zoel_222
03-15-2010, 03:56 PM
It was nice today, partly cloudy mid 60s so I took Hopi out. :D I took her for a trail ride a few days ago (ponying off Chica), but it's been raining a lot so the ground is too muddy to do any lungeing. So I didn't have much of a chance to try all the advice I was given in my lungeing thread.
I managed to add another panel to my round pen that I had been using as a gate in my paddock, so I took Hopi out in the round pen today. Okay.... so it's bigger than I remembered. :o I thought it was like 30 feet, but it's more like 50. I haven't been in there since last summer.
I lunged her at a W/T/C both ways with lots and lots of transitions and reversals. She did SO good. She threw a few bucks going into the canter starting out, but I got after her and then she behaved herself. She had a brilliant stop and was SO responsive. There was absolutely NO bracing. I only had pop her with the chain a couple times because my round pen is overgrown with grass and she tried to eat. :rolleyes: I even free lunged her, which I think I've only done like twice. She did okay with that. She was really good at the canter and trot and had a great stop, but when we tried to just walk she'd eat the grass, so I just put the line back on.
Then I was REALLY bad :o:doh: and I got on back, bareback in a halter and cooled her out for a couple minutes. She acts like she's been ridden a thousand times. It's crazy. I've practiced mounting and dismounting with her a little bit the past two months and rode her once for like 5 minutes (which was more like me sitting on her back while she was stuck in whoa mode). So today while I was cooling her out I just sat on her back. She stopped a couple times and I got her going with just a cluck. She stayed right on the rail and was so good. When I'd say ho she'd stop instantly. She even switched directions off my legs with just a little rope encouragement.
I tell ya, this horse was born to be ridden :cowboy:
I managed to add another panel to my round pen that I had been using as a gate in my paddock, so I took Hopi out in the round pen today. Okay.... so it's bigger than I remembered. :o I thought it was like 30 feet, but it's more like 50. I haven't been in there since last summer.
I lunged her at a W/T/C both ways with lots and lots of transitions and reversals. She did SO good. She threw a few bucks going into the canter starting out, but I got after her and then she behaved herself. She had a brilliant stop and was SO responsive. There was absolutely NO bracing. I only had pop her with the chain a couple times because my round pen is overgrown with grass and she tried to eat. :rolleyes: I even free lunged her, which I think I've only done like twice. She did okay with that. She was really good at the canter and trot and had a great stop, but when we tried to just walk she'd eat the grass, so I just put the line back on.
Then I was REALLY bad :o:doh: and I got on back, bareback in a halter and cooled her out for a couple minutes. She acts like she's been ridden a thousand times. It's crazy. I've practiced mounting and dismounting with her a little bit the past two months and rode her once for like 5 minutes (which was more like me sitting on her back while she was stuck in whoa mode). So today while I was cooling her out I just sat on her back. She stopped a couple times and I got her going with just a cluck. She stayed right on the rail and was so good. When I'd say ho she'd stop instantly. She even switched directions off my legs with just a little rope encouragement.
I tell ya, this horse was born to be ridden :cowboy: