Out in the arena I set a cavaletti on the centreline near one end before starting with his longeing exercises. It really struck me today just how comfortable Rory is carrying the saddle around, and with the whole longeing deal. Even when I sent him out far enough to go over the cavaletti he was quite relaxed. I dared to ask him for a canter once on each rein and he stepped into an easy canter both times. Going left he didn't make the 20m circle and had to come back to trot before he got across the arena. Going right I had to push him forward in the trot more before he stepped into canter, but he managed the 20 circle across the arena without any trouble. I was quite pleased with him.
After the longeing work I set up two cones on the quarter lines between B and E. I took the side reins and longe line off Rory and put the regular reins on his bit. We went into the middle of the arena and I started on the "leg means go" exercise - reins bridged in one hand at his withers, the other hand on the stirrup leather just below the saddle flap. The hand on the reins allows for some steering control while the hand on the stirrup is used to tap the horse's side to simulate a leg aid. The key to the exercise is to separate the turning and forward aids. Turn the head, relase the rein and tap the side to keep the horse moving forward. Generally this means less of a turn than planned, but the turn then forward aids can be repeated until the horse is going in the desired direction.
Rory found it confusing at first. I set the cones up with plans to do a figure eight around them and we twice ended up at the very far end of the arena having a discussion about going out the big door. I quickly abandoned trying to halt with the reins as Rory was having trouble with simply going forward and turning in different directions. He tried pulling against the turning rein, turning his head without following with his feet, backing up, and pivoting on his front feet. I was a bit concerned, but after I rewarded a couple of tries he started to get it. We walked around the cones and over the cavaletti with frequent carrot rewards. By the end Rory walked a little more than half the figure eight without stopping or hesitating and I stepped out to give him a carrot and stop him. It was a good session for Rory. He hasn't had to really think about what I've been asking like that for a while, and he did get it right and quickly gained confidence that he was giving the right answer. Unfortunately the camera turned off before I started the exercise so I don't have any pictures.
Spring has been dragging in reluctantly this year. Usually the horses are out of their blankets for the summer sometime in April, but they've only managed a day or three here and there. We've had the highest April rainfall in recorded history this year. I don't mind wet horses, but I worry about them getting chilled if it's both wet and cold. My arbitrary number is 10C - if it's going to go below 10C and rain then I want the horses to have their personal, portable shelters. I put Rory's rainsheet on before I put him out in the rain and he happily went to munch on the hay while his two buddies stood in the shelter.
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