They've always looked so cool and now I'm using them! Horse gear gets me into a lather.
After my Series of Unfortunate Photos, I’ve been feeling the need to redeem myself from posting negativity–what my husband would call “welcome to my whine-tasting party.” It was a low moment.
I just hate it when I have a lesson and feel great about it; then I see myself in a photo/video and the balloon pops. Like a kid with a busted balloon…that was me, I admit it.
So on the positive side of the equation, I am really determined now to improve my fitness, especially core strength. Yesterday I did pilates, really concentrating on the movement. Today: weight lifting.
Another exciting development from the lesson which I didn’t photograph was Odie and I are now ready for work with side reins! I have been planning this for some time.
Putting Odie in side reins when I first bought him would have been like shaking a bottle of soda and waiting for it to explode. I think his earlier experiences with lunging were running around and around, then stop.
This is what he knew, anyway. I spent alot of hours teaching him to walk (this was the big one), trot and canter. Transitions within those gaits. Spiraling in and out. Changing direction. Whoa and go were never a problem…it was doing anything in between.
The adjustable "Vienna reins" helped Odie prepare for the more restrictive side reins.
Alot of what he knows now was built from groundwork on a long lead. Also I started him in Vienna reins. Now it’s all routine and my trainer gave me some nice compliments on his lunging training, so that felt great.
When she put Odie in the side reins, he handled it beautifully. Just feeling them out. No panic attacks. And there were moments near the end of “the experiment” when he started to round his whole frame up into this new connection.
Now I have some horsey shopping to do! Side reins, here we come!
