This and That

I had a great beautiful weekend.  Thursday & Saturday I worked Poppy and jumped a little.  She was great so I didn't work her too hard.  When I work her I do lots of flatting working on balance and staying under me in a nice frame.  Lots of circles both big and small and cantering over poles.  She has been going well so there currently isnt anything in particular I am focusing on.  When I say I jumped a little I mean a couple cross rails and small verticles.  She maybe jumped 5 jumps total.  I don't believe in jumping much and and I can get what I need by using pole work versus putting the wear and tear of jumping on my horse.  This will continue to be her schedule until we get closer to showing again.

I lunged Luxxx Thursday and Saturday.  I have been working him in his bridle (loose ring French link bit) and surcincle with side reins.  He is doing really well.  He goes into a nice frame and the side reins are also helping him get used to contact on the bit.  He has shown no objection what so ever.  He has more difficulty at the canter holding himself together.  This is completely understandable.  He is 3 with awkwardly long legs.  He is still figuring out where those long things go.  He gets some nice moments at the canter then falls apart a bit.  He picks up his corrects leads and occasionally will swap.  If he swaps I pop the whip and he does a lead change.  When I want him to stop I say hoa once.  If he doesn't stop he has to make a few laps more and I try again.  He has gotten really good with this and stops right away and walks toward me.  I try to keep these lunge sessions to about 15 min.

Also to follow up regarding our last lesson with M.  Thank you for your responses.  I realized i never really explained why M laid Luxxx down.  M's techniques may not be what other people use but I have chosen him because he is kind, gentle, and does an amazing job with young horses.  I would never lay a horse down (I have no experience with it).  This is something he has many years of experience doing and I would only trust him to do.  It is imperative that it is done in a gentle manner and creates trust with your horse.  Horses are the most vulnerable when down so it is important not to illicit fear or panic.  Luxxx was calm and relaxed and completely trusted us.  I have read articles of people doing this to "break" a horse or make them submissive.  This was not what we were trying to do.  There is no need.  When this horse has had his freak out moments (ie both wash stall incidents) it was out of the fear of not knowing what something was, not bad behavior.  I'm not sure if this is something M will do again.  We will both have to stay tuned!

That's about all the excitement around my barn.  Sundays I do a bran mash, feed, mineral oil, & psyllium mix that is Luxxx's favorite.  He literally dunks his head in it and licks the bucket.  It's kinda gross but he cracks me up because he wears some of it.