After the monsoon came sunshine so it's been a great day for riding in the school. Damp sand and a light breeze, ah, if only every day was the same.
Well the canter plan worked and whilst it's still not pretty, understatement, it is en route to something better. Video below shows how little we could manage two days ago and how with a few tweaks we can at least keep the canter for longer, we'll keep working on the stamina for a while and then play with the stepping under issue later. Moo and I finished with a walk up through the village.
Chapiro was a total star. The neck relaxation work first and then a quick lunge before riding. The lunging has come on so well, he is so attentive and listens and acts on all his verbal cues and I'm quite proud of the man. The difference in his ridden work is quite noticeable too, he can bend both ways now with just a feel on the rein to get the soft neck and a long leg to get the bend. The transitions are OK but I will work on the upwards transitions being more energetic in the coming weeks.
Showing posts with label moo vid. Show all posts
Showing posts with label moo vid. Show all posts
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
on board
Today was warm and I couldn't resist a little sit on after a lunge. It felt so nice to be back on board and he was pretty chilled, finished with a short trot (a bit rushed ).
To work on...strengthen with some more lunge/in hand and light ridden work so that I can push the nose out a bit in the stretching down work. Promise I won't be boring with vids every time it's just good to capture this new beginning.
To work on...strengthen with some more lunge/in hand and light ridden work so that I can push the nose out a bit in the stretching down work. Promise I won't be boring with vids every time it's just good to capture this new beginning.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
stretch
Another sunny autumn day had the darned bot flies out in force; Chapsi has BIG problems with them and whilst I was poo-picking he had a massive tantrum and high tailed it round the field for ten minutes! It's pointless trying to catch him when this happens as he is so unconcerned for his own safety that it is pretty dangerous. Eventually he came to me for help and in trying to swot the damn thing for him he caught my hand with his hoof while trying to do the same! No lasting damage but I got him up to the stables pretty pronto for a shower off and a snooze; didn't work him as he had already had plenty and in case we found more bots.
Moo on the other hand doesn't care about the flies, good job as he's a bit of a magnet for them. I had a good session with Moo, after starting in the same 'up' slow trot as yesterday I then let the reins out and sat it out :-o lots of turning, circles, rein changes etc resulted in a quite stretchy trot, still fast and at times unbalanced but I gritted my teeth and stuck with it for 25 mins; boy do my legs ache tonight! He is so wide that sitting for so long in a fast trot is a real killer BUT I think this is my way forward. To finish we went for more canters down the field and this time I came up the steepest part and he flew and that's after an hour in the school!
Moo on the other hand doesn't care about the flies, good job as he's a bit of a magnet for them. I had a good session with Moo, after starting in the same 'up' slow trot as yesterday I then let the reins out and sat it out :-o lots of turning, circles, rein changes etc resulted in a quite stretchy trot, still fast and at times unbalanced but I gritted my teeth and stuck with it for 25 mins; boy do my legs ache tonight! He is so wide that sitting for so long in a fast trot is a real killer BUT I think this is my way forward. To finish we went for more canters down the field and this time I came up the steepest part and he flew and that's after an hour in the school!
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
This afternoon I started with Chapsi in-hand, some flexion and head down and then into the walk on. I don't want him sniffing sand but just enough to relax his neck and stretch over his back; he's getting the hang of it and it's transferring to the ridden work now. Today I picked up the schooling whip once on board as I've been working on desensitizing him on the ground with it; he didn't take any notice even when I changed hands and it's not even a riding whip but a pretty long in-hand one, so I was pretty pleased with that. Lots of transitions and working on the forwards energy, as you could see from his spook he isn't that energetic about things and I feel the Iberian in him is hiding for now!!!
Moralejo worked on slow, slow, slow in the trot and lots of rein back. This is by no means collection work, purely slowing the trot and keeping him off my hands so that at SOME point, if we keep progressing, we will be able to develop the trot into something worthwhile. I have to say it's not always easy to keep patient through this work as it isn't consistent as yet but he just feels so much better. There's a tiny bit of vid here and for comparison here is an old vid (for my reference) of a broken pone earlier in the year. After 30 mins school work we went down the field and cantered up the field a couple of times :-) both canter leads felt strong and we both enjoyed the feeling!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKkGLTkj5SM
Moralejo worked on slow, slow, slow in the trot and lots of rein back. This is by no means collection work, purely slowing the trot and keeping him off my hands so that at SOME point, if we keep progressing, we will be able to develop the trot into something worthwhile. I have to say it's not always easy to keep patient through this work as it isn't consistent as yet but he just feels so much better. There's a tiny bit of vid here and for comparison here is an old vid (for my reference) of a broken pone earlier in the year. After 30 mins school work we went down the field and cantered up the field a couple of times :-) both canter leads felt strong and we both enjoyed the feeling!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKkGLTkj5SM
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