Hi Jackie,
I got your message. I will be around Saturday but not Sunday, though obviously you are welcome anytime. If you do come Sunday you could always do some longing or free work with Cat if the arena is free.
Things are coming along well. We are doing trotting both ways with changes of direction and some basic turns and transitions. She is feeling quite settled about the whole process. The last few days she has been much more cheerful (hence the title), pricking her ears instead of hiding on the corner when I go to get her. (You have to remember at this stage the horse gets absolutely no return from being ridden - it's certainly not fun, not even marginally pleasant - so it's understandable if she's resentful. After all, it's not her idea!) I have found she's best if I ride every other day and intersperse with longing, free jumping etc.. This is the usual best routine for young horses as their backs get to sore if you ride everyday, then they get stiff and pissed off. We have started doing a bit of canter on the longe - I usually leave this after the first "go forward" lessons until the horse is stronger so as not to encourage bad habits such as leaning on the inside shoulder. Hopefully we can add some ridden canter when she can hold her shape on her own. Basically everything from now on is geared towards strengthening and refining as she won't really learn anything "new" for a year or so. All good.
She has battled her way up the ladder in her paddock. This is obviously partly her personality but is also probably a function of her maturing and starting work also seems to bring it out in a lot of horses. I don't know if she has always been dominant as she is quite actively aggressive with the other horses - horses who have always been dominant usually just accept it as their god given right and rarely go out of their way to pick on the others. She's not doing any harm but I mention it because it's something to file away as it pertains to your (and people in general) relationship with her. I don't find her particularly pushy but I she has definitely strongly tested the limits a few times. The trick is not to be aggressive, that just starts a fight, but to be calmly persistent and sure. Not a big deal, just information to store away.
Enjoy the nice weather while it lasts - back in the deep freeze on Sunday.
R.
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