Not all Gloom & Doom

The weather has returned to cold and foggy, and Cupid's foot isn't completely healed.  But it's not all gloom and doom, he is sound enough for some light work.

Just when I think I can put his blanket away

Cupid had a week off, and was looking okay handwalking and jogging.  So I kept my lesson last week, but when I put him on the lunge line was still looking a bit gimpy, so I asked my trainer if we can do in hand work instead.  I'm still enjoying the in-hand work, even though I'm still not very coordinated my timing is getting a little better.  It's interesting seeing it from the ground, being able to see when to cue his leg.  When I ride I do it intuitively, but I wouldn't say I'm great at feeling what the hind end is doing. 

My trainer is continuing the bit of piaffe training in-hand.  I can't say it's a real piaffe yet, but I'm seeing the progression!  She starts at the halt, using the whip to cue him to pick up each hind leg.  Sometimes I wonder if we did too good a job de-sensitizing Cupid because at first he can ignore the whip!  My trainer said he can (learn to) distinguish between our intention to get a reaction, or non-reaction, based on our body language and response.  Then she gets him moving forward, and uses the whip plus also picks up her own feet higher to encourage him to do the same.  Right now she does it along the rail, with a slight shoulder fore to the inside to make the collection easier.  It's pretty neat to watch! 

Then Cupid got a few more days off (still getting turned out because I feel some movement is good, plus he won't go crazy, plus he doesn't do too much in turnout unless he's been kept in!).  Then I got on him bareback for a walk around the property, which I really enjoyed since I hadn't gotten to ride in a while.  It's rough when 100% of your stable is down for the count! 

We had another lesson this weekend.  I observed Cupid on the lunge and he looked much better at the trot, but still a bit gimpy at the canter, especially going left, so we just did walk-trot.  He was a bit spooky in the outdoor again, but I tried to be more proactive keeping my inside leg on him and we did our circles when I felt him get distracted.  We did a lot of leg yielding out on a circle (18m to 20, and ~8 to 10) to get him into the outside rein.  We ended up practicing a 3 loop serpentine with a bit of leg yielding on the loops, which I think helped improve the roundness and made the change in bend more pronounced.  For Training 3 I will want to get that same feeling in our serpentines, just a bit more subtle.

So even though our riding has been light for the past week plus, we've had some good moments and I've been enjoying just spending quality time with Cupid!