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| Seen in the distance here, alternate poles were on the low setting of the blocks, the alternate ones were only raised on the low setting on the outside. All poles were striped to help the pilot. |
We started walking around the circle, me focusing on our track and bend, him dealing with stepping over the poles. EM revealed to us back in the fall how much both of us can struggle with a single pole. So we walked a few circles until we were smoothly stepping over each pole. Then we picked up the trot and went right into it again. Again, sometimes he would end up almost under the pole too much to step up, so we trotted until we got it evenly and smoothly again.
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| Sometimes after work you just need to sit on your pony while he grazes |
Next was canter, four strides fit smoothly between poles, but it still took a minute to get that. Again, the bend and track were mine, sorting out his feet was his. Off both leads if he had to take a "long spot" over the pole, he was more likely to fling through his outside shoulder, loose the bend, and change leads. I struggled to create the inside bend without just bending his neck. The feel was the same that I've harped on before, aim for the inside-middle of the pole, leg yield out to hit the middle of the pole. We took a break and then worked on five strides. To the left we got it done the first time, but the right took a few tries. As we were going over the pole I needed to be aiming for the next one.
After that, we took a walk around the field and did a few trot XC fences. He hasn't walked fences in a month or two since PW was doing it with him, but it seemed like a nice day to bring back that idea (I'm not brave or coordinated enough to walk fences that are bigger than 18", but I can certainly trot them). The rhythm and track were mine, "1-2-1-2-1-2", the jump was his. He rolled over his shoulder a bit to the bigger log, but rocked back and jumped the novice roll top beautifully. We called it a day on that note.
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| That guy. Confident and lovely over it. |
Throughout this ride (and every ride), I'm desperately trying to keep in mind that every aid should have a purpose and response. I most easily get tricked into tapping with my legs every stride to keep the motor going. But to quote JV, "every aid creates tension", so minimizing unnecessary aids is essential. Constantly running through my head: Am I nudging every stride because? Or am I using a soft leg aid when he slows or needs assistance creating bend or direction. Is he responding appropriately to each leg aid based on the magnitude of the aid? If I had to use anything other than a light touch/brush, then did I go back and test the lightest aid again? NBD, just trying to keep approximately 100 things straight in my head at one time while controlling all of my own body parts and noticing all of his body parts.
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| Cutest ears and shadow - I love that you can see his forelock in the shadow |
