LadyGascoyne
Well-Known Member
Some of you will know that I managed to injure my neck in early February - slipping on ice whilst carrying a bale of hay- which resulted in a no-riding order for six weeks. Lessons have been learned!
Mimosa had the time off having done very little over winter anyway. I started up again at the end of March, on her fifth birthday. I also bought her a lovely Arabian Saddle Company saddle which is the comfiest saddle I’ve ever had and actually doesn’t slip which, when you have a horse the shape of a heavily pregnant llama, is a minor miracle.
So far we have halt, rein-back, turn-on-the-forehand, circles, bending and all forms of halt/walk/trot transitions in place.
But we don’t have canter yet. It was always going to be a struggle for her. She has a good walk, a very nice trot, a terrifying yet impressive gallop but has somehow always cantered like a drunk Shetland on stilts- tiny strides on long gangly legs. And of course when it becomes unbalanced, she has a buck that would make a cowboy shake in their boots.
I’ve worked on the basis of trying to get a few strides uphill out in the fields, and one or two on the flat area that I’m using to school them. She finds working on the lunge harder as circles require more balance so it’s been my only option. Over the last few weeks she’s started to anticipate that I’ll ask her to canter and I can feel the lack of confidence creep into her trot work which is the last thing I want.
So last weekend, we ditched the schooling and got out the western saddle, and we’ve been bombing around the farm all week. She is absolutely loving it, and today I got a good few strides of not a terrible canter up the hill. She’s absolutely in her element. I think we might even be drafted in to move some cows in the next few weeks ?
I’m excited to go back to schooling in a few weeks and I really feel she’ll have a new level of confidence and balance by then. The difference in her way of going has been enormous since last year and I think once we have canter in place, we will really be on our way.
My first day back on board, her 5th birthday
What trot is like:
What canter looks like:
Spring blossom and fuzzy, roany spring palomino. So much like a baby pigeon.
Five year old logic - sprinklers are fun:
Water is scary:
Pulling off the chilled out western horse look. I could leave her tied up outside a saloon any day:
And a perfect Mimosa moment - supermodel looks... if only she wasn’t guzzling grass ?
Mimosa had the time off having done very little over winter anyway. I started up again at the end of March, on her fifth birthday. I also bought her a lovely Arabian Saddle Company saddle which is the comfiest saddle I’ve ever had and actually doesn’t slip which, when you have a horse the shape of a heavily pregnant llama, is a minor miracle.
So far we have halt, rein-back, turn-on-the-forehand, circles, bending and all forms of halt/walk/trot transitions in place.
But we don’t have canter yet. It was always going to be a struggle for her. She has a good walk, a very nice trot, a terrifying yet impressive gallop but has somehow always cantered like a drunk Shetland on stilts- tiny strides on long gangly legs. And of course when it becomes unbalanced, she has a buck that would make a cowboy shake in their boots.
I’ve worked on the basis of trying to get a few strides uphill out in the fields, and one or two on the flat area that I’m using to school them. She finds working on the lunge harder as circles require more balance so it’s been my only option. Over the last few weeks she’s started to anticipate that I’ll ask her to canter and I can feel the lack of confidence creep into her trot work which is the last thing I want.
So last weekend, we ditched the schooling and got out the western saddle, and we’ve been bombing around the farm all week. She is absolutely loving it, and today I got a good few strides of not a terrible canter up the hill. She’s absolutely in her element. I think we might even be drafted in to move some cows in the next few weeks ?
I’m excited to go back to schooling in a few weeks and I really feel she’ll have a new level of confidence and balance by then. The difference in her way of going has been enormous since last year and I think once we have canter in place, we will really be on our way.
My first day back on board, her 5th birthday
What trot is like:
What canter looks like:
Spring blossom and fuzzy, roany spring palomino. So much like a baby pigeon.
Five year old logic - sprinklers are fun:
Water is scary:
Pulling off the chilled out western horse look. I could leave her tied up outside a saloon any day:
And a perfect Mimosa moment - supermodel looks... if only she wasn’t guzzling grass ?
