DAY 58: Work and
weather kept us from doing much in the way of training. Short groundwork sessions
were the standard over the last three days. Today however the weather and work
schedules (sort of) allowed for some real training time. The sun was beginning to
set by the time we got to the arena. A few good laps around the small arena to
warm up and a 15 minute review of our ground work exercises happened first.
Roscoe seemed in good spirits and was willing to “work” during the session. The
time off showed in his understanding however and he was not a smooth/good as he
was last week.
I too felt “off” and could not get my timing or rhythm right.
So, in all fairness it was 90% my fault and 10% his fault (grin). We saddled up
and did some nice walk/trot transitions along the fence and some one rein
stops. A little sluggish but he really tried. However I felt like a monkey
trying to ride a greased watermelon! Everything felt wrong. Seat, leg position,
balance, rein coordination…everything just felt off. We got through this
weirdness in my head/body/hands and ended up having a nice session. We even did
some loping (which is still a little weird for him physically with a rider of
my size on his back) which was very cool. I was happy that Roscoe was VERY
patient with me during this time of ugliness. I was happy to note that, because
of the cruising lessons Roscoe waits for the loose reign to move forward and
drops his head nicely when it is given. The positive take-a-ways of the session
is that Roscoe has learned patience with stupid humans, he will try when asked…even
if his answer is not quite right and that he is getting stronger and healthier
as we move forward. More of his personality is coming out too. He seems to
really want some cuddle time before and after he works. He performs better if
he gets a little longer grooming time and rubs during the training session. Its
like he desires the positive reinforcement of praise/love and not just the
release of pressure.
Good to know!
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