Bits part 1 (kinda sort of)

So I rode Lucas in the new bit tonight and he really seemed to like it (he may have also liked the fact that I wasn't picking on him!) he was frothing at a mouth just a bit (the dressage queen in me was happy with that) and it surprised me that he really seemed to like the rollers, they kept his mind busy and kept him from imagining scary things in the corners of the arena. He really likes the bits that are broken like this, however doesnt like a french link, or even a one joint snaffle (well I dont like riding him in a snaffle, hes too much horse for me if my hands are bad, I need a back up if we get into trouble)... He seems to really want a port for the space it gives his tounge.

He was really accepting of it and it was really easy for me to work him one handed in this. We did a lot of one handed steering and horsemanship maneuvers. I know that it was a bit of me working on D's tips from our lesson last week, but it was much easier to lift his front end with this bit with only a touch of contact and leg rather than me having to really pull on him to get him to listen. Its given me a lot to think about, maybe working in some rollers might be a good idea in our English bit too......


So we did a short ride tonight with one of the kids and her mare (who Lucas was really good with and didn't pin his ears once!). And I did some streaching, drank a ton of juice and water, took a pain pill, and now have a heat pad on my back hoping to keep the pain down tomorrow. Hopefully it works!

The interactive collage http://www.showusyourhands.org/ went over 1000 pictures a couple of days ago. Our deadline for our book submissions was last week, and the editor I've been working with has been awesome. She rode when she was young but after the onset of her arthritis she had to give it up. Some days I don't realize how lucky I am to be able to still be active.