He has dreams of jumping and running and most of all - being in charge! The danger of the smart horse is that they get bored easily and you have to stay ahead of them. I haven't been great about that all winter and he has been as patient as he can. We do incorporate lots of poles and small jumps and try to keep it interesting, but I am not about to crank the fences up on a horse trying to yank the reins out of my hands.
Luckily, he is well trained and good natured so having a few weeks of lovely weather really helped. We were able to ride outside and get out on the trails and I could feel Odin relax and breathe again. It doesn't hurt my brain much either.
At the end of the day though, he needs harder work. His canter is really coming together, he is maturing mentally, he wants to jump higher. Bad news for him is that my riding time has been really limited by work lately and I am not fit enough to stay with him when he gets, uh, exuberant (this horse can crack his back like nothing else. It's awesome, but tough when you aren't fit). Good news for him, R2 has next week off and hopefully can spend a good amount of time getting him settled over bigger jumps so I can take over from there.
 |
| He looks damn good |
Work has been really intense with a big event that is actually going on now for the next two weeks. After that I have a house move and then hopefully lots and lots of springtime riding.
Odster is about to turn 7 and all signs point to him getting into a really good place in his training and I hope to spend the next several months enjoying and exploring that!
Good to hear and update - he really does look wonderful! Sounds like he's doing great too!!
ReplyDeleteAwesome to hear from you and I feel you! This year will be very exciting for you two and I hope you get more saddle time soon!
ReplyDelete