Cob Jockey

I think I'm finally ready to talk about Connor's warmup without feeling like I'm going to jinx it.

Close your ears, just in case.

I've written in the past about how it takes him like 40 minutes before we get really good work.  How the first part of every ride is a slogfest of me trying everything under the sun to get him going.

And...I'm just going to let these recent ride times speak for themselves.

Ignore that outlier in the middle, the Equisense malfunctioned.

That amazing canter leg yield ride I wrote about yesterday?  It was 25 minutes long because it got so good so fast.  Super productive rides of less than 30 minutes have been consistent since January 1.

Here's what we're doing:

1. Lunging, suggested by you guys.  For like...less than five minutes each side.  Maybe even closer to 3 minutes.  Just until he's forward with an open throatlatch and I see him softly chew the bit.


2. Setting the tone that, from the second I get on his back, we're there to work.

3. Learning to identify things like the right amount of impulsion and when a particular hind leg isn't joining the party instead of trying everything under the sun and hoping something works.

4. I hate to bring purely anecdotal evidence into the "Does BoT work?" conversation, but...Back on Track.  I've been letting him stand under his saddle pad, quarter sheet and his non-BoT cooler while I'm grooming him, then he lunges with the quarter sheet on.  The first "productive and short" ride was also the first time he wore the BoT.  No idea if the ceramic fiber heat thing is working, if he just likes the saddle pad better than our other pads, or if it's just a super crazy coincidence, but there it is.  And I am superstitiously not going to change a thing.


We've had enough rides in a row like this, even when I've had to take a break for travel, that it seems to have stuck.  We can be productive in 30 minutes or less instead of our usual 50-60 minutes.  And I feel a heck of a lot better going into the clinic with a horse that can show up and get to work.  So happy!