Little to say at the moment. The recent snow in the UK has made playing with horses outdoors impossible for us. The outdoor school is frozen and covered and the fields are also in a bad state.
The snag is that with 40 horses at the yard the indoor school, which is small, is heavily used and so difficult to get training time in.
I have still managed to get some stuff done with Filly. Quite a lot of liberty when the school is empty, and online work when not. This enforced non-riding period has allowed me to polish up all those ground work skills that I have been neglecting. For example we have been practising lots of sideways towards me in preparation for using a fence or mounting block to mount from.
I have also been working on making lowering the head much lighter. I can now ask her to lower her head at liberty and then keep it down as I lightly rest my arm on her neck. This is just a basic follow the feel exercise which translates into lighter rein cues when riding and lighter lead rope when leading.
I have also been working on the circling game to just improve her maintenance of her responsibilities. Again this should lead to lighter riding. If she maintains gait, maintains direction and looks where she is going I have the ultimate in lightness as I don't need to use any cues at all unless I want to change something.
The snag is that with 40 horses at the yard the indoor school, which is small, is heavily used and so difficult to get training time in.
I have still managed to get some stuff done with Filly. Quite a lot of liberty when the school is empty, and online work when not. This enforced non-riding period has allowed me to polish up all those ground work skills that I have been neglecting. For example we have been practising lots of sideways towards me in preparation for using a fence or mounting block to mount from.
I have also been working on making lowering the head much lighter. I can now ask her to lower her head at liberty and then keep it down as I lightly rest my arm on her neck. This is just a basic follow the feel exercise which translates into lighter rein cues when riding and lighter lead rope when leading.
I have also been working on the circling game to just improve her maintenance of her responsibilities. Again this should lead to lighter riding. If she maintains gait, maintains direction and looks where she is going I have the ultimate in lightness as I don't need to use any cues at all unless I want to change something.
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