For the most part, I've been able to continue my three times a week riding schedule on Camaro. Now and then I've substituted a longeing session for a ride. And last week, I just had to drop to two work sessions for him rather than three or else I was just going to go nuts trying to juggle everything (we had family Christmas with DH's side of the family last weekend). I'm hoping to get three rides in this week even though there's more Christmas gatherings looming.
A few times we've worked outside, typically on a longeing day. He is calmer and less distractable outside than he was even this Spring. I'm really glad for that. Once I get pasture fences in (the Spring) and stalls built in my barn (over this winter) and move him home to this little place here, we'll be riding outside every ride because that's all I have here. Lots and lots of outside and zero indoor riding space.
When I look back over this whole year of riding Camaro, I truly see a lot of progress. From week to week and sometimes month to month it hasn't felt like we've changed that much, but when I look at him now compared to pictures I took of him early in 2022, WOW! This horse has gotten muscle! He has buns of steel; patting his hindquarters is like patting a rock wall. What I was afraid was his neck becoming too cresty (he does have metabolic syndrome, after all) is actually his upper neck muscles finally being developed more than his underneck. It was really cool to hear his chirovet tell me in late November that he is in the best shape she has ever seen him, and she remembers doing his pre-purchase exam when his former owner bought him almost six years ago when he was 8. To be in better condition at nearly 14, well, that's awesome!
Our longeing sessions haven't been the 'let the horse zoom around at the end of the line like you're flying a kite' kind of exercise. Nope, I've been using those sessions to school transitions into and out of the canter. And he's really liking that. His canter departs under saddle are miles and miles better than they were six months ago; so smooth. And his trot is improving too, except right now it's kind of hard to tell under saddle because that's where the suspected saddle fit issues are showing up--trotting with a rider's weight on his back. But on the longe, without the extra baggage (me), what a trot!
Under saddle we do a little cantering, a little more trotting, but I've really been focusing the last dozen rides on walk work. Things like: suppling (2-3 steps left bend, straighten, then 2-3 steps right bend, straighten, repeat. . .), precision in the movements, beginning to play between collected walk and working walk, asking him to do just one sideways (leg yield) step every 3-4 strides down the long wall in addition to asking for leg yield from quarterline to the wall, or from centerline to quarterline back to centerline to other quarterline, lots of 10 meter circles both off the wall and at X when crossing on the diagonal or riding the centerline, 3 and 4 loop serpentines.
The leg yields continue to improve slowly. He seems to especially love when we work on square turns and by the end of those rides he just moves so much more proud of himself. It's kind of funny to go from warm up where he's "ho-hum doing this again" to feeling him swagger around 30 minutes later like he's Mr. Cool the dressage superstar.
No comments:
Post a Comment