Thursday, July 14, 2011

Kholo - Day 2 in the bit

Kholo and I had a positive, successful session today! He was much more comfortable in the bit and we improved his backwards, played a very little bit with sideways, and worked on trot/walk transitions. I am gently using the bit to encourage his nose down a little at a time, while making it clear what I'm after when I halt or backup. I'm using my seat a lot and his starting to respond to my seat changes. He didn't fidget with the bit today at all, a very positive change. He doesn't hurry or get worried, which makes him a pleasure to teach. We trotted for a good period of time, transitioning to walk every 5-10 strides for just a stride or so.

Tomorrow, we'll leave the arena and build out in the pasture.

I wanted to get a little time with Gem, so I took him into the roundpen for a little liberty. The round pen hasn't gotten much use this summer and it's full of grass and weeds. I let him eat in between a few requests like change of direction and trotting left and right. Then, I left him to his eating to finish my chores. More rain was on the way, so I decided to get my work done.

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