Strengthen the back, carry yourself lightly

As I pulled up today Pony was trotting/cantering around her field upset that her friends were at the bottom of their field. She has become very attached to Peppy, the King Ranch cutting mare that lives the large field next door. Since she is in season she is much more vocal and much hotter than she normally is. I decided that I would take the edge off by lunging and then work on channeling the energy into effective use of her body.

After about ten minutes of cantering (5 in each direction) on the lunge I got on and began to work her down onto the bit. Today was one of the first days that she really lifted her back to round on the bit, and carry herself in a light but forward trot. She really felt great, and as Grayson put it she really just wants to please. She doesn't get everything on the first try, but she sort of asks, "Hey, can you show me that again?" until she eventually understands the questions being asked. That became clear today as we practiced transitions some more. I jumped a few of the jumps in the ring, asking her for a halt right away.

Her back and topline are getting stronger so she is able to really maintain the frame and stay on the bit lightly so that I have to ask her less often to come back down. It was also nice to be able to package her up to the fence so that she jumps round, and then be able to halt three strides away. In our lesson with Anne I wasn't able to stop her without the use of the fence. Anne will be so proud! I'd also really like to get another video this week, so that each week everyone at home can see the improvement. I realized today that I forgot to give you all the link to my youtube account to see the newer videos of her working!

Here is my youtube account: http://www.youtube.com/user/ksully913 . I am constantly adding video whenever I can get it. The most recent video is of my lesson on Saturday with Anne on her paint gelding Roy. The ones before it are the pony flatting, and the lesson with Anne from when she came out to Grayson's. Also - I added a photo of Roy, the paint, because he is just adorable!