Last night I decided to work Max and practice some of the things I have been learning from my trainer. As usual, Max was a bit sluggish at first ("Huh? You want me to do WHAT? Work?") but with a bit of urging, Max began to fire up. For a little variety, I decided to start Max on the track and then moved to the trails leading up and down the wash. I used a combination of trotting and cantering, keeping Max on the move. I then returned to the track, working on trot/canter transitions.
Finally, as it became dark, we went into the arena and worked some more on walk/trot/canter transitions. By this time, Max was pretty energenic and was completely responsive to my cues. I also practiced riding without stirrups and even did some exercises with the reins where I'd ride at a canter and alternate leaning far back and far forward, while maintaining balance and not putting any pressure on Max's mouth. Sort of high-speed stretching exercises. The whole idea is to also maintain the horse's canter while changing body position. Overall, it was pretty successful but it's a bit more difficult to do while cantering to the left.
I concluded by neck reining, making various tight turns and spins by using my legs and keeping almost no tension on the reins. The other thing I worked on is transferring my weight to the calves rather than the stirrups. This ensures a more secure seat and provides some relief for the horse's back. The downside is that this requires a bit of building up the calve muscles more- kind of an extended totting without stirrups. It's tough but worth it in the end.
Finally, as it became dark, we went into the arena and worked some more on walk/trot/canter transitions. By this time, Max was pretty energenic and was completely responsive to my cues. I also practiced riding without stirrups and even did some exercises with the reins where I'd ride at a canter and alternate leaning far back and far forward, while maintaining balance and not putting any pressure on Max's mouth. Sort of high-speed stretching exercises. The whole idea is to also maintain the horse's canter while changing body position. Overall, it was pretty successful but it's a bit more difficult to do while cantering to the left.
I concluded by neck reining, making various tight turns and spins by using my legs and keeping almost no tension on the reins. The other thing I worked on is transferring my weight to the calves rather than the stirrups. This ensures a more secure seat and provides some relief for the horse's back. The downside is that this requires a bit of building up the calve muscles more- kind of an extended totting without stirrups. It's tough but worth it in the end.
No comments:
Post a Comment