Back to basics

As the trails are sodden and a sodden arena is a good arena (think too-deep sand), we have gone back to a lot of ring work.  I'm mainly checking back in to see what we remember.  Upshifts, downshifts.  Transitions.

I had no idea if he could still right lead canter under saddle.  I haven't specifically asked for it in ages, and I can never tell what lead he's on without hanging my head down and peeking at his legs.  Stupid smooth canter.  :)  On Sunday, I tried his right (bad) lead twice, and he picked it up and held it every time.  What a good boy!  He's still faster with a rougher canter on that lead, but he gave it willingly.

Another thing that we worked on was canter to gait transitions.  Those are always impossible to pull out of him.  He wants to go right from the canter to the walk or else a halt, and getting him to gait out of it is a mess.  He gave me two decent canter to gait transitions, and I was thrilled.

I also had some very nice, controlled canters in the ring.  On trail, if I ask for speed he will not lock, and at times he does so in the ring as well.  He goes faster and faster.  In the ring, I had a controlled, nice canter that was consistent.  Excellent.

I am quite rusty on fine tuning his gaiting - as in pulling him off the fore and engaging his hind end.  I must have overcued, because he kept stopping when I tried to move his weight.  Gotta work on that.  His gaiting was still pretty nice - not perfect, but nice.

After the ring we wander around the farm a bit, and Peanut continues being a star.  I am very tempted to try riding alone on the trails, but I believe I would have to lead him in and mount once I get past the scary places (the slope down to the road, the road, past the goats).  I do wonder how he would do....