Selena Ride 33; Wizard Session 103: Drop It Like It’s Hot

Wednesday, 9/30/09

Four horses, all working in an indoor arena with a radio playing. Another new scenario for Selena :^) When we entered the ring, her ears immediately went to the radio and I could feel her react to it as we rode past it. We did a long walking warmup, followed by a lot of trotting around the full perimeter of the arena since I did not want to get in everybody’s way with a lot of big circles. I used transitions and a little shoulder-fore to keep her on the aids. I got my best trot and contact when “Drop It Like It’s Hot” played on the radio. I had no idea Selena was a Snoop fan. We rode for almost 45 minutes and she was barely sweaty at the end of the ride, which means 1) she’s getting fitter and 2) the weather is cooling down.

I did about 25 minutes of groundwork with Wizard in the indoor arena. We started exactly like we did the session before, with him wearing a saddle and halter. I worked on halt and walking forward, reinforced only with a clicker and a carrot and with no crop. He was much more responsive and relaxed. We did a few circles on the longe (about 3 each way) and then I put the bridle on and did a little more in-hand work, followed by free-longeing in tack. He was a different horse and back to his old self, responsive, curious, smart. It is an unsettling feeling when a horse loses his cool but they are remarkably resilient creatures- it was a relief that we were back on our previous level of communication.