Do a lot, and then do nothing!

Well,

Two more liberty sessions since my last blog. I am playing with doing a really intense, provocative, but short liberty session, ending on a really good note, then going off for a ride to 'cool off' and relax.

It seems to be working! Ruby is really alive and attentive! Now I just have to be careful not to squash it...

I have been really struggling with Ruby finding relaxation at a canter, at liberty, ridden, or online, so I have been thinking about how I can help her. I feel she needs to keep at it long enough to find relaxation, but I was finding I was doing a lot of work to try and keep her cantering!

So the plan for today was to take her in to the small round yard, and really work on our circling game. I can send her out at a trot and she will maintain gait, maintain direction, and stay out there all day. But when I ask for a canter, she gets tight, her head goes up, she will take a couple of strides, and drop back to a trot. I had 'do a lot, then do nothing' in my head. It was something Tara and I had talked about regarding Ruby. So I would ask her to canter, then when she broke gait I would make a big fuss, then quickly go to complete neutral as soon as she cantered.

It worked to a degree, I was getting a lot more canter, but she was starting to lose confidence. When this happened I let her drop back to a trot, or her favourite, figure 8's around two buckets, until she was relaxed and in contact again.

Then we would try again. I would reward her by bringing her back to a trot as she offered more and more canter.

So I had mixed success today. I didn't get 20 laps at a canter, or even a lot of relaxation, but I had a horse who was really trying hard, putting effort in, and very responsive! And I am experimenting, and problem solving, and using my knowledge to try and find answers, so that has to be good.

I have also been riding bareback everywhere! Up hill and down dale. And cantering as much as possible. Canter canter canter. We both have to be nice and balanced at a canter, and I guess there's only one way to do it, a lot, and bareback! Jack rode Roxy, Pete ripley, and Ciaran came on Ruby with me, and we rode over the back to shut a gate this afternoon. We were having so much fun that we got almost home again and realised we had completely forgot to shut the gate!! Oh well, a good excuse for another ride tomorow...