Thank goodness I was right! The naughtiness WAS just a phase. Hampton has been back to his quiet, sweet self all week and we have made great progress - especially in the canter. I was tickled today because the BO (who rides a retired Grand Prix horse and has a lifetime of dressage experience) complimented me on what a nice job I was doing with Hampton and how great his canter looked. (GOOD THING she never saw it back in March/April. OMG!) But really, just this week we have started to really come together in the canter. It's soooo rhythmic and becoming so balanced. I have yet to attempt to canter down much of a straight-away (that's when we lose the balance), but I will soon. He is started to give me 4-5 strides of uphill, jumpy, balanced canter which is fabulous. So I know it's in there, he just needs to be stronger. No problem! I really was worried there at the beginning that he may have a "canter issue" because it was so unbalanced, borderline lateral and just ugly. I really wish I had taken video of those first canters. If nothing else, it would be humorous to watch now.
We've also been schooling leg yields quarter line to the rail. He is pretty good at these now, so I've started to just ride down the quarter line so he doesn't learn to anticipate. I've also been schooling more slow trot --> big trot transitions which really help raise his poll up. I suspect this is because it gets him more in front of my leg. He tends to sort of go BTV when he's behind my leg (not too bad, but he doesn't need to be there). I need to stay more on top of that. Umm, so I'm not sure what else to teach a 3-year old?!? Going to keep looking in 101 Dressage Exercises for more ideas ... plus I found some ground poles that boarders are welcome to use so I'm going to start incorporating those, too. New goal: Show Training Level Test 1 this fall. I think we can do it. Maybe not T4 because you have to sustain the canter for longer, but T1 for sure. I'm still going to aim to show in an FEI 4 year old test next year, which I think is totally do-able at this point. We won't win, but I'd love the experience! (and to see what the scores might be).
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In other news, I'm shopping for a new truck (to pull a horse trailer). And it's frustrating. Annoying. I may give it up for a while. Ugh.
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I'm also shopping for a new helmet. I'm looking at the Ovation line. Anybody got one? I realize it's one of the "cheap" lines, but I find them attractive, well-priced, safety certified and vented. My old IRH velvet helmet is more than 5 years old, so while I'm not going to throw it out - I would like a newer helmet to ride in on a daily basis and keep my IRH as a back-up.
I wish you had gotten a video too! It gives the rest of us hope that we too can over come awkward green horse gaits... in time!
ReplyDeleteBaby horse cantering is often funny - they can be awkward and goofy - but it sounds like he's coming along quickly and he's such a cute boy to begin with!
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