I worked Jackson for about 45 minutes. We
just did a little ground work to warm up
then I tacked him up. I rode him in the
bitless bridle this time. He did much better
in it than before. I worked him at the walk
for a little bit. I worked on turning,
stopping, half passing, and some spins. His
half pass to the left is the best. His half
pass to the right needs more work. Of
course, it could be me and not Jackson.
He trotted better today. We did a couple
half passes at the trot as well.
He cantered to the left much better! This is
normally our difficult side. But he stayed
slow and relaxed to the left very well! He
even did a few strides of the half pass to
the left. Very relaxed and calm. Wow!
Cantering to right was a different story; he
rushed and tossed his head a lot. By the end
he was a bit better, but we definitely need
to work on the canter to the right. I am
getting better at using my weight and reins
aids to help him. I think I am more relaxed
now. I think that some of the problems I had
loping on the left lead were due to the fact
that I would put my weight to the inside. I
didn’t really try for a half pass to the
right as we weren’t dong so well going in
circles or straight.
Over all, I think that his canter has really
improved over the last week or so! I hope
that we continue to make this progress for
the next few months.
