Checking In

Nothing very exciting here to report, for the last few rides we've been doing flatwork working on transitions and getting Koda to work in balance.  Since the time off I gave him in September, his canter work has turned into him pulling himself forward with his shoulders and doing a bit of a side-winder canter he did when I first got him.  Goes to show, the moment this horse loses his muscling he'll easily fall back into an old habit.  I'm extremely lucky that I have the yard to ride in as it has a similar geometry of a very long dressage arena.

Along with the lose of Koda's lovely canter, I've lost my ability to sit his canter!  With the new (correct) way my saddle is sitting, I need to re-learn how to sit Koda's canter.  This is where the fun part begins.  When I'm not sitting right, Koda will suck up behind my leg and either slow to a stop.  When I put my leg on to push him into the bridle, we get some attitude pony but he will go and a shadow of his previous canter is there. What I also need to watch is to make sure I don't sit too heavy since that will also cause the hiding behing my leg.

We have a LOT of work to do on balance and correct transitions with straightness, no more side-winding!  Of course, as the weather gets colder, the sun is setting sooner so I'll really only be able to ride on the weekends or trailer out to the indoor at night.  I'm not a big fan of trailering at night because of some issues I had with Celtic a couple years ago since, typically when I haul at night I'm going alone.  Now I know Koda isn't like Celtic at all but we'll play it safe rather than sorry for now :)

And the token Koda photo