Wizard Ride 232: Going Against Your Mind

Tuesday, 5/10/11

Don’t throw away the reins! I need to tattoo it on my forehead. The first thing I want to do when Wizard takes contact on the bit is to feed him a little more rein, and I know it’s the wrong thing to do.

Onward and upward! We worked in the outdoor arena, on a beautiful spring morning, for about 40 minutes. We warmed up at a walk, stretching and moving into a nice marching gait. Our warmup continued with trot work on a large circle, doing a stretching/contact exercise. From there, we worked on transitions, moving from walk to trot and back to walk at each arena marker until Wizard’s hind end was engaged. Then at each marker, we did a different movement, either a leg yield or a shoulder in or a transition or a smaller circle. I then asked for some canter work. Wizard picked up the right lead perfectly the first time but the second time, it took a few tries. We hacked around the property as a cooldown and then I left the barn and headed to the office for a day of work- a nice way to start a day :^)