Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Looks like ...

... my ride days this week are Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Bleh; I'd have liked to ride last night, but work and life conspired, as they do. Fortunately, I have no other such conspiracies brewing this week! I might even get to ride tomorrow, but only if I get to work really early. It's my goal to ride tomorrow too, so we'll see.

So what I'm working on this week is still contact, but achieving it through less fussing than I had been doing. I want to keep Rev's neck long and stretched from wither to poll, and I want her to lower her poll. I will work to do that through consistent, soft contact through the outside rein and little gives and takes on the inside rein -- unless, of course, she hangs on the right rein, whether it's inside or outside, and in that case, I'll give and take on the right rein until she stops hanging. The other part of this equation is keeping her moving forward, getting her hind end pushing through. This I'll work to accomplish through non-clumsy leg aids and then seat aid. When she responds, I stop asking. And I'll keep an "eye" out for her haunches and shoulders falling in and out (depending on which direction we're going) and work to keep those in line with leg and weight aids backed up by rein aids.

*nodnod* Yes. This is the plan.


AND ... I had wanted to save more money for this, but ... I will end up spending a good bit of my tax return money on putting Rev in full training starting May 15, so MT can take her to Golden Spike in June. Good grief, JUNE? Not far away! Anyway, I'd thought I might get a Point Two airjacket, but ... I think investing in Rev's training (and my own) is a better safety measure in the end. I'll get a Point Two eventually, but not right away.

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