All The Kings' Horses

 Another several days of no work for Gia due to the weather, so I started her off with lunging today.  She was immediately relaxed, submissive and obedient.  After a few walk/trot transitions, I asked for several canter transitions.  She was grumpy but obedient. Under saddle, I started with some bending at the walk and trot - lots of circles in corners in each direction.  Once she was a bit softer, I asked for haunches in at the walk and trot.  She was very responsive tracking left, but it was more difficult for her tracking right.  Once she was getting it better, I urged her to go a little quicker, and then, on her own, she picked up the canter.  She did throw in a buck or two, especially at the beginning, but they weren't bad, and it was much easier to push her through.  Her canter was quite fast at first, but I used a spiraling-in circle to help get it under control, and I ended up with a pretty decent canter at least once in each directio...

 It has been a while since I was able to sit on my horse, due to weather and life circumstances, so we started out with some lunging today.  She was actually very good on the lunge line - very relaxed and obedient.  I even asked for several canter transitions.  Although her ears were back, the canter was not bad. Under saddle, I started with stretching, bending and leg yields at the walk and trot.  Then we moved on to a little haunches in at the walk and trot.  At the trot, once the haunches were in, I asked for slight increases and decreases to the tempo.  With that work, she actually offered some canter transitions herself.  There was still some bucking involved, but it was less dramatic and less frequent.  Since she opened the canter door, I did ask for several canter transitions myself.  It took a few tries, but by the end, I was able to get at least one transition in each direction that did not involve bucking.  Although, track...

 Another winter day, another frozen arena ...  I worked with Gia again on the trailer.  She did really good again - she even tried to get on the trailer once before I was ready for her!  Tomorrow will be the real test when I load her up to go to CDP. By the time I finished with that, the arena was a little thawed, enough for me to lunge her for a few minutes in the rope halter.  She was practically perfect for that as well!  I sent her around a few times in each direction, and she was very obedient and relaxed to all my cues.

 Since 3 inches of snow fell last night, that definitely puts a damper on riding horses.  Unfortunately, down here in the south, we don't have the proper shoes on our horses to prevent ice from balling up in their feet, making for very wobbly "high heels".  So, Gia and I worked on the same things today that we did yesterday.  The trailer was very easy for her again today, and so was the flexion work!  Hopefully, we will be back in the saddle on Monday, but I'm not holding my breath ...

 More frozen ground ...  I worked with Gia on the trailer again today.  She was much more willing to get on the trailer and much more relaxed to hang out and eat her grain.  I took her on and off a few times, and they were all good. I also did more flexions with her in her bridle.  She was much softer today, even on the right side!

 The ground was too frozen to ride this morning, so I worked with Gia on a couple of things in hand.  We did a little bit of flexions to the left and right in her bridle at the halt.  She was pretty good with those, although a little stiffer on the right.  She does want to twist her head a bit in each direction, so I had to work on straightening her as she flexed. I also took this opportunity to work with her on the smaller trailer.  I used a pan with grain, and we went on and off the trailer several times.  She was hesitant at first, but by the last few times, she was getting right on!  I will probably keep using a pan with grain in it for the next few trailer rides, just in case.

 Hayley worked with Gia and I today on our flatwork.  We worked in the dressage arena, and she hadn't been there in a while, so she was a little distracted at first.  We started with bending and leg yielding in each direction at the walk and trot.  We also did some "baby" leg yields, just encouraging her to move off my leg from quarter line to the rail in both directions.  After all that, she was much more focused and relaxed.   Then we moved on to some canter work.  It took a few attempts to actually get it, but I was probably not pushing as hard as I could have.  It turns out that it wasn't as bad I as I expected.  She did buck and kick out a few times, but I was able to kick her forward and out of it much better.  After the first few, she was picking it up with less resistance, and keeping it longer.  The key is definitely to kick her forward, but that's tough when you know you have to work through the buck to get there!