This week

I finally came up with a lesson plan for this week. Being indoors again sucks, but at least it is an option and mosquito free!

So...this week, we are going to continue to work on longer canter session to build fitness in the horses. We are also going to work on forward energy/being ahead of the leg. Whether jumping or dressage, the horse should always have a willingness to go forward, and should be ready to go at a reasonable request.

To this end, we are going to be doing something I usually don't like rider's doing: we are going to be picking up the canter close to a jump and getting FORWARD established so that the horse can make the right number of strides in a line.

This is to combat an ongoing issue with rider's crawling to the first fence and relying on it too much to establish the pace needed for the course. This makes the horse have to take over to an extent and then riders wonder why the horse gets strong by the end...if you have the horse forward, so you can hold from the start, and not need the horse to take over, the horse is less likely to lose the trust in the rider and take over the speed control.

As an aside, I had electro-acupuncture today. It wasn't too bad, and I may do it again, but am waiting to see results. The needles kind of felt like wasp stings, but the pulses didn't feel as weird as I thought...although the pull of the leads on the needles was a little ouchy. Tomorrow a horse is getting done, so I will have a better idea of what he is actually feeling.

Karen