My dressage instructor suggested the use of spurs to get Walker to listen better to my leg. I have not decided, after having used them under her supervision, whether I want to do this or not, at least not yet. I want to see if I can put my imagination to work to get him to do what I am asking.
So, this weekend, I decided I would get very focused on making any idea he has, that is not also my idea, very difficult. On that note, when he started moving away from the rail when I was focused on staying on the rail, I turned that thought of his into a very tight circle, maintaining whatever gait we were using. This resulted in a great deal of very tight trotting circles. If he argued with doing a full circle, I asked for an even tighter second circle. We did lots of circles that day! When he got more interested in going straight, I quit that task and moved on to something else.
I am now very committed to following this prescription every time we ride. I will be interested to see how long it takes him to decide it is not worth arguing with me about where we are going. I suspect this will lead to greater respect in other areas as well, but time will tell.
No spurs for now!
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