“What? You FOUND it?” says Nay Nay.
Welp, that missing right lead. It’s a bugger and really doesn’t want to be found.
BUT, we did find it so I know it DOES exist!
For more details, please read on.
“I would NEVER lose my right lead,” says Subi.
I was scheduled to ride yesterday in the late afternoon. After all, when I signed up for a lesson last week, I picked a day when it was cooler. Except, the “cold front’ never happened and the end of the week brought temps in the 90s with high humidity vs the low 80s that we were promised. Fail. So, early that morning, I was asked if I could ride earlier and I jumped through hoops to make it work with my schedule.
Due to the heat and a very hard ride the night before (someone had way too much energy), I had a pretty quiet pony in hand. We skipped the longeing and just tried to make it work. Walk and trot? SUCH a good boy. We actually had some bending to the right so the in hand work (both at home and pre-rides) is starting to pay off. And, I think Nay Nay is also starting to accept his d-ring bit.
“So much work, so little food. You’re telling me I have to share?”
After chatting a little about the canter (sans advice, just me saying it’s been missing since before the 4th of July), I was told to trot a really large circle and ask for it in the corner so that my trainer could watch both of us. Yep, fail. Then the advice started. Lots of inside rein, inside leg, shortening my inside rein, not asking until his nose was turned in… Still not happening. So out came the crop. Using the crop and inside rein and inside leg, and a whole hell of a lot of persistence and circles (and falls starts), I finally got the canter. The trick was truly getting him off that inside shoulder, getting (and keeping!) the bend, and picking up the canter while his weight was in the right place. It was tough but doable. We cantered on the right lead a good 3+ times around the ring for good measure at a nice, forward pace. Once he had the canter? It felt good. But, right now picking it up is HARD so why bother? — Nay Nay.
“Yes, how else am I going to keep my new figure? My belly sways when I walk.”
We moved on to the left lead and did a little work there. That lead is easy and we were able to do some circle work. Even with my crappy late steering, we still were able to hold the canter for a nice tight circle. Nay Nay is just that much stronger right now.
To end, we returned to the right lead, now with a tired horse. This time it was both harder and easier. Nay Nay said NO several times. It’s hard, but he knew what I wanted. The problem? He was tired. The time he tried some rein snatching from my hand. We had better bend from the start, but the new ploy was bend, slow way down, snatch, and drop. So, I got a bit angry. A little crop behind the leg (he decided that leg/kicks no longer mean go when he’s tired) and suddenly (well, after a couple instances)? We had a right lead canter. It did help that he rocked back onto his hind end which stopped the drop/drop, but nonetheless…
“This sharing thing sucks! And why do we have to wear these ridiculous looking fly masks anyway? They’re not much fun for me! I liked the other ones that I got to put in my mouth and pull until I could hear that velcro go…”
“Get over it Nay Nay! I was here first! I LIKE wearing a fly mask (and you seem to as well since your stays on most of the time… We have to wear these bug masks because these are the only ones you haven’t learned how to take off me yet!”
So, we have our work cut out for us. Each time he picked up the lead correctly, Nay Nay got all the praise in the world. After the first right lead canter, suddenly Nay Nay moved right off my leg, so with some consistency, I think we’ll be there. It may just take a little time.
Anyway, it’s a struggle to haul out all the time to ride (I really should ask my neighbor behind me if I can use his ring across the street, but that’s a conversation for another time (I probably would need a gate at the bottom of the field for that to work anyway). But, regardless, Nay Nay could use more work than 3 days a week. I just hate hauling out 5 days. So, I’m thinking I could ride 3 times and put him to work on the longe line 2x week.
We ended with a lovely but brief canter to the left just so I could see where he was.
This blog is still called Three Chestnuts… And while I’m down to one, Subi is the original chestnut.
But Subi? He is standing facing Nay Nay’s stall, licking the wall. He stood like that for nearly 2 hours, licking the damn wall.
Back in the stall? Wall licking resumed and? Drooling. So much drool.
Throughout the night I checked on him. At 11:45 he was munching his alfalfa and had eaten some grain though his stall wall was soaked. By morning his alfalfa was gone as was breakfast.
Three Chestnuts 