Back To Max...

Since Max got the weekend off, I decided it was time to get back into the swing of things Monday, starting with my weekly lesson (I took Monday off from work to "recover" from Ft. MacArthur).

I started with the usual warm-up and it was interesting. With the corrective shoeing, Max seems to have become more energenic lately so where before it was a struggle to keep Max in a trot or to go into a canter, I know have to hold Max back from immediately launching into the canter. I do a lot of sitting trot exercises to train Max to realize that I don't always want speed but it takes some reminding when I first start to ride him.

Next, we had some issues with the left lead canter- like earlier this year, Max is refusing to go into the left lead canter and I've had some fights with him to include bucking. Eventually he'll do it but it seems that he explodes into the canter on the left lead. My trainer says that he's using his hindquarters more. There's no signs of injury or soreness but it's curious.

We worked hard through the lesson and Max began to become more relaxed and compliant as we proceeded. We also worked on a lot of leg yields at the sitting trot and began work on moving on the forehand. Moving on the forehand is pretty tricky because I tend to leg too hard and dig in with the spur but with practice, this should improve. My trainer also recommends that I don't practice a lot of these because it tends to frustrate Max if I do these for too long- better to do fewer but more correct movements than a lot of poor ones. I also don't take too many steps- just a little at a time. This is sort of like when I was training on side passes- it took awhile but Max seems to have learned it (along with me).

Well, that's all for now...