Yesterday I took Dustry for his weekly lesson. Due to prepping for Hickstead with Soap taking priority he has missed his last 2 lessons and has been lounging in the field un-ridden for 2 weeks. He’s such a little pro because I schooled him the day before, and then off we went for our lesson, Dustry keen to get on the lorry and cool as a cucumber.
Our arena at home is fairly deep in the dry weather and with its slope it makes it hard to really get going with canter work on a baby horse. It’s really nice going to my instructor’s and taking advantage of her HUGE arena, and finally being able to canter forwards without having to prep for a corner after 40 meters!
We need now in the canter to crack our transitions. I need to ride him now in a rounder and more grown up frame in the trot with lots of impulsion, and then ask him to use that impulsion to power off into canter, and not hollow and try to run (one of the last remnants of the race track!) I think we should have this cracked in a week or so as he’s a pretty fast learner.
With his canter he’s still very babyish and has a tendency to canter quarters in, but we are working on his straightness too, by moving his shoulders rather than trying to correct the back end. One of his baby traits is that when things get a little harder he backs up, so I need to remember to ride with my whip from now on so I can tap him up rather than have to kick kick kick. His canter is so lovely to ride, and once we have a steady frame established he will be fab!
What also made me extra chuffed with him was his all round good attitude. Before my lesson he stood on the lorry calmly eating his net, and afterwards I managed to un-tack, de-bandage, and wash off all on my own (with no tie up points, because they were on the other side of the lorry out of reach!) he even stood with his rope over his neck whilst I removed his hind bandages, what a GOOD boy! 🙂