I went to the barn twice yesterday. The first time was to speak with Arty's owner and confirm my month of part board/lease. When I went to see my baby, he wasn't even interested in coming to the front of his stall for treats. It made me incredibly sad. I went in and fed him some anyway.
When I returned later, it again took some convincing for him to come and check me out. This isn't the pony I used to know.... lots of treats and a quick groom later (he was half black and half white) we headed out to the arena- a small outdoor sand ring that has never seen a harrow. They don't even own one
I started off with some free lunging to get a base line for the next month of work. He was hesitant at first, but once he got into it he actually threw a few bucks! I've seen this pony buck a grand total of 3 times before this, so I was impressed. His trot opened up a bit, and the canter became more fluid. Very crooked, and counter bent for large portions.
He looks like a polar bear... but fatter
Next, I popped him on a lunge line and used my own version of the pessoa system- a set of reins attached to each D-ring on the saddle that sat perfectly behind his bum. The goal being to engage his hind end. Fantastic improvement in the walk, trot wasn't much different. Did some coll/ext. work on the lunge. No canter, not enough muscle.Then I hopped on just for a quick walk to see what he felt like. Very crooked (constantly bent right) and wanted to push inside shoulder toward center of arena on every turn. Did leg yielding in and out on a circle to help control shoulders and lift outside. Breaks are awful, & no half halt.
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