Friday 11 January 2008

Thanks Crunchie its Friday!

Havent done much the past few days with all the rain and wind so today I was determind to be productive.

Did my cleaning as soon as I got in from work then headed up to the farm. Did my usual poo picking then tacked AliG up hoping the school would be free when I rode over...it wasnt my friend was having a lesson but it was just about finished so we waited.
Ali had a little bit of attitude on him as he just wanted to spend the time wandering around gazing at the horses in the field around the school so he got a few taps with the whip to which he does a little toss and flick of his head in disgust:))
He settled down but does get distracted so easily and his work is a bit inconsistent in that he will focus for a few minutes but then you can almost feel him drifting off again.Got some very nice work in trot and then we had a little canter on each rein at the end.He has this habit of getting really close to the arena fence where im hitting it with my leg and foot which he did when we cantered down the long side so I gave him tap to move him over it was a weird cos his seemed to suspend the canter and it felt like we were 5ft off the ground.... but I did like it!

I then took Polo over,I decided to put him pelham in to see if I could get a bit more softness and steady him up without having to resort to a strong contact at times.He was very forward when we got in so I did some lateral work to get him thinking then some trot which he wanted to power around.I kept giving him little squeezes which helped but lots of transitions seems to be the key for him. So we did lots of the walk to halt,halt to trot,reinback to walk or trot etc..it was really harnessing his power and gets him using himself,towards the end when he was going into trot the sensation was incredible.He was bit more unbalanced on the left rein and took longer to settle but we got there.
Halfway through the neddies in the field all started galloping up towards the school well this got Polo's attention and he was snorting and passaging around feet barely touching the ground.I did what Ryan had told me to do and kept him working channelling the energy.I was laughing my head off as I get a twisted buzz from being slightly out of control at times but was half expecting a huge buck or spin and to go flying..but luckily he didnt do anything nasty!
Had a little canter towards the end,he's struggling to collect even slightly after doing no school work for such a long time, it doesnt come naturally to him anyway the way he's bred, but it felt more balanced then last time.Will have to play a bit more with his canter on hacks shortening it and stop galloping around all the time:))

Enjoyed it today they were so different but equally good fun.

5 comments:

Jean said...

With his Standardbred breeding, I was wondering how Polo's canter was. The few Standardbreds I've ridden/known tended to have a little trouble getting good rhythm and balance in the canter. Love the breed, though. Their trots are wonderful and they really seem to have good attitudes.

AliG seems to be a typical youngster with a "2 minute" attention span unless he is totally occupied with something he considers interesting. Good boy, but still a little kid's brain in his head. *G*

Claire said...

well done polo not sending you off - nothing scarier than seeing a herd of horses hoolying towards you and not knowing what yours is going to do about it.

Nicola said...

He has a lovely comfortable canter out on a hack he struggles to collect and balance on circles so tends to run on and fall in. It does improve with work but he definately finds it hard.
The trot is like nothing you feel on a 'normal' horse plus he's a big mover anyway.

In the past Polo would have explode with those horse's galloping around it just couldnt help himself so he's doing much better at containing himself...well if bouncing around passaging is containing himself:))

Im hoping to get some lessons started im at a bit of a loss to know what to do with Ali in the school.He's so different to what im used to so im not sure where to start really.

Muriel said...

oh great session with Polo. You are brave girl! But he obviously trust you :-)

AliG being "cold headed" will defy your leadership. It is what I understood with Linda and Morgan both very "cold" and levelled headed horses, so they are less easily impressed, so they challenge much more.

The head tossing was giving you a Finger ... sorry but it is, you ought to get that young man to mind his manners or soon he will challenges you more and more.

I am know you won't get impressed but NH ( Maxwell or Parelli or whatever) gets better results without the need to wallop the horse.

cptrayes said...

/// Iget a twisted buzz from being slightly out of control at times///

Now why does that strike a chord with me :-))) ?