When you have the indoor arena by yourself, why not do something different and set up a jump chute and loose lunge though it?! Today was a great day at the arena with Koda, and our trip there and back. It was our first trip with the new configuration of bigger truck with my trailer, and it was a good first experience. The new truck is a little higher than the old one (rest in peace Barry our old Dodge Ram), but it hauls like a dream. I know now that I will NEVER have an issue getting up any hill, or being stuck with less power than I need. To get to the indoor arena, you have to go through some fairly slick hills right now (yay dirt roads with slicked snow and ice on top of them...). Whenever I hauled with the dodge, I would always hold my breath going up one particular hill. With this new truck? Not a problem, it ate that hill right up!
Once at the arena, Koda did his "I"M ALL ALONEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!" whinnying/neighing/screaming act while I unloaded all my tack. Once I had all my stuff unpacked, I decided I was going to loose lunge and set up the chute. Back goes all the tack, out come all the standards and poles. Koda was an absolute gem. I loose lunged Dillon quite often back home, and I hadn't done it yet really with Koda so wasn't sure what I was going to get. Quite surprisingly, he was lovely. Listened to most cues and directions, would halt, walk, trot, and canter with minimal fuss and seemed very happy to oblige me.
The first time he went through the chute, I just had placing poles down; two trot poles, 9' to a vertical placing pole, 17' to another vertical placing pole. He was an absolute gentleman. Went through, no issues, spacing was almost perfect (yay!) and he had good forward action through it. I've noticed from the Kathy Playdon clinic in this past fall and again today, that Koda is a bit lazy when it comes to lower fences and poles unless encouraged through by either a rider or person on the ground. When the jumps go up, he's careful and clever, but right now has that slow amble to his movement while we're building back his fitness.
He had one refusal when I started to push him a bit through once he was getting tired. I reprimanded him and got him through a couple more times were he was picture perfect. The very cool thing was, every time I asked him to go through the chute, he did. There was no swerving, no ducking out, and only one stop. Am very happy with my boy!
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