August 31, 2011 - Stretch and lift

Rory had a little extra energy today and trotted off on the longe before I asked.  He didn't try to pull away or canter, just trot.  I actually had to reel him in to a smaller circle to get him back to the walk - something that hasn't been necessary for a while.  After that he listened well and I could keep the longe work short to save that energy for the ridden work.

Left working outline, right starting to lift his back and reach for the bit

 I asked him to keep moving forward and kept a light contact.  Rory moved forward willingly enough but he found the contact distracting and was too busy testing the contact to listen to the bend requests.  There were moments on some of the circles when he relaxed and lifted his back for a few steps but they didn't last.  It was just luck that he tried it and I didn't give him obvious enough praise so he didn't realize that was the right answer.  I managed to catch him once and give him a "good boy", a pat and halted for a carrot.

 After the halt I kept him at the walk for a bit and encouraged him to stretch down into the contact and lift his back.  When he did I really felt his back lift under me and I was quick to praise.  He halted and I gave him a carrot.  We repeated the process several times and Rory very quickly picked up on what I wanted and lifted his back for several strides at a time.  He would lose the contact at times, but he found it again with a little encouragement.  We stayed on the right rein to give Rory a chance to really understand what I was asking.  The walk was going well so I asked him to trot.  Again at the trot I really felt his back lift up when he stretched forwards and down into the contact.  I praised and Rory halted so he could get his carrot.  Then we tried it again and Rory lifted his back and reached down into the contact.  It wasn't long before Rory was trotting around with his back up more often than not.

All of that work took just about twenty minutes and since it was quite humid and Rory had been so good I quit there.  We went for a walk around the grass field to cool out.  I untacked and hosed him off, and gave him his extra post-ride grain before putting him back out.