Gia - session 81 - lunging, walk/trot, puddles, haunches left
Gia seemed a little edgy today (possibly because of the dramatic drop in temperatures here), and since she had threatened to buck on Monday, I decided it would be in both our best interests to lunge her to start things out today. I attached the lunge line a bit differently today. I really wanted Gia to get a good stretch and loosen up on the lunge line, not just walk, trot and canter around. So, I ran the line through her bit on the near side (the "near" side is the side closest to the handler at the time, usually, but not always, the left side), and then attached it to the buckle on the girth. As Gia walked, trotted and cantered around, the line put a little downward pressure on her to encourage her to stretch as she moved. I made sure the line was not taut so that there wasn't too much pressure. After just a few steps, she really started to reach down and get into it!
Probably due to the lunging, Gia was very quiet, almost perfect, while I mounted today. I started off at the walk, asking her to do the same thing as Monday - go between the poles but keep her haunches more to the left. She understood the exercise much better today! It only took small cues to get her to move her haunches, and she kept them in place for longer moments. Thanks to the rain we got yesterday, there was a nice big puddle in one corner today. She only hesitated a little at the walk, and then went right through it after that. At the trot, she hesitated and tried to go around it a few times, but she didn't put much effort into it and eventually trotted through it with no problems. When I first picked up the trot today, she felt like she was thinking about bucking again today. However, it never got past the "thinking" stage. I think she is slightly confused about the cue to move her haunches sideways. It is very similar to the cue to canter, and I think part of what felt like it might be bucking might have been her thinking about whether or not she should canter. I just kept asking her to stay forward and straight, and I released and rewarded her anytime she relaxed and moved better at the trot. It didn't take as long for her to work through it, and she was eventually giving me nice moments of haunches left at the trot as well. I did not ask for canter today since she was feeling so confused.
Finally, I added some work on her down transitions. This is something I haven't really spent much time on yet, because I really needed Gia to think more about going forward rather than slowing down. I spent time today asking for trot to walk and walk to halt transitions. With both of them she wants to lean on my hands and pull down on the bit. I had to focus on keeping my weight in my heels and seat, keeping my shoulder blades together, keeping my hands closed on the reins, and I added a strong kick whenever I felt her lean on me. That would often put us back up to the walk or trot (depending on whether I had been asking for halt or walk, respectively). However, she quickly learned that if she leaned on me, it would not be pleasant. As usual, I was quick to reward her when she got it right too!
I think she was quite tired after today's activities. She was practically falling asleep in the crossties afterwards!
Probably due to the lunging, Gia was very quiet, almost perfect, while I mounted today. I started off at the walk, asking her to do the same thing as Monday - go between the poles but keep her haunches more to the left. She understood the exercise much better today! It only took small cues to get her to move her haunches, and she kept them in place for longer moments. Thanks to the rain we got yesterday, there was a nice big puddle in one corner today. She only hesitated a little at the walk, and then went right through it after that. At the trot, she hesitated and tried to go around it a few times, but she didn't put much effort into it and eventually trotted through it with no problems. When I first picked up the trot today, she felt like she was thinking about bucking again today. However, it never got past the "thinking" stage. I think she is slightly confused about the cue to move her haunches sideways. It is very similar to the cue to canter, and I think part of what felt like it might be bucking might have been her thinking about whether or not she should canter. I just kept asking her to stay forward and straight, and I released and rewarded her anytime she relaxed and moved better at the trot. It didn't take as long for her to work through it, and she was eventually giving me nice moments of haunches left at the trot as well. I did not ask for canter today since she was feeling so confused.
Finally, I added some work on her down transitions. This is something I haven't really spent much time on yet, because I really needed Gia to think more about going forward rather than slowing down. I spent time today asking for trot to walk and walk to halt transitions. With both of them she wants to lean on my hands and pull down on the bit. I had to focus on keeping my weight in my heels and seat, keeping my shoulder blades together, keeping my hands closed on the reins, and I added a strong kick whenever I felt her lean on me. That would often put us back up to the walk or trot (depending on whether I had been asking for halt or walk, respectively). However, she quickly learned that if she leaned on me, it would not be pleasant. As usual, I was quick to reward her when she got it right too!
I think she was quite tired after today's activities. She was practically falling asleep in the crossties afterwards!
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