Again, continued with the same excirsices. I want to make sure she is solid, she doesn’t have to be perfect, she just needs to understand the basic of what I am asking for. Today was the first ride, which is that fine line between being excited and scared for me! It is important to understand that just because she understood (somewhat) give and release on the ground, didn’t mean she was going to remember it once I was in the saddle. The saddle gives a different feel to the horse and then you add the weight of the rider. All of these are new feelings for her. So today for the first ride, I wasn’t so much interested in where we were going as I was just going. I used my stick, tapping her on the hind end while leaning back a little and squeezing with my cheeks (I don’t mean the ones on my face) to encourage forward movement (see previous post - Learn How to Handle Your Tools). I also used the stick to encourage turns into and away from the rail. When I asked her to release one direction or the other, I waived (or tapped, as needed) the stick on the opposite side until she released to the ask at the bit. The one rein stop was alright (although it still needs some work, if I had been asking for more speed she might not have stopped at all). But any flexing at the poll or stopping with two reins was non-existent. Like I said, once the saddle and rider are added to the mix what they remember changes just a little. Overall she is exactly where I thought she would be at this point.
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