We haz been werkin

Porkchop and I continue to chip away at all the things. Our Aiken trip is quickly approaching and we both need to be fit and sharp so we can get the most out of our lessons there.

Here's some stuffs we been workin' on:

Adding power, but keeping the poll up: This has been an issue since ... um ... forever. Hampton has an amazing hind end that fires like a Lamborghini, and what happens is that I push him past his balance and he ends up pushing himself onto my hands. That results in his poll diving and our extended trots look like this:

He is putting in max effort, it's MY fault for letting him go past what he can balance with his poll up. So I've gone back to add power, but not too much, until he gets better balance and maintain his poll at the highest point. It will ALWAYS be a work in progress but it's getting better! He loves the extended trot and it's hard not to get carried away and enjoy the ride. But I think we can get a few more points here.

That's better

The One-Tempis: These need to be more reliable and rideable. Because I have made A Big Stink over occasions when Hampton does a good line of these, he likes to now throw some ones in randomly when I am trying to do the 2s. Or he will start doing ones, but not stop when I ask. He has to wait and listen and let me ride him. All normal stuff, and I'm not at all worried about it. It's just a matter of time and practice. But right now do I know with 95% certainty that I can go in the I-2 and get 11 ones? No. Nope it's 50/50 lol.

Getting to know the I-2: I know a lot of people skip over the I-2 and go straight to Grand Prix, but I feel like this test is a good stepping stone for a green horse and rider. It's not nearly as terrifying as the GP and sets you up for success. Hopefully it will give me some confidence so that I do not totally shit my pants when I do finally try the GP. 

I probably will still crap my pants though let's be honest.