I hope you & your family had a great Thanksgiving!
This week, we were back to full-time riding. Rowdy did much better loping under saddle. He's not quite where I would like him to be, but he is doing much better than those first initial rides & which we will continue to build upon further. I incorporated a dressage whip to give a clearer signal, as the end of my rein didn't have much effect.
Tuesday, we also began to transition into the snaffle bit. Rowdy has wanted to lean on the bit to the left, so we spent a fair bit of time doing some groundwork to lighten him up before we ride in the snaffle for the first time tomorrow (Sunday).
Overall, as Rowdy's loping continues to level up in responsiveness, I'm confident in his ability to progress at a pretty good rate, as he doesn't get worked up about much. On Wednesday, Dr. Kendal Smith made it up to work on horses.
Here are my notes from Rowdy's session:
Carrying neck to L
Withers to R
Sternum to R
Few vertebrae in back stuck up to the L
T1 & 1st rib on R
L side of pubic symphysis
Both sides of pelvis were up (R side a bit more so) - a pretty normal thing to find in most horses.
Dr. Kendal was confident that whatever caused these things to be out or stuck was from months ago (potentially, his incident when tied on the day of arrival). She also recommended having him go through 30 days of a psyllium husk product to take care of any sand, which potentially could be contributing to his unwillingness to move out well at the lope.
Next week's update will be posted on Friday.
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