Selena Rides 4 & 5: Welcome Back, Harry

Wednesday, 7/29/09

I rode Selena for about 25 minutes in the indoor arena with Mary the Morgan and her owner. I asked Selena for leg yielding to both sides and she complied. At first, she broke into a trot but then I improved my communication and she knew exactly what I meant. I asked her for the leg yield around the quarter mark of the arena and leg yielded to the wall in both directions. Good girl! Then I asked for a shoulder-in. She is much better to the left than to the right, which is fine by me since I ride better to the right :^)

We trotted one lap around the arena in each direction. Ahhhhh, it was nice. Selena has a long-striding trot. She gets a little tight in the neck and topline, but I plan to do a lot of suppling work to improve those muscles.

At the end of the ride, I stood lined up with Mary the Morgan as if we were lining up at the end of a horse show class. Selena was better about standing still. When her body relaxed, I hopped off. Good girl!

Friday, 7/31/09

Since I’m back to work at the trot, I rode in my half chaps and Harry Hall breeches instead of jeans. My ankle is doing very well. I rode Selena for about 30 minutes. I hand walked her for about 5 minutes before riding. We walked in both directions along the rail, and then I asked for 20 meter (actually bigger than 20m) circles at each end and at the center (E in dressage letters) in each direction.

We then did two leg yields in both directions, then shoulder-in along the wall. She is more resistant travelling to the right. I’m trying my best to stay off her face and really work with my leg and seat. Since she is out of shape, I want her to relax through her neck and back and balance on her own. Then she will seek contact.

I trotted Selena two times around the arena in both directions, cutting the arena in half once in each direction. Her trot is forward and relatively straight- she is tense through her neck but responsive. I think she is trying to feel me out as well as get back into the swing of things. I asked Selena to halt at the end of the arena by herself- she relaxed much more quickly, letting out a nice sigh. I hopped off, groomed her off, and grazed her for about 10 minutes.

Wizard’s stifle appears to be back to normal, at least in hand and at liberty. I need to decide how much more time I’ll rest it. Since it took so long to resolve, I think it still needs quite a bit more time to completely heal. I plan to continue the hand walking since it seems to have helped him quite a bit.