NIKE: Working At Home

DAY 3 – WORKING AT HOME: The round pen is a great place to get familiar with the horse's response to pressure, release and body position. You can establish a goo starting point and determine the attitude and athletic ability of the horse. It is also a SAFE place to begin training and conditioning. Our process in the round pen is like many other folks, we want to establish a direction and maintain a particular gait. We want to get this consistent. Then we work on getting a consistent change of direction as the turn 180 degrees to the INSIDE of the circle. Then we work on "getting two eyes" hand have the horse face us. And then comes the "locking on" when we get two eyes and walks way, the horse follows us. It is all about establishing leadership and respect. It can be a work out but the first few round pen session can really set up the horse for success as we move forward.

6:30am (after breakfast): As long as the weather stays decent we’ll be doing more ground work at home. Sadly the footing is wet everywhere so we will see how much impulsion can be worked on.

10:30am: We headed out to the round pen. The footing EVERYWHERE was slippery but we gave it a go! Got the job done. All three gates, getting two eyes, getting her to lock on and some nice stops and direction changes. Then it was a stroll around the property to check things out. We wrapped up with lateral flexing, getting the hind end to yield and backing. In fact we back most of the way up the driveway. Blanket off = no worries, blanket on = slight worry but she quickly figured it out with a little advance and retreat. A good Day 3. Tomorrow may be more of the same if the ground is any better. Hoping to get over to the nice round pen at Orangevale Park Arena later this week.

We are off to a good start!