Wizard Sessions 329, 330, 331: Winter Rose

It barely feels like winter these days with this crazy warm spell.

Thursday, 1/26/12 and Saturday, 1/28/12

Both days, I longed Wizard in the indoor arena. Both sessions were virtually identical. I warmed him up at the walk in both directions and then let him trot both ways til he was limber. Then, he did a little work in side reins at the trot, working on transitions within the trot, as well as spirals. Then, I unhooked the side reins and he cantered both ways. I must say, his canter looked pretty nice!

Monday, 1/30/12

Tuesday, 1/31 will officially be the end of the third week of his Lyme Disease treatment. Only 9 more weeks :^P Unfortunately, I have seen almost no improvement at all, yet.

I got a set of four of these Rail Razers for out trot pole work. They are REALLY easy to move around, but because they’re so light, they fall over with the slightest rap of the hoof. I used them for our longeing session, and they were okay, but not exactly perfect.

Wizard was very energetic for this session- not as focused as he was the last two times. To the left, he was fine over the poles, but to the right, he SLAMMED on the brakes and then sort of leapt through them and then went into one of his nervous episodes that we used to encounter a lot in the old days. This nervousness continued when we did a little work in the side reins. He was trotting really fast, and then would sort of leap forward like he was going to do his old spin routine. I asked for just a little canter work (without side reins), mostly for the transition, and did about 2-3 trot to canter transitions. He settled a little, but was never quite himself the whole time. I’m keeping him out of riding work while his body fights the Lyme Disease, but maybe he needs more exercise. I hate longeing so much, so I’ll have to think of other activities to keep him occupied. He cooled out fine and was quiet again at the walk.