Baby Deuce grows up

This is my riding journal. It is meant to help document the
training of my young horse Deuce. I'm teaching him all about dressage,
but he teaches me so much too!

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Slow and Steady

I think the message for me this weekend is that I need to go slow and steady with Deuce. This is hard to do because he is such a fast learner and so willing to learn new things. I really would love to be at a barn where I could go on trail rides easily and could walk in the field instead of in the arena to warm him up. I can also go back and make sure he has the most basic stuff like:

- voice commands during lungeing (so it can be used while riding)
- staying still at the mounting block while I get on

I need to remember that he is 4 and I can't push him too hard - I just need to teach him new things playfully.

The other thing I learned this weekend is that I need to make sure my body stays relaxed. I tense my arms for some reason at the canter and also when I do lateral movements. Deuce can feel this and gets tense himself.

No comments: