Tuesday, November 23, 2010

11-22-10 Ransom Walk

I grabbed Ransom, and his twisted wire bit, and the longe line, and headed to the arena. Longed him just a few minutes, check for a happy sound creature, and I hopped on.

We only worked on one thing... In and out of free walk and working walk without breaking to trot! If you saw the show video, you probably noticed him breaking gait twice (or was it three times) to trot during his working walk out of the free walk. He's anxious to do his job, and I can't fault him for that - he wants to go go go!

His free walk has come SOO far from when we first started working together. Honestly, it's amazing. Instead of yanking the bit from my hands, Ransom very slowly eases down, and relaxes, his nose near the dirt. Coming back is also a vast improvement, as he settles back into contact and collection without arguing. He tried breaking to the trot twice, and was harshly punished with a strong voice, and a hard backup. Getting the idea I wasn't playing his game, Ransom decided to come in and out of free walk politely.

I finished up the ride with spiral in and out on the circle, again at the walk. Ransom loves that game, and can bend in his middle and make the prettiest tiny circles.

Total work, about 25 minutes. There were strong SE wind with the occasional burst throughout the ride, wind howling and singing through the trees. Ransom spooked once, I suppose as the wind blew up his tail. He squirted about 4" forward, but kept me aboard, safe & sound.

Psst.. in case you didn't notice, the entire ride was bareback. Yep, I was wearing my helmet, too!

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