For most of yesterday I felt pretty terribly sick...and today was not much better, but I didn't want to give Pogo too much time off so I racked my brain on some fun, non stressful exercises we could do on the ground that wouldn't leave me passed out from gasping for air chasing him around or doing something else silly that leaves me laughing hysterically at him... (good thing I'm not reading this out loud because that last run-on sentence would have put me in my death bed...I am so freaking sick!!!)
So we went out just to lunge after about an hour of grooming (there is some nice pretty steel gray underneath his white baby fuzz!!!) and thinking back I am not sure we ever totally established cantering nicely on the lunge line...I mean it happened but he was too weak to carry it for a full circle around me and certainly not without using the walls for balance....also this week we have worked on walk to canter transitions, pogo likes them, a lot :)
SO this all culminates to now, I walk into the arena, look at Pogo, tell him to go walk...and he walks, about three strides and as if he says "look what I can do!" he displays the most beautiful walk to canter on his own and does his hunter lope around me....yeah I almost died, laughed hysterically, gasping for air (so much for not almost dying, haha) - he eventually realized he was being a silly tool and got back to business.
We worked on some raised cavalletti also and that was also pretty great. He was seeking the poles with minimal steering on my part with the lunge line, and really stepped well over them. This exercise really loosened his back - his topline really got soft and round and he would poke his little nose out and down around the circle and to the poles. He lengthened his stride and became super cute. It's a shame his work ethic isn't like this all the time. I'm sure he will learn eventually, but if he came out to the arena so supple every day 100% of the time, I'd arguably be sitting on one of the nicest horses in the barn.
So we went out just to lunge after about an hour of grooming (there is some nice pretty steel gray underneath his white baby fuzz!!!) and thinking back I am not sure we ever totally established cantering nicely on the lunge line...I mean it happened but he was too weak to carry it for a full circle around me and certainly not without using the walls for balance....also this week we have worked on walk to canter transitions, pogo likes them, a lot :)
SO this all culminates to now, I walk into the arena, look at Pogo, tell him to go walk...and he walks, about three strides and as if he says "look what I can do!" he displays the most beautiful walk to canter on his own and does his hunter lope around me....yeah I almost died, laughed hysterically, gasping for air (so much for not almost dying, haha) - he eventually realized he was being a silly tool and got back to business.
We worked on some raised cavalletti also and that was also pretty great. He was seeking the poles with minimal steering on my part with the lunge line, and really stepped well over them. This exercise really loosened his back - his topline really got soft and round and he would poke his little nose out and down around the circle and to the poles. He lengthened his stride and became super cute. It's a shame his work ethic isn't like this all the time. I'm sure he will learn eventually, but if he came out to the arena so supple every day 100% of the time, I'd arguably be sitting on one of the nicest horses in the barn.
He is really turning into
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