Lent - Day 3

I'm not going to title every Lenten post like the above - but it's all I can think of right now.

I'm not quite ready to do the big post on Gideon that I've had in my head for MONTHS now (seriously, since last summer), so I'll do a horse post.

Over the past couple of years, I've tried to take away Obe's need to do a flying change if we change direction in canter. This is mostly because I was wanting to get my scores for my Bronze medal, and Second Level tests require counter-canter. Because Obe naturally has a great lead change, she was always wanting to throw in a flying change when she should just stay on the same lead all the time. So, in our flatwork and even in our jumping, I stopped asking for flying changes and I made sure to bring her back to trot to change leads while jumping.

But, we've gotten our Second Level scores, and, while I'll still show at Second early on this year, I want to start schooling Third. So, we're working on flying changes again. When I first started asking for them earlier this month, she wouldn't even TRY to change. It was almost like she was saying, "Nope, I'm not supposed to...you've told me for over a year that I should counter-canter, so I will." Yep - the same horse who would angrily switch leads when we first started trying to counter-canter now wants to counter-canter all the time. Mares....

But, on Wednesday night, I started out in the outdoor arena, but it's too open to really challenge her to change leads....and we've counter-cantered around it for hours over the last year. So, I moved to the indoor where there's a wall to act as a definite visual as I crossed the diagonal and set her up for a change. At first, she wouldn't change, and then she offered a change from right to left (accompanied by a bit of a pogo stick bounce through her hind end). Several times around a small-ish figure eight, and she would reliably give me right to left, but not left to right. I slowed my brain down, rode the collection in the canter like I do get a canter/walk transition, and BOOM! We got a HUGE change from left to right. Of course, her hind feet were three feet off the ground, but it was a clean change!

I laughed the whole time around the new circle, brought her down to a walk, and patted her like she was a queen.

Good girl, Obe. And watch out Third Level.