Tuesday, June 21 2011

I led Newt to the arena. I have set up the ground poles at then end of the arena. Julian Westall suggests using a ground pole / small jump combo that will cause the horse to canter on the correct lead. We are working toward that. I have it set up with 3 poles 4’3″ apart with another pole 9′ from the last of the three poles. The first 3 are one stride (trot) apart with 2 strides before the last pole. Newt trotted it just fine. I only have poles set up for the clockwise circle. It takes two sets, one for clockwise and one for counter clockwise. I rode the exercises. Newt was better behaved that the last time. He still has some head shaking. I rode the Crosby saddle and Newt seemed to do better. We rode above the pond and then made the loop on the west end of the pasture. Newt did seem to be loosing patience but he kept it to a low boil, not an explosion. I dismounted and walked him back to the barn. Today was an improvement over the Newt’s last ride.