Monday was my day off, but there was still some unwanted excitement. I took Webby out to hand graze him, and I clumsily dropped his lead rope for a second. When Webby realized that I was not holding on to him, he took the opportunity to gallop around the farm for about 15 minutes. I sprinted down the driveway to close the gate so he could not get on the road, but Webby was more interested in causing some mischief with the other horses that had been grazing quietly in their pastures. So he proceeded to run between every pasture to make sure all the other horses knew what was going on, and he would stop sporadically to squeal with a buddy, and then take off again. It took four people to corral and catch him... he can be such a stinker sometimes!
I was supposed to have a lesson on Tuesday, but when I started riding Webby I thought that he felt a little weird in the hindquarters. He was not reaching with his back legs like he normally does and felt very flat. Betsy could also see that he was not moving normally... BECAUSE HE WAS SORE FROM GALLIVANTING! I was bummed that I could only walk him, but it serves him right! That's what he gets for being bad. Silly horse. He is 15 and still acts like a kid!
This morning, I was in the arena on another horse and Jessie was riding Coney (a young Lucitano stallion). I don't know what got into Coney, but Jessie gets the High Flyin' Award! He bucked and spun and wiggled and backed. I really thought she was going to fall off, and I was very impressed that she was able to stick with him. There were times when there was a lot of air between her and the saddle... it was not looking too goo, but she hung on and then worked right through it!
My lesson on Webby went very well! He was still a tad sore, but he seemed to work out of it the longer we worked on stretching and suppling. We had some really good moments were he really stretched through his body and over the topline. We did some haunches in at the cater while leg yielding the shoulder to the outside to help get the inside hind leg quicker. Moving his shoulder around in the counter canter also helped with suppling and balancing him. One of the exercises was a bit challenging, but it helped a lot. I did a 20 meter circle in counter canter and then a 10 meter circle in true canter and then back to the 20 meter counter canter circle. This was tough for Web because it forced him to balance himself. We also worked on the canter depart by doing some turns on the haunches and forehand then leg yielding out slightly before asking for the canter. This series of movements straightened his shoulders and elevated his back so that his inside hind leg could really step up and underneath himself. The first several strides after the departs felt lovely, light, and correct, but then Webby kind of pushes out in his chest and gets heavy in my hands. We ended on a relaxed but very deep trot. We did not push for more in the canter since he was not 100% today, but the plan is to push him a little harder tomorrow. I would really like to get the canter as consistent, through, and powerful as the trot has become.
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