The arena roof was covered in snow today after Sunday's fall, and the sun was shining. I knew we'd probably be hearing the snow sliding off the roof. We started with reviewing the basic longe lessons of walk, trot, halt and out. When he got to trot, Rory was reluctant to come back to walk and I actually had to use the wall to help. Rory spooked once, but otherwise the snow slides didn't bother him at all. After he'd settled and was listening well I stretched the circle into an oval and asked him to lengthen his trot. A couple of times he really stretched out and went forward. I found it a little harder to judge where I needed to be on the long sides in order to keep him out and moving forward, but Rory told me when I got it wrong. At the end I halted him against the wall so he wouldn't swing his haunches out and face me. Going right he halts and stays straight, but going left he tends to face me.
The new lesson today was to introduce bit action. Rory's been wearing his bridle while I work him for quite a while, but I've never put any bit pressure on him. After longeing I stood beside him and hooked a finger tip into the left bit ring and put a little pressure on his mouth. As soon as he turned his head even a little I let go and gave him a carrot. Unfortunately it was a bit windy and the noises from the arena and outside were distracting and Rory took a little while to start to get the idea, but he was turning more quickly at the end of the lesson. As we walked back to the barn I thought this lesson might be easier to introduce in the barn aisle where Rory is less concerned about what's going on outside.
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