Midsummer horse update

Ken and I were talking this week about our respective hobbies: I am warming up a bit to flying (a little bit I hasten to add) and he is growing fond of Champagne-as-a-pet. Ken is basically a softie for animals, and Champagne has many cute and endearing traits which are easy to like. I am not as afraid of flying, though I can’t picture myself taking the plane out for a spin on my own.

When Ken showed up for his lesson Wednesday, Champagne and I were in the outdoor and his ears came up, his neck rounded more, and his trot quickened as we headed toward Ken at the gate. I know that some geldings don’t like men, but clearly Champagne knows Ken and is happy he’s part of the herd. That’s endearing.

On his ride, Ken was working on softening his pelvic area and suddenly he was riding much better. Kathy the barn manager and Nancy, a boarder, both commented to me how much better he looked, and I could see it myself. Much less stiff, much more moving with the gait. He was practicing sitting the trot, and then the trot rising. He said that half-seat work the lesson before had really helped. I get a kick out of seeing his progress, and of course I love it that he likes my boy and my boy likes him.

For my part, the canter issue seems pretty well resolved. I can tell that Champagne can tell when I am about to ask for the canter, and I can feel him getting ready to respond. That’s great! Of course now there are a couple of other issues. For one, he tends to drop out of the canter unexpectedly. For another, when I try to do anything else (like slow or speed up the pace, sit even deeper in the saddle, or turn) he also drops out. On Wednesday we were trying trot/canter transitions, and he got all tense and frustrated, and was kind of bucking/kind of hopping/kind of cantering in place. I am now thinking that it will be another year before I can begin working on changes of lead.

In the meantime, if the weather is flyable this weekend we’re going to Vermont to visit my brother. If it isn’t, I’ll get to ride. So it’s all good, I guess.