1st September 2011

Tuesday I gave Moo a light warm-up and then some quite deep massage, I managed to get in behind his scapula (point of old problems) and found a very tight spot which he finally allowed me to get into. Yesterday I just did some gentle stretching with him as he seemed quite a bit better and today he seemed pretty good, yay!!! So just a little lunge to warm him up and then on to some stretches and light massage, hopefully I've sorted the problem but we'll have to see over the next few days. Certainly no ridden work for him until after the week-end.

Chapiro continues to impress! A couple of lovely sessions and I've upped the stirrups a hole and moved them forwards about 1cm which feels better, I could show you video that Lydia took but it would make you dizzy, lol, she definitely needs some work on keeping her hands still. I'll go back to the trusty fence posts next opportunity. Anyway, more on what we worked on.
The release when I ask with the unilateral rein is really coming on and aided by the touch of the whip at the shoulder stops an inside collapse. Injecting a little more energy can result in loss of the relaxed neck so I'll be patient on that and wait for him to build a little more stamina and balance before asking more oomph. We've had a couple of wanders about the place with Lydia on foot (she's a good gal) and he is very relaxed with her around and even went up the lane without a thought.
The fly spray saga continues, I can now spray near him or actually on to his rear end but he's a bit panicky about it all. I think I'll have to continue with water in the bottle until we have this thing licked, he was the same with the horse eating hose serpent but now he loves a bath....we'll get there I guess but every new situation seems a mountain for him to climb!