Year gone by - Riding Video 2009

[glenatron]

So a year ago I posted a video of Zorro and I ( which has no lost it's music in an argument between Google and Warner ) was a kind of marker for where we were at the time. I figured the way to make that kind of marker useful is to give it points of comparison so on Saturday I got sleepsy_mouse to take some more of our session.

Last year penella22 told me off for doing

Comments

[buymeaclue]

Hey, where's the canter? I seem to recall that wasn't on the table much if at all a year ago and sounds like it's now at least a semi-regular part of the program, yes? That's progress!

[glenatron]

You know what, there was some canter in there and I think I must have somehow taken it out again by mistake when exploring the whimsical nature of Windows Movie Maker.

You can see a few times when he's thinking it's time to break into canter up the arena. I never thought my "would rather stop than anything" cob would begin to offer that as an evasion xD

[dancing_crow]

Penny, very similar to your boy there, offers the same evasion. I had never run into it before. I think it is a large, slow pony evasion to a working trot.

[glenatron]

It also has an element of "if I go over to the gate maybe the session will be over" to it I think...

[teadog1425]

Thank you for the video - that was great! I loved the backing up on the ground - he really balances himself and holds himself well, doesn't he? My favourite bit was him rolling at the end, though! Tam

[glenatron]

He's very nicely balanced now and he kind of balances for himself regardless of what I'm doing most of the time, which I think comes from my constant changes of direction both on the ground and in the saddle. I'm always trying to keep him asking what we're going to do next...

[teadog1425]

Both of your hard work really shows! And I loved how soft and responsive he was, even with occaisional grumpy ears

[glenatron]

Did they show the difference with different saddles as well? I have been practicing getting on from the ground lately because it's easy not to with a block like that and then you find yourself having to get off on the trail and have trouble getting back on and because I didn't learn to ride as a kid so I don't have that experience of clambering all over ponies when I was small. I wouldn't want to do it in an english saddle or a treeless, but I slightly feel as though although I obviously create more counterbalancing force on my western saddle the much larger contact area should be helpful in that respect. For the same reasons I very infrequently practice getting on bareback from the ground and consequently I'm terrible at it...

Poor old Zorro sometimes has to suffer the worst of my education, but bless him if he thinks I'm at all unstable he will treat me like crystal glass. Once he thinks I'm solid on his back it's rollercoaster time.

[makoiyi]

Yep, huge improvement. In this one you look comfortable and confident, in the other you looked just a tad awkward. Might have been that saddle though. You relax more deeply into that western saddle and there's a kind of no-nonsense attitude from both of you. Can he see behind all that hair? Lol Merlin is only jealous.

[glenatron]

It was partly that I only had one and a half working legs in the last one and this saddle is a better fit, but I agree, I look much more right in the saddle now...

And I have no idea if he can see. He seems to think that either he can or it's not all that important...

[blitzen_]

what a great vid. the music & the sunkissed lighting remind me of my childhood. hah.

he does look a bit grumpy, haha. especially at the front. his side passing (whatever it's called) at 2mins is good to see tho. nice work.

do you use the lead swinging to reinforce the neck-reining at this stage?

[glenatron]

I'm really using it to create a barrier to stop him dropping his shoulders in, which he was really thinking of doing there. I don't want to be pulling around on the rein so I'm just using that as another way of saying "I didn't ask you to go there, so why not keep going the way I asked you to?"

[wldhrsjen3]

Hey, well done! Y'all have come a long way in the last year and you have a lot to be proud of.

[glenatron]

:) Thank you very much.