Follow the rail

Sussing out that green ball!

After a bath in the sun!

Today I out Garbo's saddle on because I wanted to do follow the rail in trot and canter and not quite ready to canter in the bareback pad.

We used the track as the rail and he went into trot and canter every time I asked him with only phase one - actually my phase one is 'energy up'. We can't canter right round the track at the moment as we have some areas of ruts and pogging at one end where it was quite wet over winter.

Our direct rein 180 degree turns still have a bit of opposition reflex so I will work on that more. Transitions were good and I was reflecting after my ride on how relaxed his head and emotions are when he trots and canters now compared to 12 months ago.

I am really pleased that all our hours of fun have paid off in other ways as well.

I can see now that freestyle (no rein contact) allows me and him to get our balance and then that leads naturally and easily to Finesse. I am along way from watching the Finesse DVD in the Patterns set but I can see how it all links together now. Online to Freestyle, Freestyle to Finesse.