Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Tuesday on the Ground...

Had to take care of things in the morning, and got a late start. By 10am it was already quite warm (read hot). I'm thankful that I'm not in Arizona!

Warm Up...


Mezza and I started off with the usual groundwork--no round pen unless I trailer out, so I do some short line work--ask for walk and then trotting circles, with yielding the front as she leaves the starting position, and after some circles, I ask for a disengage of the hinds. This is usually followed by disengage from a standstill, and moving the fronts from a standstill. Then we check out desensitizing with the rope, then either a whip or the stick and string, and then the flag. We are at the point where there is rarely a reaction during the desensitizing, which is great. At some point we can go on without all of this, but for now it's my safety check.

Working on Canter...


Now that we've been doing the walk/trot transitions under saddle, and with turnout in the pasture, she is cantering better. Before she was having some issues with stifles catching. I did not want to canter her on a line until that was not an issue. Now, after she's warmed up at walk and trot,  I can add trot/canter transitions to help her strengthen her rear end, and especially her left side, since she prefers her right.

The log, first time...






Then, on to the log. Since she knows how to ground drive, and doesn't mind the ropes on her back legs, I'm introducing a log. I'd like to get so she doesn't mind it, and can accept pulling it. This is the first time she's watched it move on the ground.

Here is a link to the log movie: https://youtu.be/D_dH52jHBLs

She did quite well with this. Afterward we untacked, and took a walk in open space along the canal. We are getting farther. : )

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