january 20, 2022

Today was a spook at the cars and all sounds day for Karl. But that didn’t stop our process. We noticed in the groundwork that when he looses balance and falls on his shoulders, he pushes into my hand which creates pressure on the cavesson and he gets annoyed and goes to mouthiness. It all happens in a moment, and when I can keep him in balance he doesn’t get mouthy or pushy. We worked on the halt and slowing it way down so he can stay balanced and not fall forward into mouthiness after an abrupt stop.

Breaking it way down is helping both of us stay connected and understand how to use our bodies. He was stuck in the forward motion but if I catch it with a little tap of the whip (under saddle) I can help him stay fluid without holding pressure on. I think he was getting stuck because of his distracted mind at the sounds outside. He was still doing a lot of releasing and I worked on finding the shoulder-in on the circle by turning my pubic bone slightly from 11 to 1 (on the pelvic clock) and bringing the outside front more around on the circle and the inside hind more under the center of mass. Such a good boy & I’m able to be more independent with my seat, upper and lower leg, and hands with each ride. Also worked on our sitting trot.