The biggest thing I got out of the lesson is that he still doesn't have enough bend on the circle - his body is straight and he's traveling sort of diagonally. We worked on spiral in/out and focused on another Dr. Deb Bennettism, which is that "if paint is dripping from his nose and his tail, there should be one line of paint on the ground where you've ridden." It helped me a lot; his nose wasn't even on the circle before I started thinking in terms of paint.
I'm responsible for Saturday and Sunday stalls for the two weekends they're gone, and I decided to give him a break from riding for a few days too. After finishing up chores today, I took advantage of our first and last 50 degree day for at least the next week by pulling his mane (I don't pull manes under 50 degrees!):
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| Aunt Mary is delighted, she recoiled in horror when she saw how long his mane was in the videos from a few weeks ago. |
And I took some new conformation shots to go along with it - it's been a while since my last monthly conformation shot!
We also tried on bell boots - he has started clipping his front feet with his hind feet, which I am delighted about on one level - my long-backed pony wasn't even close to tracking up when I first got him, let alone hitting himself. On another level, that's not a good thing and he has small cuts there, so we need to take care of those and let them heal.
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| Also FEATHERS!! |
Beautiful sunny day, won't you stay a little while longer?
Wow! He looks great and strong in those conformation pictures. Katai was still off today and exceptionally "mareish" so I know how that goes.
ReplyDeleteThanks! Poor Katai, it has to be the season/weather. I've just given up for a few days, we've had an intense few weeks here, it's probably time to let it sink in/let him adjust to the temperature swings.
DeleteHe looks really nice (and SUPER shiny)!! You need to buy him sheepskin overreach boots, he'd look great in them!
ReplyDeleteOooh, those would look awesome under saddle! Good call. Those would definitely not be for turnout, though. ;-)
DeleteYes definitely not for turn out! But definitely for training! And when you start eventing you could get PATENT colourful ones that would make you all super matchy matchy!! :D
ReplyDeleteHe looks absolutely gorgeous. Look at all his muscle!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I think I have Dressage to thank for the muscle.
DeleteHe looks so good! I am dreading this coming week's weather, especially after these warmish days.
ReplyDeleteMe too, it's going to make it feel so much worse.
DeleteSuper, shiny, handsome pony!
ReplyDeleteShiny because I used Vetrolin shine spray. ;-) Clips do so little for coat quality.
DeleteHe looks great!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteAw, he's so handsome with his tidy pulled mane. =-)
ReplyDeleteHe looks great! Would you please come pull my horse's mane? He looks like a wild man after me letting it grow all winter. Oh, and he hates having his mane pulled - I put an hour into it today and didn't get very far...*sigh*
ReplyDeleteI had one of those once, Venice, the pony Mary and I owned in college, was like that. It took hours to pull his mane, we could only do a couple inches at a time. Somehow she still had it neatly pulled all the time though... Connor doesn't mind it, I can even pull big chunks and the most he does is arch his neck in the direction away from the pull, like he's trying to help. Ha!
DeleteYou know what they say about posting cute pony photos...
ReplyDeleteWe're due for a mane pull too. :D I'm riding in bell boots but leaving them off for turnout. Here's hoping it works out!
ReplyDelete