I do feel Basil and I have made a little progress this
month. I have had some glimpses of
calmness and rhythm. I am looking at
some new bitting options but don't want to rush into buying the wrong
thing. Tommy has been better to get in
at night this month which is a relief and Chesney's feet are coping with the
wet so far - fingers crossed. I am
definitely noticing the days getting a bit longer now too and there are a few
signs of Spring :)
My Aims for January were:
1. Calmness
2. Rhythm
3. Suppleness -
in every pace :(
4. Improved
brakes!
5. Correct
canter leads
I know these are fairly basic aims, but after the last few
months we really needed to go back to basics!
This is what January looked like:
1st - Rained ALL day :(
2nd - rode in the arena today. It was a bit icy so we stuck to the track when
we trotted which is level. We did some
walk serpentines but mostly practised the walk, halt, walk, trot, walk, halt,
walk, trot exercise that we were doing at the end of December. Getting better at it too.
4th - rode in the arena again today. Practised the same exercise and I am
definitely getting an improved reaction now.
Our canter was not too strong and the trot serpentines were pretty good
although they were better from the left rein today!
7th - I got Basil in to ride today but he wouldn't hold his
foot up to be picked out. This is very
unusual for him as he is really good to have his feet done so I decided he had
twinged something and it was better not to ride. I popped him back in the field.
9th - Basil seemed fine today so I rode him in the
arena. After taking it gently until I
was sure he was OK I carried on with our exercises. We got some pretty good walk and trot
serpentines and canters as Basil got the correct leads and wasn't too strong or
too fast. We had some nice loops in walk
and trot but as usual the trot became a bit fast as Basil was expecting to
canter.
10th - again in the arena.
Good halts today and again some good serpentines in walk and trot and
good loops. Turn on forehand today too
but he is MUCH better off the left rein when doing these. Our first canters on each rein were good but
as so often happens the next ones he anticipates and trots faster then gets the
wrong lead. Eventually we got the right
leading leg!
Lots of icy days:(
14th - everything is
too icy today. When I got Basil in
tonight he was fine but about 20minutes later I thought he had colic as he
started digging up his stable and kicking.
He had eaten his tea though. I
watched him for about 30 minutes and he didn't have another episode so I rang
the vet and we decided he had probably just had some trapped wind and if he was
OK for another hour I didn't need to worry.
He was fine.
17th - lunged today -
first time for a while. Basil had great
fun cantering around and bucking.
18th - arena and did the walk, halt, walk, trot exercise
which we are getting good at. If I can
keep Basil calm our canter transitions are fine BUT it is tricky getting the
balance right with him to prepare him with the right bend and impulsion but not
get him over excited.
20th - good lunging session today.
21st - Hack out today, as it has been a while he was very
speedy from beginning to end. We ended
up doing lots of trotting and going a different way so that he had to trot back
up a steep hill - all in an effort to try to stop him getting too silly.
24th - arena. Today we did the usual walk, halt, walk, trot
exercise again. Today we tried something
new to try to improve our canter transitions.
We walked the loop, then trotted the loop concentrating on changing the
bend then as we went out of the short end took up canter. It worked Basil was calm but had impulsion
and the correct bend so we had some nice canters :) Trot serpentines were a bit speedy though.
28th - arena again today, much better, felt lighter and not
as strong. Again we did the loops in
walk and then trot before cantering. We
also cantered some circles today. Trot
serpentines still a bit rushed - it is because I always do them after we canter
and Basil is just thinking we are going to canter again. Must do them first!
29th - lunged and Basil was very good.
31st - arena. Pleased
as Basil didn't let all the activity on the farm behind upset him. Loops today and nice walk serpentines. First canter was on both reins, felt light and not too strong
or too fast. Then got rushy again. Struck
wrong on right rein then kept anticipating and running on. Eventually got right lead and then cantered
around for much longer than usual to see if he got tired and slowed down - he
didn't!
My Aims for February are:
1. Calmness
2. Rhythm
3. Suppleness -
in every pace :(
4. Improved
brakes!
5. Correct
canter leads
6. Turn
on forehand
7. Leg
yield
Horse Life and Love. Please check it out and SUBSCRIBE.
You can also follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for updates on Chesney, Basil, Tommy and Daisy.
Until next time!
Jo
No comments:
Post a Comment