Ellen is off teaching a clinic in England yesterday and today, so there are no lessons, just students riding horses. I had better luck with my horse today, and thought that I was more able to keep him through more of the time--of course that was with no one watching me--so I may be a bit optimistic.
One thing that's very clear--I don't ride forward enough for these folks. If there's one thing I can always be sure I'm going to hear, it's "Ride More Forward - Don't Let Him Sleep!!!!" I swear I'm running the legs off the poor little guy -- however, he always does seem to be able to produce more trot, or canter upon command, so I guess not.
I'm so impressed with the temperament of this horse -- there's a major highway along one side of the arena, and tractor trailers fly by, and this guy picks up his head and looks, but that's it! His idea of fresh, is to give one little half-hearted buck at the beginning of his work, and when given a warning to pay attention, he goes right back to business. Amazing for a young stallion!
All of the stallions here are exceptionally well-mannered and can be ridden together without incident. The only time there's a ruckus is when a horse doesn't go forward obediently, or runs through the aids-then the horse hears from the rider in no uncertain terms that resistance will not be tolerated. Usually the horse complies after a brief skirmish, and then back to work. |