...and explores the wild world of the dressage arena. Chris was banging around on the tractor, pushing big piles of dirt into the rutted outside track of the jumping arena, so I thought it best to go and school somewhere else. Since I didn't need to jump anything today, the dressage arena beckoned to us. He was fanstastic on Sunday, jumping every spooky little thing in the jumping arena on the first go - well, he did snort at the shark's teeth panel, but I booted him over it from a standstill - and was showing some bravery at last. The grass had been mowed all over, so that the natural ditch was spookier than ever, but Oliver dropped his head, assessed the situation, and then hopped right on over. Such a brave boy. I think he's naturally quite brave, as water and ditches don't seem to bother him - just the man-made stuff, which tells me that he just needs exposure. There was quite a pile of stuff by the outside of the dressage arena - lots of kid's plastic playground equipment, the white Bloks, and a lawn chair or two, and Oliver showed his increasing bravery by walking by without turning himself inside-out to avoid it. We trotted around, and he showed better balance and so I started to teach him to go long and low. He can be tricky as he wants to just curl his head in, since he's built that way, so the more I can teach him to lift his back and stretch his neck and head out, the better it will be for him in the long run. At the walk, he was starting to get it and I could feel an increased swinging through the back. He is still a bit shaky at the trot - that darn balance thing - but he's starting to release some more and swing. We played around with leg yielding at the walk, which he got right away, and then worked on canter. The right lead is quite good - he picks it up willingly, and canters in balance, but wants to pop that left shoulder going around the turn - typical. The left lead is much harder, since he wants to pop that shoulder and pick up the right. I had to finally carry my whip in the inside hand and tap him with it to get him to pick it up - it feels funny when he does. He'll get it, though, and I must admit that I'm thrilled with the natural quality of his canter - lovely and round and light. This horse is going to be a piece of cake to gallop downhill, as his withers are already up in front of me.
So, all in all, rather an uneventful foray into the "wild". I'm looking forward to some real trail riding with him as I think he's going to enjoy it. He's such a pleasure to ride and handle.
Of course, he tworked his left front shoe again, so Doc had to pull it off. I had a chat with Jackie and we're going to try and shorten the heels on the shoes so he has less to grab, and worst case scenario is that he'll put hind shoes on with some trailers to slow the back end down, and roll the toes on the front to speed up the breakover. Sigh. We went through this with Sam, and I know it's a balance thing, but it's irritating nonetheless. Oliver is built so uphill and he's very short-coupled, with those spider legs, so it makes it even harder for him not to step on himself.
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