December went so quickly, but I did manage to get some riding in and extra over the Christmas break :) Basil has been enjoying working again and likes to try hard to get it right. He is already offering a roundness and looking for a contact but I am not pushing this as he is not very fit yet. Having a few days off at the beginning of December meant I got some extra riding in but the weather has continued to be horrid and this has limited us.
- Calmness
- Rhythm
- Suppleness
- Consistency of bend on left rein
- Halt transitions
- Walk
- Trotting
- Circles, serpentines and changes of rein.
1st - Hacked out! First time in weeks and really pleased as Basil was fairly calm. He got a bit speedy on the way back and we were only out for 20 minutes but still good to be out again.
2nd - Schooled for 25 minutes today. Same as last time but we also had a canter on each rein, just down the long side. Basil has always found cantering much easier than trotting - I guess because he was a racehorse.
4th - Lunged today, mostly good but he was a bit silly with a bit of a buck and canter - un planned!
6th - Schooled again today. Basil kept jumping at a little Robin which was bobbing in and out of the hedge :) However, we managed some good leg yield in walk, 20 metre circles in walk and trot, walk serpentines and a little canter on each rein again.
11th - Lunged and he was pretty good today.
13th - Hacked out again. Not so great today, Basil freaked out at a huge group of crows in a field and spun around and started cantering home. I managed to stop him and turn around but could not get him to go forward and past the crows. I know from experience there is no point in making a huge issue out of it with him so we walked forward into a turn and came home (faster than I would have liked).
18th - Loopy lunging again today, Basil just galloped up and down. Managed a couple of minutes sensible lunging on each rein at the end.
20th - Schooled today, great session. Walk, trot, 20 metre circles, leg yield and 10 metre circles in walk and a canter around the school on each rein.
23rd - Farrier, Tommy was still a bit tricky with his near hind leg. But we got it done. Practise makes perfect.
24th - Lunged today, much better.
25th - Schooling 30 minutes. Great, walk serpentines, leg yield, circles as last time :) Basil is starting to look for a contact again now too.
27th - Hack out, disappointing as Basil would not go past the point where we saw the crows last time. Unfortunately, there were a group of cyclists behind some trees and they were difficult to make out so I don't think that helped. Did not make a big issue, we will get past next time.
28th - Schooling. I put a pole back down so that we could get used to it again. I needn't have worried as it was a total non-issue and Basil went straight over it (no jumping). We walked and trotted over the pole and again did as last time.
29th - Hacked out. We got past our frightening spot today and had a nice ride, still short though.
31st - Lunging, good today. Walk, trot and a little canter.
My January aims for Basil are:
- Calmness
- Rhythm
- Suppleness
- Consistency of bend on left rein
- Halt for more than 2 seconds!
- Encouraging contact
- All transitions
- Circles, serpentines and changes of rein.
Have you seen yesterday's video 'Eating Treats and Mud' on my You Tube channel.
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Until next time!
Jo
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