May 15, 2011 - Arena rattles, Day Four under saddle

I was really looking forward to riding Rory again today.  The back door in the arena was closed and it was a bit windy.  The arena was creaking a bit, and the door was banging in the tracks as well.  Rory found it distracting and he didn't want to go down to that end of the arena when I was longeing.  He had more energy today, and he was bouncing and shaking his head when he started to trot.  I just kept pushing him forward until he settled down.  We moved the circle as far down the arena as Rory would go, then I brought him back to walk, shortened the longeline, led him up to the door and asked him to touch it.  Rory touched it easily, but didn't really want to stand still near by.  Once back on the longe circle Rory walked past the door a couple of times, then was willing to trot past.  After changing direction I had him walk past the door a couple of times, then trotted.  I did ask him to canter a couple of times, but didn't want to do too much in case he got wound up before I got on.

Today I started with the reins and skipped the lead rope tied to the halter.  I did the usual run through of the pre-mounting exercises.  Rory was very good and stood calmly.  When I did ask him to walk on he was less forward than last time and I needed to use my leg aids more to keep him walking.  There was some activity outside the arena that we could hear which combined with the noisy arena to divide Rory's attention.  He never totally ignored me, and the one time he needed to stop and listen for a moment I let him stand until his attention came back to me.  As with the longeing Rory didn't want to go down to the far end of the arena so we circled a few times and changed direction before I asked him to go a bit further down the arena.  Rory wasn't sure and he slowed down and wobbled side to side as he tried to turn away, but he went.  I didn't try to go all the way at first, just asked him to go a bit further than he had.  We did get most of the way down using a serpentine approach and Rory didn't get ready to bolt.  I was really pleased with his willing attitude and trust in me.  He got lots of pats and carrots.  

The halts were greatly improved today too.  Instead of using both reins together I used one at a time just long enough to get him to tip his head slightly towards the rein, then switched to the other rein.  By the end of the ride he was stopping very easily.  I'm sure the less forward walk helped.

After I put Rory back out I brought Totyo into the arena and started teaching him about boundaries and handler space.  He was a little distracted by Rory whinnying and running outside, but overall was pretty good for an almost three year old who hasn't had much handling.