Saturday dawned misty, overcast and with the threat of more rain (it had rained overnight). In short, mud!
I figured that until the rain started pouring down, everything seemed to be a go so I made my way over to the stables about 7:30 am. I soon had Max cleaned up (as best as I could),saddled and tacked and was ready to go by about 8:15 or so. I think rode over to the arena at Gabriellano Park to get ready for Warhorse practice.
After a few phone calls, I determined that Warhorse practice was definately on so I begain to warm Max up. The arena was a but soggy with standing water in a few places but overall, the footing seemed to be fine. I then proceeded to work Max on transitions, starting with walk/halt, trot/halt and finally canter halt. It was a bit difficult getting Max's full attention, no doubt because of the mud and mist (he was energenic though). However, after awhile, Max fell into the groove and we were doing pretty good. We also worked on side passing and various trainsitions and collection- especially canter collection (which is not easy for Max- he's basically building muscles)
Practice went well and Max made an effort to cooperate and he's slowly learning that he's part of a "herd" rather than an individual horse. Definately a good thing! :-) As the practice went on, it began to become very misty and the horses seemed to like it and become more energenic. Finally, after about two hours, we cooled the horses down (you could see steam coming off their manes and hanches) and proceeded home. At this point, the mist turned into full-blown rain so after taking Max home and getting him secured, I celebrated a successful practice with a couple of shots of Port.
From hot Santa Ana winds to mist and rain in a week- only in California, it seems. :-)
I figured that until the rain started pouring down, everything seemed to be a go so I made my way over to the stables about 7:30 am. I soon had Max cleaned up (as best as I could),saddled and tacked and was ready to go by about 8:15 or so. I think rode over to the arena at Gabriellano Park to get ready for Warhorse practice.
After a few phone calls, I determined that Warhorse practice was definately on so I begain to warm Max up. The arena was a but soggy with standing water in a few places but overall, the footing seemed to be fine. I then proceeded to work Max on transitions, starting with walk/halt, trot/halt and finally canter halt. It was a bit difficult getting Max's full attention, no doubt because of the mud and mist (he was energenic though). However, after awhile, Max fell into the groove and we were doing pretty good. We also worked on side passing and various trainsitions and collection- especially canter collection (which is not easy for Max- he's basically building muscles)
Practice went well and Max made an effort to cooperate and he's slowly learning that he's part of a "herd" rather than an individual horse. Definately a good thing! :-) As the practice went on, it began to become very misty and the horses seemed to like it and become more energenic. Finally, after about two hours, we cooled the horses down (you could see steam coming off their manes and hanches) and proceeded home. At this point, the mist turned into full-blown rain so after taking Max home and getting him secured, I celebrated a successful practice with a couple of shots of Port.
From hot Santa Ana winds to mist and rain in a week- only in California, it seems. :-)
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