Kathy Playdon Clinic Day 2 PM

In the afternoon we continued with our lateral work, and started putting up a small grid to work through.  Koda and I had a fairly easy time of it, except for when we turned and faced jumping the simple coop-like structure that, according to Koda, was filled with horse eating monsters.  It was just 2' tall, but it was the great wall of China that day. 

We worked through the grid fine, until the height of the last fence was creeping up to 3'.  Considering it was the end of the day, after having an intense morning of flat work, Koda had decided he didn't want to play anymore.  Not gonna lie, I was getting pooped as well and my reactions weren't fast enough to avoid his run-out.  Thankfully, Kathy had changed the jumps from verticals to giant cross-rails (cups were at the top of the standards).  With my dwindling strength, but full-on stubbornness, we got through the grid and over the coop in fine fashion and called it a day. 

The grid with the big Xs

The approach on the other side had trees painted on it

After this lesson, I talked to Kathy about what I could do to really help Koda move FORWARD and get a bit of a work ethic in-grained in him.  Her response was to get him out of the arena (I do) and just ride FORWARD all over.  Since I'm a bit of a chicken hacking out by myself out here (flashs of Koda tossing me and him getting hit like Dillon did), I've devised a few "loops" on the farm that I can do.  The loops are rather short, but there are several and it's MUCH easier for me to ride forward in the fenced areas than out on the roads.  Sadly no video from this one (would have seen some SPECTACULAR run-outs, the lazy turkey), but I have a couple photos of the final grid we went through.

Next up - Day 3