Layout of a ride

Dopie did some #werk this weekend. Short, sweet, to the point, thank god for no dramatics work. And I got media from it!

(I'm only just now writing about it because he got Monday off because I don't like to work too many days in a row, and yesterday I had to scamper home post haste to hover over my computer to make sure I got Hamilton tickets. And neither day I felt like I had enough to go on for a full post because I'm still a bit sticky going back into this whole blogging thing. I figured I'd do a post after another ride was in the books.)

(I don't know why I thought that paragraph needed parenthesis. It started as just one sentence and then spun out of control.)

(ANYWAY THO.)

BM has dubbed dopie the silverback gorilla after his body clip because beef cake.

Let's work our way back from this morning, shall we?

After his two days off, in which I skated him across the edges of the icy parking lot to park him into his pasture where he and his friends had a small chunk of field that wasn't choppy or iced over to mill about in, I was expecting him to be a bit fresh and sassy.

As much as Opie can be at least.

check out his wild spook in the corner around 30 secs in

With the arena doors open to let in some fresh spring 35* weather--so balmy, I know!--I set out two sets of ground poles, got on, and immediately started doing walk-halt transitions. Fortunately, Opie was being perfectly sensible and went about his business without incident. 

We cruised over the 4' walk poles a couple times each way, did a few rein backs and turn on the haunches, and moved on to the trot where we leg yielded in and out to the set of 5' poles. He was a little spicy at the trot, he needed a half halt every now and then to keep from rushing, but he felt loose and straight and that's all I aim for in the warm up. 

i'm here to tell you that you can leg yield while pulling on the inside rein.
i do dressage training in my own special way, what can i say?

Lately my ride gets blocked out like so: Walk on a long rein, letting Opie take as much as he wants as long as I can still feel the bit. Into the trot on the same long rein, doing lots of circles, some spiraling in and out, leg yields on and off the rail, and if he's feeling particularly supple I'll throw in some shoulder-in as well. From there I pick up the reins and the horse and go back into the walk where we hit the lateral work some more. Once he's feeling connected and compacted, into the sitting trot for--you guessed it!--more lateral work. I also bounce him in and out of a "collected" trot into a "medium" trot. But for toddlers. 

AND THEN WE CANTER BECAUSE SAVE THE BEST FOR LAST!!1!1!

I actually swapped the sitting trot and the canter this morning because I hadn't planned on doing much of the former. It was cold, he's naked, and he was feeling a bit tight in his back. Wowza though, what a difference. Like, not a good one. Apparently Opie needs thirty straight minutes of moving sideways to show off that dreamy, dreamy canter.

This morning it felt like poo. I stuck with it anyway because I wasn't really cantering for long periods. Instead it was transitions across the diagonal galore. He's getting much sharper off my leg and he's finally stepping right into it from both the walk and trot. His head still flops about in outer space while doing so, but at least that's one thing crossed off.

going to look into bone corsets to support my floppy core at this point.
seems better than sit ups. just asking my aching fat roll. it doesn't want to leave.

I finished with a smidge of sitting trot today because I wanted a short, compact trit trot to go back through the 4' poles. The first time pass, Opie stepped on every single one, but I gathered him back together and represented. The second time he boinged through just like he was supposed to and I immediately halted, gave him (more) candy, and quit there.

To finish out Sunday's ride, I thought he might enjoy going over the two Xs set up. Under the first was an empty flower box which actually haunted. Obviously. He wobbled all over the place cantering up to it, thought about stopping, got booted, and launched from a mile out.

didn't get eaten by flower box demons tho!

In the midst of him bolting off on landing, I was all, "Opie, that seems excessive. What if we just trot this plain X instead?" And Opie was like, "Pretty sure all of life is haunted. Not being tricked into going near that bitch either." So instead we walked over it as a pole and finished, as always, with a good stretchy trot.

all day every day with the stretching.

I have loads more media, but I think I'll wait to share that for another post. Spreading the media love out for weeks!