Though it was a shorter week, the boys continued to ride & progress great!
Last Sunday, Rowdy got to make the trip to the indoor arena in Bloomfield with me & a few other horses. Once again, he loaded, unloaded, & stood tied at the trailer great. We had another great ride in the indoor arena. Everything had improved since our trip two weeks prior. Some riders from the previous day had left some barrels & logs set up so we got to utilize them during our ride. By the time it was Rowdy's time to ride, we had to share the arena with a couple of other gals.
This week, we continued to increase our responsiveness to Sidepassing, Shoulder In/Out, & the start of the Turnaround. Rowdy's softness with both lateral & vertical flexion at the walk & trot has continued to advance & we've also begun to work on Vertical Flexion at the Lope, which didn't require a lot of teaching for Rowdy. In the video, you'll see how they're still in that "head bob" stage as they're finding that comfortable spot to soften to. That will improve further over the next week. I also introduced Draw to Walk Transitions, which went very well.
Yesterday (Wednesday), the boys both got to ride in a shanked bit for the first time. Rowdy did well with it. I did have to help him a bit more laterally as he primarily wanted to soften vertically when one rein was picked up on.
Next week, we'll continue to build & refine the softness & responsiveness in all areas while focusing on outside riding.
Next week's update will be posted on Friday.
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