Wizard Ride 265: Figure 8

Monday, 8/8/11

Another perfectly-groomed arena, another day of riding shapes outside in the ring. This time, I set up single poles at the center of each loop of a 5-loop serpentine. Wizard was great through the warmup and all the trot work. We incorporated some lengthening exercises, as well as a little lateral work. At the trot, he went over the poles softly and in a relaxed manner- at the canter, he rushed. I also rode down the center line at each gait, working on straightness, a bugaboo for us both. At the canter, he was tight through his back again, less than he was last time, but still not right. When I groomed him, I noticed that he was a little tight over his right hip. I’m going to have my friend do a massage on him next week to see if she finds any other sore points, and then decide if he need the chiropractor, the saddle fitter, or the vet.