Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Lovebugs 1, Spooks 1, Chewie 2

Chewie, Round Pen. He's getting bored, and the lovebugs are overwhelming. Warm-Up about 10 minutes, side reins 5 & 6.

Under saddle, to the right. Asked for trot, went about lap & half, 2-point, asked for canter, he was nearly there, when something outside got his attention. Head up, ears forward, and I chickened. Let him trot, then waited at trot for my heart rate to come back down.

Cantered left twice, no problems. Overall, many direction changes, lots of trot, and generally, he was just in a bad mood. Head-tossing, fussing with the bit, tripping... LoveBugs trying to fly up his nose...

Untacking, I found him covered in sweat, even in between back legs. It was our first "hot" day workout. When the weather starts changing to warm again, he is a little more fussy than normal. I'll check this day off as a learning, and give him the "out" on grouchy based on weather & bugs. I give him a "2" for score since I did get two pretty transitions in & out of canter left. I was able to focus a bit on pushing with inside leg rather than outside to keep him going, so that was good.

Total work, about an hour. He'll have about two days off, and I'm sure much appreciated.

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