week!

Blimey a lot has gone on! No time, but in brief, we've had a great last week/10 days. Lots of hacking, great weekend with wonderful ladies and equally wonderful ponies. BBQ's, learning, treats for the boy, and the big countdown to seeing my pops in Canada!

Dusky hacking, including a little canter with B and Millie (first canter out without Franks since the river field!) Admittedly Rio was pretty tired after working very hard over the weekend.

Rio joined in the team talk on the Sunday morning. Voted the cutest - obviously!

Raised trot poles on Saturday, he was an absolute superstar, and melted the girls hearts to boot! 

Such a handsome young man. He has come on so far in 10 months. 

Sarah on day 2 (I was just spectating) - Rio playing with raised canter poles. He looked stunning. I was so proud of him, but boy did Sarah have to work for it. It was just great to see him working in canter. He got very very tired and very sweaty by the end. Working for 2.5 hours Saturday and another hour of canter schooling on Sunday is new territory for him though, so I was very pleased. 

It's a raised canter pole Rio, not a jump! Although ironically, this is what we "jump" at home... I'll hide myself in the corner now... 

Most pleasing of the weekend was utilising a riding crop to put pressure on his shoulder and stop him rushing out and pushing through with his shoulders. We mainly had success at the scary end of the school, employing shoulder pressure from the crop to stop him running away. We also learned about turning and direct, indirect & ... another... rein, and using them appropriately to keep him supple, and to relax him in unsettling environments. 

There was so much information to take in, but it was such a wonderful weekend. 

Ride / play safe x

Growing up with Rio

I was looking through my (hundreds of!) photos of Rio last night, right back to the day he arrived with me on 20/11/2013. That's this first one. The other two are from the first couple of months of having him.

The bottom right is the "before" in these. It's from March 2014. It's probably just me, but he looks much better in the two "after" photos, perhaps it's just where his neck has chunked out a bit - along with the rest of him! 

This is 17/12/2013 vs. 20/07/2014. Definitely happy he's had his mane pulled. Seeing the difference here really makes it pop. Now just to get the stumpy bit of mane under control and he will look super handsome.

I think you can see even in his face that he has grown up, but again that's probably just me being sentimental! I think the beard is the next tidy-up project, that will make him look much smarter. 

Ride / play safe x

New arrivals & some peace

The boys managed to survive the day together yesterday! I didn't get down to the yard until much later than usual last night, but Sarah sent me this. Franks very kindly offered to spend the night in Rio's paddock to help graze it down a little more, which I thought was lovely of him. I am pleased to report that even after one day of being on a barer field, Rio's grass belly was visibly reduced, and when I tacked him up to ride last night, his girth is actually in the same place, if not one hole higher than it was before. 

I'm waiting with baited breath for the delivery man to turn up (the tracker says he was due 10.45 - 11.45!) as I'm home on my lunch break, and have to leave again in ten minutes. It's Rio's grazing muzzle. He will be back in his own field tonight, so I would really be happier if I knew he had it on so he doesn't undo the good work of yesterday, last night and today being in Franks' field! 

This little man is the reason I was late down to the yard yesterday, meet my new nephew Benjamin! We had to get up to the hospital before visiting hours ended at 7pm. He's a little darling, barely made a peep the whole time we were there. That's the kind of baby I can deal with!

I decided when I got down to Rio that we would do something, it had been raining earlier this afternoon and we even had a bit of a thunder storm, so I'd all but discounted the option of riding. By the time I made it there though, it had been dry for a couple of hours, and Rio was actually pretty dry so we had just a little schooling session. I *think* we managed a couple of steps on a contact, but without someone on the ground I'm still getting used to telling. We did some trot poles, and gave cantering a go, but had to take it easy as he's not got the hang of cantering around bends in the school yet, and lost his footing behind on the damp grass. All in all, I was pleased, and glad we got to do something just the two of us. Still not taken him back out again on my own since the fall, but I'm working up to it!

Ride / play safe x

(No more) Soft Touch

After such a pleasing day yesterday, I was a little hesitant to hope that today would live up to expectations. After breakfast with hubby and my father in law, I headed up to watch some of the stressage at Stratford Hills. It all looks very scary to me, there were 6 arenas on the go when I arrived, and lots of horses in the warm-up area. Lots going on! Anyway, it spurred me on to join Sarah schooling when we got back, and give riding with a contact a go. Rio has offered it up to me once whilst out hacking, but I didn't really ask him, so we're starting from square one.

I have an issue with loopy reins, so first things first was to get to grips with keeping him on a shorter, tighter connection so that I could feel him properly on the end of them. He gives a bit of a fight for it, and this is where I need to toughen up. Once the fight has been had, he is quite a natural at carrying his head in the right place, THEN you can soften up with him. I need to have that bit of a battle, and because I know he's not a kicker or a total idiot, I can more or less trust that if I can arrange myself, he will eventually follow. I was still struggling a bit, so Sarah and I swapped horses and I got to try riding a Franks! It's the first time I've ridden him, and I was a little nervous! 

Franks is pretty special, he's done all sorts with Sarah over the years, and no sooner had I picked up the reins, did he take up a contact. It was great being able to feel what I'm looking for from Rio, and Franks' trot is amazing to sit to - I don't have that luxury with Rio as he's a bouncy little dude! The saddle is also a nice squishy armchair of a dressage saddle, which was wonderful. I took comfort in the fact that I was able to keep my hands steady and maintain the contact with Franks' - good news as it means it's not my hands waving around that's causing the issue. I need to learn with Rio to hold my hands up a little and ensure that I keep a slightly tighter outside rein to maintain the contact, whilst playing a little with the inside rein until he drops down. My problem is recognising when he drops his head and relaxing (but keeping!) the contact in that second. 

Once Sarah had got Rio going nicely, I hopped back on, and worked on the same. We did manage a few good steps in outline, but boy was it hard work. It's certainly something we can work on now that I know what I'm looking for! I was also really pleased as Sarah got a full circuit and a half of canter out of Rio on his right (good) rein. Even she found it hard work though, and it took a bit of verbal encouragement (read: noise) to keep him going around the top bend of the school. Something else to work on. In the meantime, we have trot poles laid out to intersperse the serious stuff. Rio loves them! Please ignore my heels in this photo, I was just trying to keep him in a nice active trot (something else I'm working on... heels into the ground!) It won't be long before we try a little cross pole hopefully, especially if we continue at this rate. 

Ride / play safe x

Needle in a haystack (or field)

Rio had a long hard night on Thursday. Sarah goes down a little after me in the mornings, and it would appear that the boys had a little routine going. (Past tense as Rio bit Franks on the bum Thursday between my visit and Sarah's, and is now back in his own field...)

• Graze at opposite ends of paddock when mum comes down, Franks to acknowledge presence, and possibly say hi, Rio to come and loiter around the wheelbarrow ready for poo quality control checks
• Graze together for a bit as mum leaves
• Rio to lay down for nap time in prep for Sarah's arrival, and Franks to stand watch
• General grazing after Franks has had breakfast, including extra curricular activity such as sliding stops, cantering up the long side of the field in pairs, and apparently a smidge of cannibalism (although this can be thrown in whenever fancied...)

It's a shame really, as they seemed to be doing very well together in the field. They will be having supervised play dates in future, as although I don't want him tearing poor Franks to shreds, being able to interact with another horse is invaluable at his age. Having been the one with the horse on the end of the bullying originally, I don't want to be the mummy of the bully... 

How can such a funny boy be capable of such things hey?! This has to be one of my fave snaps Sarah has sent to me so far.

I spent my evening last night fencing Rio's field off so that he's got an L shape to roam and graze. There's still a LOT of grass in there, but thankfully the sheep have grazed down a little bit of it. I'm hoping it will be a good incentive for me to keep up the riding routine, so he doesn't balloon again. With any luck Franks can come over and visit for a bit and help with the grazing down too. 

I was just tidying all the bits up, when I realised that I had pinged the inch-long pin out of the fencing reel (the one that holds the end in place so it doesn't all unravel in storage)... I wasn't prepared to accept that vet bill, should Rio find it whilst grazing, so I had to walk the fence line in the hope it hadn't gone far. Would you believe I managed to find it? I was so pleased. I'm not sure I would have slept last night if I hadn't!

Today was one of those good days. Rio walked straight out of the field with me, walked up nicely, tried being a little cheeky on the last stretch and came back to me when I put my foot down. Stood nicely at the barn, picked his feet up with minimal fuss (he's been a little impatient the last few days with his feet). Stood perfectly to be tacked up, moved over when asked, and took his new bit without question. SIDENOTE: We are definitely keeping the Neue Schule, the new wider bit fits him perfectly, and I was actually sent a brand new one to trial this time! No need to even return it for a new replacement to keep. Result. Rio seemed indifferent to it being any different to his current bit, which I will take as a positive. It's a bit narrower than the steel one, but I'm hoping the Salox will even out the difference. Now to work on the contact... 

I actually schooled again today. We did a few transitions (nowhere near enough though now that I think about it) from walk to halt, and then from trot to walk to trot and some that were just trot to walk. He felt active underneath me, and although his shoulder was falling in on the end of some of our circles, we were trotting shapes in a nice forward way. We have a bit of an issue with Rio's canter transitions. He's picking them up much better in the bottom corners of the school. This is where I usually ask for canter. He's still struggling to maintain a canter for a full circuit, but the transitions into canter (in his "canter corners") are becoming much easier to make. So now we need to try cantering from other parts of the school. 

We finished off doing some trot poles, after getting some advice from Sarah on how to try and work him onto the bit. It didn't go so well today, but it's something I'm just going to have to work on with him and find our own way of discussing. I've never really worked "on the bit" before, so am not exactly sure how to ask what I want to ask, and because he hasn't particularly been taught to work on the bit, he's not sure what I'm asking yet either. Any advice welcome! I've had him take up a contact whilst out hacking on the field once before, but at the time, I wasn't specifically asking it of him, I guess I just found the right combination of things and was properly relaxed without intending on it. The trot poles were great fun though! We will definitely play with those more.

In other news, my cousin has got her new 4 year old OTTB at my yard for a little while whilst a space comes up at her place. He's fresh off the track, and is a cute leggy little chestnut. Watch this space!

Ride/play safe x

Stage Fright

New challenge to work on: getting over people watching me when I ride! 

My cousin's new baby is going to be on our yard for a bit whilst she waits for a stable to come up at her place. We've put up fencing across his paddock ready for his arrival on Saturday, so it's all rather exciting! She's got him to bring on ready to event him. He's just come off the track, and is a springy 4 year old chestnut. 

So I brought Rio up (he was a little bugger and kept stopping walking up the field - cheers for showing me up buddy!) luckily he was okay once him and Franks crossed paths and he got going. He has a small scab on his right hind which looks like it could be mud fever, so I faffed about a little and groomed him. I sponged it down again with warm hibiscrub and managed to pick off the last bit of the scab, and was busy making excuses not to ride. You see, I don't school very often at the moment, so when it comes to schooling, I get very self conscious. 

I'm pleased to say that once I got going, I really enjoyed it. I even felt much more secure in the saddle, Rio had a spook sideways and I don't believe I flinched - that's a first! After we warmed up a bit and got going in the trot, he felt like he was going well enough to try and ask for canter. The first attempt was a bit of a sham, I didn't have hold of the outside rein, so I ended up having a very wonky canter across the school ending up on the opposite rein. I learned my lesson, and when I tried the second time, we managed a canter up the long side on the left rein. He dropped out of it back into trot.

On the right rein, we trotted up and did some circling and squeezed him on into the canter, he went up the long side, I cut him across the school a little before the end (our school is a bit wonky) and continued the canter right back down the long side before I asked him back to trot! We trotted off and then walked out after that - we could only have schooled for 20 minutes or so, but I was already feeling it. Plus I wanted to end it on a positive note. 

Ride / play safe x