Rory was a little bouncy on the longe today. He actually bucked a few times until I realized that the dressage whip I'd tucked up under the left saddle flap was tickling his flank. I pulled it out and Rory settled to his usual cooperative self.
Walked and trotted around the sand ring for a few minutes. Rory was pretty good and had a nice forward walk and a rhythmical trot. His head carriage was a little erratic and he experimented with different responses to the rein aids. He's giving me some really nice moments of relaxation and a balanced self carriage. I asked another boarder to video a practice dressage test for me.
In the arena we trotted around and did a circle or two before going into the test. Rory had trouble with the turn onto the centreline, overshooting by a good bit the first time. The first time through I was too quick to correct Rory's wobbles and he got a little tense as he wasn't sure what I wanted him to do. We got through it, but it wasn't pretty. I realized I was trying too hard and the next time through I focused more on keeping Rory trotting forward in a consistent rhythm. The test pattern went much better this time.
We went for a walk around the grass field to cool out.
The adventures of Rory the Canadian Sport Horse from newborn onwards
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