Friday, April 24, 2009

4/24/09 Romeo Western Lesson

Grumble grumble grumble

Romeo was insisting on a big "hunter" trot, and keeping his head (and his mind) just above level. Finally, the only thing that worked, was putting the twisted wire loose ring (and running martingale) on, and trotting out forward.

We worked for nearly two hours. In the middle, I tied the reins on the side to the girth, and free lunged him around the arena. He ran and ran and ran, while Jen and I chased him with the lunge whip and a lot of racket. He was in a big hurry to get somewhere - maybe a pony-date scheduled after I left the house.

I settled for a good enough WP jog, but it sure wasn't show-quality. He has done this in the past, being a complete twit days before a show, just to shape-up and be an angel for the judge. Jen is lending me a more attention-grabbing bit than the TT, combining the TT cheeks with the twisted-wire loose ring. I am not thrilled with the thought of being more aggressive, but there's no excuse for him to act out so much when he knows the answer.

Tonight, more western riding, a little hunt-saddle (complete with tacky pad and new breastcollar to keep it from sliding back), bath, and mane-banding. I'm seeing a late night ahead,,, what do you think??

2 comments:

Jessie said...

Good luck at the show!! Will you have someone along to take pictures? I would love to see some photos.

Jennifer said...

- Yes ma'am. SunnySD asked a similar question on the post from yesterday. R is tagging along to take pictures and help out. =)