A lesson with Henry
Friday was lesson day. I was meant to be having a flat lesson on Coolie to prepare for our dressage competition but since he is resting up, Henry came along instead.
Henry is getting pretty pro at travelling in the float, but he much prefers when his buddy comes along too. We got there and unloaded, tacked up and hopped straight on without too much drama.
We warmed up, spending a bit of time working on my position which seems to be never ending. It has gotten so much better but it was very useful to work on it some more and I get stronger. Then we picked Henry up and worked on turning and leg yielding on a circle in walk and trot.
His turn has improved but I tend to hold with my outside rein a bit and not allow him to turn. As soon as I allow him he just does it! We then worked on lengthening his stride in trot. He found it really hard, breaking into canter. So we just corrected him and kept asking until he did a couple of strides. He will eventually understand what we want but I think it is going to take some time. We worked on flexion and getting him to be more accepting when I ask him to flex right. As soon as I touch the right rein he lifts his head and objects, so I worked on quietly changing the flexion from left to right for 2 strides at a time.
As we were about to canter, another horse came into the arena to be warmed up for their lesson. Henry works fine with other horses in the arena, but has never had someone some in half way. His focus went out the window and he became very tense. We attempted the canter, but Henry attempted a bronc (he's not very good at it, just throws his legs about and rushes forward!). I sat quietly and pushed him forward and rode him though it before coming back to trot. He was getting pretty wound up by this point so we went back to trot work and got him to relax before calling it a day.
I am so glad he played up during our lesson. My coach was able to talk me through what I should do and I feel so much more confident to tackle it at home now. While I feel a little nervous when he does it, I don't feel like I am going to come off and Henry goes back to normal mode pretty quickly. Even better is my coach said you can see it coming a mile off (I can feel it coming from a mile off too) and it's all green baby horse stuff which makes me feel more confidant!
Henry is getting pretty pro at travelling in the float, but he much prefers when his buddy comes along too. We got there and unloaded, tacked up and hopped straight on without too much drama.
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| So shiny! |
His turn has improved but I tend to hold with my outside rein a bit and not allow him to turn. As soon as I allow him he just does it! We then worked on lengthening his stride in trot. He found it really hard, breaking into canter. So we just corrected him and kept asking until he did a couple of strides. He will eventually understand what we want but I think it is going to take some time. We worked on flexion and getting him to be more accepting when I ask him to flex right. As soon as I touch the right rein he lifts his head and objects, so I worked on quietly changing the flexion from left to right for 2 strides at a time.
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| Cute baby horse |
I am so glad he played up during our lesson. My coach was able to talk me through what I should do and I feel so much more confident to tackle it at home now. While I feel a little nervous when he does it, I don't feel like I am going to come off and Henry goes back to normal mode pretty quickly. Even better is my coach said you can see it coming a mile off (I can feel it coming from a mile off too) and it's all green baby horse stuff which makes me feel more confidant!
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