Brain is Back in Head

I finally had a relaxed ride again on Cisco. I was starting to wonder if he was going to be a bit of a hot-head. But I have hope again after today's ride that he has a brain and is capable of using it.

A brain does exist in that cute head.

I was smart this time, and did lunge him first. He was much more relaxed in the arena than he had been the last few times, and this crossed over to the lunging. So we did a quick walk/trot and then I decided to move him down to the scary end.

He was definitely looking for the boogeyman. Since brain was in head, he didn't feel the need to run, just stop and stare. Which required a couple of taps with the lunge whip to convince him that I am scarier than the invisible boogeyman, and he can't ignore me.

I kept things simple, and just tried to have a relaxed walk and trot on the small circle, and decided to leave things there since it was hot and I wanted to make sure he had some energy left.

Steering is hard! (We're tracking right here, and supposed to be on the rail.Fail.)

He was much quieter than the last few rides as soon as I hopped on. We were able to walk on a loose rein! Like a big boy!

When I picked up a trot, there was still no fine-steering. We could do nice circles and changes of direction, but couldn't go straight down the track or consistently into corners. I decided today would be a good day to introduce turn on the forehand so we can start to make some progress on steering from leg. Hopefully.

It went about as well as I could expect. We had a couple of steps in each direction, which is all I expect for first attempts. So I left him there.

I then hopped on Phantom for a quick ride. It wasn't supposed to be that quick, but I had something going on that was uncomfortable, and I was too lazy to dismount, fix it, and get back on again. Her breathing has been a bit better, so I will get her back onto our interval training schedule to improve her fitness. (And mine.)

Then I had to tackle her poopy tail. I gave in and wrapped it up after washing it, and gave her a binder twine tail to swat the flies. I hate how ghetto it looks, but I am tired of seeing her tail brown within a couple days of cleaning it.

Gross poopy tail.