Schooling 31-03-12

Flatwork again tonight after spending the day at Goring Horse Trials - walked the course for the BE100 - all very doable but definitely some accuracy questions to catch you out - water involved a skinny a couple of strides after the step out then onto a roll top followed by sharp right hand bend to step up so best to angle the roll top to make the turn.  Then further on in the course angled double of tyres on 2 strides but at a friendly angle followed by a bench to a skinny flower bed narrower at the base.  Then finally a left sided fairly chunky corner and a right hand curve to a skinny house.  Definitely good for us to keep working on combinations on curves and skinnies - they seem to love them at all levels at the moment!

So, schooling tonight started with lots of walk lateral work.  Then he did some lovely work on the left rein to warm up - keeping him rounder and deeper but making sure the engine coming through from behind.  Super trot-walk-trot transitions and up and down into canter from trot.  Changed onto the right rein and took several circles for him to settle and just relax into a round and deep outline but once he did it went well and did the same super transitions that he had on the left rein.  Let him have a stretchy trot on both reins then a walk breather.

Then we did a little bit of SI on the circle, left rein coming quite easily now.  Right rein he still seems to find impossibly hard, blocking and either coming back to walk or doing a kind of walk with the front legs, trot with the back which feels very strange.  Made him carry on and do a little bit then another walk stretch.

Picked him up again and concentrated on feeling like I was channeling him from leg into hand and ran through BE95.  Nice centre line and turn across the diagonal, resistant on the change onto the right rein, then nice all the way through to the change from left 1/2 20m circle to right where again he resisted but only a little bit this time then a nice right canter keeping the forwardness remembering to balance him for the downwards transitions back to trot then walk.  Keep the medium walk moving and then keep the FWLR moving - really liked these today.  Nice pick up into the contact for medium walk but then I jostled him along a little too much and he broke.  Down centre line, keen to trot but slightly resistant in the contact to a nice halt.  Not a bad attempt - next flatwork session on Tuesday - need to do lots of half circles and changes of rein across the diagonal, must get him accepting the change of bend from left to right.  Also needs to be more forwards still - needs to go off a calf aid, not need to use the spur.  2 more flatwork sessions before Larkhill next Sat so will keep working on it all.  Pleased with how things are coming along at the moment though.