OMGPONY!

Wow, I had a great ride tonight!  My friend Amy came along and we did some more fiddling with the bridle, adjusted the curb chain and checked the saddle fit.  Then Amy rode Rosie around the arena for about 20 minutes.  She tossed her head a little at the beginning but after Amy worked with her she smoothed right out and settled down. Amy did several rounds of the arena, some small circles and worked her through her gaits.  Then I got on and Amy showed me what she had been doing with the reins and how she found the best response from Rosie. Let me tell you, it was like riding a different horse altogether compared to the other couple of times I’ve ridden!

There’s a lot less bit chewing going on, no head tossing and lots & lots of listening on Rosie’s part. She definitely has a certain way she likes to have things, and I’m fine with that.  We just needed to figure out exactly what that way was with this new tack.  The reins I have are somewhat shorter than the ones I previously rode her with, so I need to hold them a bit lower and just in front of the saddle a bit. To neck rein, instead of lifting my hands up a little so the reins hit halfway down her neck, I’m keeping my hands low and almost letting the rein press against the area where her neck and shoulder meet.  She responds to this quite well, especially with the right amount of leg cues too.

I am still looking to replace the saddle, as the gullet is definitely too narrow, but at least I know we can get a good 30-45 minute ride for now without much trouble.  We’ll be doing exercises in the arena all winter to work on communication, bending and cues.  By spring we’ll be ready to hit the trails and do just about anything!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 1st, 2009 at 8:13 pm and is filed under Riding. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.