Belle....11/17/11

I did something I normally don't do anymore, I rushed the ride.  Between the dark and a 4H meeting, I knew I didn't have much time on Belle.  So, I didn't do any groundwork today.  It showed a little when I first got on, BUT Belle is progressing nicely and she got "right" pretty quickly.

We spent most of the ride in our big pen.  Worked on trotting a lot of straight lines.  As with most young horses, she wants to push her shoulders back and forth.  But with just some minor corrections, she travels pretty straight.  We also worked on stops.  Stops are pretty important for everyone, you want your horse responsive and soft when asking for that release from the bit.  So once she was a little winded (it's easier to ask for a stop when the horse wants to stop!), I put a little pressure on the bit.  The reward is in the release, so as soon as she stopped and gave me a little release at the mouth....I released the pressure on her.  I had stated awhile back that horse training is pretty boring to the untrained eye.....there are three keys....repetition, repetition, repetition!  Doing the same things, the same way...consistently!