Roam had a big week this week, mainly due to today's ride. We continued to ride on the place for most of the week since the arena was still a bit soggy. Since we were on somewhat rocky ground, I hadn't asked him to do any loping. At the trot, he had done well. We were finally able to get into the arena today. When first asked to lope during our pre-ride groundwork, he gave a couple of hops, though he came out of those alright & loped nicely around me. Once in the saddle, he had a few minor tense moments. We spent time working on One Rein Stops, his gas pedal (a big area of focus right now), & Cruising. When I first started to ask for the lope, he would get a little worried, wanting to brace his head & neck & scoot sideways a bit. Once we got going, he got some good loping practice in, as I suspect he has done very little of that in the past. It's important that he get more & more confident at the lope.
Today, we also got a bath & mane rebraided & tail wrapped. He sure enjoyed bath time today after his loping session.
At this point, Roam is not quite ready to head out to Fort Rob. I would like to see him be a little softer. Those moments where he gets stiff in his head & neck when he gets a bit tense won't be ideal should he become surprised by something during our rides at the Fort. However, Roam will likely be my main mount during my Ranch Retreat here in September & will get some great trail experience then.
Next week, we'll continue to work on One Rein Stops & Cruising & improving his responsiveness to my legs when asking him to go forward, particularly at the lope.
- Lexy Nuesch
Next week's update will be posted on Wednesday.
I do my best to get these updates posted in a timely manner, but it's not uncommon for me to be outside until after dark, depending on the weather, my schedule, & who gets worked when so updates will sometimes be posted quite late in the evening. Don't be alarmed if you don't see your update right away. In rare cases, I may have to push them until the next morning, but I'll reach out & let you know if so.
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