Session 1: I got Jackson out to mess around
at liberty. I had some thoughts as to what I
wanted to do, but of course, Jackson said
no. I wanted to do some sending away, but
Jackson seemed to not to want to do much
running around. So we did more slow work. We
did a bit of the Pose, and he did really
well. We also did a bit of bowing.
I think Jackson lay down at least 6 times.
Sometimes he would roll, other times he
would just get up after I gave him food.
What a lazy horse. :P
We did quite a bit of companion
walk/trotting. I might have mentioned before
that Jackson doesn’t want to turn away from
me while trotting, so we did quite a bit of
work with that. We made a lot of progress!
It was fun. I do find that as I refine those
things that need work, other little things
become easier. It is a gradual process, but
I learn as much about my failings as I do
about training.
Session 2: I got Jackson out later to ride
him a little bit. There is ice on most of
the pastures, so we are confined to a pretty
small area that still has snow. I decided to
work mostly at the walk. I also learned
something else he likes to do. If I have him
stop and stand, he will offer the Ramener
and lean back. I can feel his back muscles
lift! Of course, I click and treat. I like
that he offers this all on his own. I am
also starting to ask him for a step at the
walk while holding this pose. According to
Jean-Claude Racinet:
1) Balance comes prior to movement.
2) Balance is established at the halt, or at
slow gaits, and then tested in movement.
I have been trying to remember that when I
am training. We will see where it leads.
I also did lots of lateral work. I did
haunches in on a circle, counter shoulder in
on a circle, half pass, and walk pirouette.
I would try to be very light and ask for
only a couple of steps and then release. I
find that he is getting lighter and lighter
to my cues. He is turning, sometimes, with
just a turning of my hips and a slight
weight shift.
I also did a tiny bit of work on the canter
pirouette. I would ask for the walk
pirouette and then ask him to do one stride
of the canter while still in the pirouette.
I tried to do it very carefully and only
asked for it about 3 different times. I only
worked to the left.
