Online and Freestyle in the Heat

Mav and I had an excellent online session yesterday. We played with Karen Rohlf's circles and squares pattern, and I thought again putting a jump in the middle of it would help Mav with the jump, but in a completely different way then from Walker. For Mav it's about getting the momentum to get over the jump without just hopping it, which will come in handy later, but for now, I want him to work up the energy for it. 

He balked at first, so I split the two barrels to allow for a small space through which he could pass through them. He learned to keep his energy up until we got the the corner of the rectangle, and by the second pass, I knew he was ready to try jumping them again. And I was right! He had plenty of energy to clear the barrels and make it look easy. Good for you Mav! 

Then we played with the our transitions on the circle, especially the canter, to see if Mav would flow into it better without putting his head down and wanting to buck his way through it. He got both left and right canters really nicely, so we stopped there. I decided he looked calm enough to take him out the the park so we could ride in the shade, so that is where we headed next. 

I have realized that it takes a lot of savvy and discernment to figure out when a horse is ready to move on the a bigger challenge. Riding out in the park with out any other horses, away from the barn and everything that feels safe for Maverick is a very big step. But realistically, the only way you can be progressive is to take those "chances" with your horse when it feels right. 

And how do I know when it feels right? It's hard to explain, but it is usually when Mav or Walker demonstrate something to me calmly, thinking their way through and not reacting or blowing through a task. And if they do this more than once, I know they are ready. 

Then, of course, I have to be willing to go beyond my comfort zone. That can involve some pretty serious increases in heart rate and blood pressure, but as long as I can still think myself through something, than I know I am ready also. I am no good to myself or my horse if I get emotional or bracy in the middle of an exercise. 

Of course, getting myself into shape has also given me the physical ability to do things I was really afraid to do, even a year ago, like riding bareback and bridle-less on Walker at the canter. Today we did that while videoing it at the same time (see my next blog for that!)

Once out in the park, I let Mav graze for a bit, then I hopped on and we started our freestyle play session. We started with walking and trotting a figure eight around the trees, and Mav did this very nicely. Then we started doing transitions on an oval around two of the bigger trees. 

Mav struggled with the canter at first, I am not sure he really wanted to canter yesterday, it was so hot, but I assured him I really wanted him to! So after a couple of hissy fits, he did canter very nicely. I was so proud of him for working through his reluctance. We were finished in about 40 minutes, so I hopped off and let him graze again, this time at liberty, which he seemed to enjoy immensely.