Molly has been doing just fine on the farm... little hiccups here and there (ie: lunging in the open arena- remember the post about when she first was learning to respect the whip- yeah... same thing. She does not like to lunge in open space... well, actually, she doesn't mind, she just hits a point in our work that she says, "Okay mom! We are done! <insert smile on her face and positive tone from Molly" Tyler: "no Molly, we are not done yet. I know YOU think you should be done... but we are not. a little more to go." Molly: "no, Mom, really... I think that was good for today... I'm done going round in circles in the arena". Tyler: " well... I beg to differ...." <insert a lesson learned for Molly- it aint over till the fat lady says "okay! come on in!">
Keep in mind... I ONLY ever get fits from her when I lunge in open areas, she never does this undersaddle, ever.
So.. I also signed up to attend an Andy Kurtz clinic at Trinity Equestrian which was awesome! Andy is a nationally ranked reining/cutting trainer that works on suppleness and flat work even with english riders. I trailered Molly to Vinnings on friday so that she could get introduced to the Trinity Equestrian because there is a train track LITERALLY 25 feet from the barn and arena and it goes by every 30 min or so. I was told most horses dont "freak out"... and they eventually get used to it... well, Molly was juuuuussssstttttt fine. She trailered well, walked off and into her stall. Let her pee and get some water, unloaded my stuff, and got her all tacked up. She was a doll. Loped around no problem in the arena! Barely thought about the train... however she DID have to get introduced to colorful flower boxes, and painted jumps. ;-) hehe... she has never seen such interesting things before! Once she walked up to them... sniffed them... she was peachy keen.
So our Saturday ride was alot of flexing her left and right and talking about different exercises to do with her to make her give to pressure and follow the rein. Sundays lesson was AWESOME! We changed her bit from the happy mouth to a very think loose ring snaffle. When I picked up my hands... she came up to meet them. Myself, Andy, and Trina I think were all impressed that he picked up what we were teaching SO quickly!! I was extremely happy. Her canter... ahhh... was like we were on a circle, not flat, not heavy, she felt in my hands, carrying herself in a beautiful circle motion. Trot was elastic and light. :-)
Trina also ran out of horses for her beginner clinic after my ride and asked to use Molly. Sure thing... better learn now if she realllllllly can teach beginner lessons. She. Was. Perfect! She loved her girl that rode her... she was so lazy that Trina had to give the girl a crop so that she would go. lol. I was very very pleased. I was a little bummed that we got Molly going SO SO great and then she taught a lesson... but I was hopeful that she would remember our session with Andy in the coming week.
Trailered home... turned her out for a bit to kick up her heals and then tucked her in.
So.. I wasn't able to get the loose ring bit so I tried a couple others that DID NOT work. She wasn't bad... but she wasn't amazing. She likes to kind of pull me through the turns a bit and argues with the outside aids a bit when circling. Even since getting her teeth done, she is still WAY easier to the right than to the left. She is still getting stronger every ride, and more fit.
I found time last friday to check up in Tack Exchange for a new bit.. Got her one.. but think I need to get an even thinner snaffle because she still hung on this medium one a bit in our Sunday ride. She also is learning her WORK ETHIC now under saddle. She kind of hits 5 rounds around the arena cantering and then says, "Okay we are done!" or "Okay, we are done cantering mom.. I want to trot and drag you around the corners". So, we had to work through that a bit on Sunday, we both got a work out but I think it was really good for her to see that nothing is routine. Sometimes we ride short times... sometimes longer than others. Sometimes we will do less trot and more canter... and sometimes more trot less canter. Sometimes cavelettii's, sometimes not, and so one and so one. Molly really likes routine... so breaking it up for her as much as possible is important. She is a VERY smart horse, and once she learns something... she has it, (lol- good or bad! ;-).
Over all.. I am also excited about getting some coaching from another trainer in the area that I saw this past weekend auditing a Rob Gage clinic. I will keep you posted!!
