Only for 15 min, but it was nice to actually have a some what productive ride. I lunged him then worked over some poles that I scattered around the indoor. He was a little hot tonight but with lower work load, and the birds that are trying to nest in one end of the indoor, it was a little expected.
He did try and pull his 'I don't want to' when I asked him to trot off but I put the boots to him, and he came around to my way of thinking. Its not taking much, just two or three quick kicks with my legs enough to startle him to trot off. I did have to pull it out twice, which might have been the result of me quitting so early last ride but we did get over it and have some decent trot work until I had to stop for air.
GHM asked why I didn't carry a whip, and it is something we have thought about on and off for a while. It took us a long time to desensitize him from thinking that we were going to 'beat' him with a lot of things... we have smacked him with the end of the western reins without too much excitement but we are a bit worried that a dressage whip may cause issues. I also can't show with one so I need to have options for when this happens when I wont have access to a whip. Its still on the table, but we're still just taking about it and thinking about it.
1 comment:
Glad to hear you got a ride in and it was productive.
About carrying a crop. I had a lazy horse once and I never used the crop I only had to hold it and he would move out. Then again I've had horses who might be like Lucas who would be afraid of it, so I guess it comes down to doing whatever works with the horse you have. Have fun riding.
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