silkyraven | Slowly slowly... (Reply)

We are keeping on keeping on over here in East London and whilst it’s not much fun, it could be a lot worse! Dino is well. Bit too well really as he’s not in much work and has a LOT of grass to be getting on with! We have been keeping up with the Connection Training Groundwork Study Group and working on the shoulder isolations and crunches I talked about last time. Our latest video is here:

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We got some useful feedback from Hannah:
– the crunches are actually ok even if they don’t feel it to me! He’s got a super flexible neck so he can avoid doing what he’s supposed to do a bit by tucking himself up which is why it feels like it’s not going right
– for the shoulder isolations I need to be more obvious with my body language so he can see the cue.

So we’ll keep focussing on that for the next couple of weeks. I also think it’s got to the point where it’s ok to ride in the field!!!! AND hopefully Hannah and I can hack out together over the weekend! WOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Super shiny pony at the moment and hopefully we’ll bring the weight down a touch with some work. I could also start some lunging in the field I think to get him moving a bit. So things are moving in a positive direction for us at the moment.

We’ve also found a new trimmer. Sarah Swallow came out to see them last week as our usual trimmer wasn’t available and she did a great job and the ponies were very relaxed with her. They were four weeks overdue to lots of growth to remove:

Finally in the Dino tweaking corner David came out to see him this week. He’s generally ok but this time it’s the right hip that’s stiff instead of the left one! He hasn’t done much work so it’s hardly a surprise but it does explain why leg yield on the right rein is more challenging than on the left at the moment for him.