Gia - 138 - Riding off the track
I took it easy on Gia today. She came in with a fresh cut on her leg. I lunged her to check for soundness, and she was fine, but I didn't want to push her too much today. So, no jumping for me today. 😡
I mainly worked on getting her to stretch down at the walk on circles. She was a little stiffer on the right side today, when she is typically stiffer on the left.
I did a lot of work "off the track" today at the walk and trot.
The "track" typically refers to the path around the arena closest to the rail. That's where most folks work when they are riding their horses in the arena. It's where I have all my students learn to ride first, before I let them work on other figures in the middle of the arena.
"Off the track" refers to a path that's about 3 feet away from the rail, or the track.
Once my horses are more confident on the rail, and fairly confident in moving off my leg, I like to do most of my work off the track. It's a great way to continue to instill discipline and straightness, as well as staying between my leg and hand aids.
Most horses will want to drift towards the rail, so you have to use your outside leg to stop the drift and keep them riding straight, off the track.
In my opinion, it is one of the true tests of whether or not you can keep your horse straight, or whether or not your horse can keep themselves straight.
I have worked with Gia off the track before, and she did fairly well with it today. If she pushes against my outside leg to drift back to the rail, I will do a little bit of counterbend. If she pushes against my inside leg or hand, then I will do a small circle, but make sure to aim off the track when I return to the rail.
I also worked with Gia on diagonal lines and centerlines, but no shoulder-in today, again, not wanting to push her too much, and shoulder-in is still pretty hard for her.
She did better about not getting too quick on centerline at the trot. She did get quick only a few times, so I circled as needed.
We finished our ride with a few halt transitions, and those are really going a lot better!
I mainly worked on getting her to stretch down at the walk on circles. She was a little stiffer on the right side today, when she is typically stiffer on the left.
I did a lot of work "off the track" today at the walk and trot.
The "track" typically refers to the path around the arena closest to the rail. That's where most folks work when they are riding their horses in the arena. It's where I have all my students learn to ride first, before I let them work on other figures in the middle of the arena.
"Off the track" refers to a path that's about 3 feet away from the rail, or the track.
Once my horses are more confident on the rail, and fairly confident in moving off my leg, I like to do most of my work off the track. It's a great way to continue to instill discipline and straightness, as well as staying between my leg and hand aids.
Most horses will want to drift towards the rail, so you have to use your outside leg to stop the drift and keep them riding straight, off the track.
In my opinion, it is one of the true tests of whether or not you can keep your horse straight, or whether or not your horse can keep themselves straight.
I have worked with Gia off the track before, and she did fairly well with it today. If she pushes against my outside leg to drift back to the rail, I will do a little bit of counterbend. If she pushes against my inside leg or hand, then I will do a small circle, but make sure to aim off the track when I return to the rail.
I also worked with Gia on diagonal lines and centerlines, but no shoulder-in today, again, not wanting to push her too much, and shoulder-in is still pretty hard for her.
She did better about not getting too quick on centerline at the trot. She did get quick only a few times, so I circled as needed.
We finished our ride with a few halt transitions, and those are really going a lot better!
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