After a week of riding with a major emphasis on stretching his neck, working over his back and getting more swing in his gaits, his work has already showed improvement. I had a lesson with Shelley on Saturday and she rode him first, and now that he is stretching his neck nicely, she went back to bringing his balance point farther back to his haunches (which then results in collection). She mainly did this by keeping his neck stretched and super straight and then asking him to do steep leg yields/lateral movement/half pass. I know that I am biased, but he did look pretty darn good! I love watching Shelley ride him, she really makes him look the best he is capable of!
So then it was my turn to ride and Shelley wanted me to be really aware of his balance point and making sure he wasn't rushing onto his forehand. She told me to think about half steps or piaffe, without losing the stretch or swing, and that seemed to really help me get the feel of what we were trying to do. The canter was especially tough, as J really wants to be crooked and when I ask him to straighten with his balance farther back, he changes leads instead of doing what I ask. But Shelley wasn't too concerned about it and said that it would just take repetition and more strength on J's part.
Interlaken (the chiropractor/acupuncturist) is coming out tomorrow night and I'm having them work on J. He hasn't been worked on in a few months and although he feels really good, I want to make sure he is maintained and it will be good to have him treated before our next show in January.
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