Wizard Ride 168: Good Fortune
Thursday, 8/12/10
This summer, good fortune has been with Wizard and me. Everything has come together after spending a lot of time and money. Before/after frames tell the whole story of our fitness and hard work (THIS is why I try to have as many pictures taken as possible):
January 2009:
August 2010:
We rode in the large outdoor arena, mostly at a relaxed but forward pace. I encouraged stretching in the beginning of the ride, followed by forward responsiveness off of my leg at the end of the ride in order to create impulsion over fences while maintaining relaxation. It took one try to pick up the left lead, and he got his right lead on the third try.
I set up a trot-in pole before a cross rail, followed by two strides to a small vertical. The first time, he took it really long because I made the distance wrong (set up for cantering in and not trotting in), but once the distance was corrected, he took it smoothly:
It was a really nice ride, and I’m grateful to be working with such a game horse.
Rock and Racehorses: The Blog 
You are throwing yourself too far forward when you jump. If one day he should be less generous, your seat would not be secure enough and you would go flying out of the saddle. By flinging yourself forward like that, you are also making it harder for him to jump too. You need to close the angle of your hip. At the moment, the angle is very open.
I look forward to your next lot of photos. It is great to someone having fun with a nice horse.
Seeing the improvement is wonderful! I had to insist to Matt that he take pictures when Ollie and Toby are being bad. Otherwise if you only put up “good” photos you never realize how much they have improved! Same goes with video.
Also you inspire me. Ollie has been a train wreck with his loose poops, saddle fitting issues and most recently his abscess. I know I’ll get him going in the right direction…