Chief Is Awesome

I rode Chief yesterday! And man, he's awesome!

In short, we worked on bending and leads. I used a little trick I learned on Tarzan, and it helped so much, its crazy. By the end of the hour he was holding his bend BOTH directions easily! Yay! Here's the trick:

• start at a walk going YOUR good way. I have a weak leg and a previously broken arm on the same side of my body, so I always start this exercise going the OPPOSITE way, a.k.a. my strong way.
• shorten your inside rein and open your outside hand. 
• push your horse over with your inside leg but use gentle pressure with your outside leg, so that your horse doesn't sidepass, like Chief did at first.
• continue this while keeping your horse at a walk until he shows any sign of give or bend. as soon as he does, release all pressure and reward. 
• let your horse walk a little bit and continue until he bends a full lap around the arena without you holding pressure. 
• next ride, do it at a trot. 
• then, a canter.
• it gets harder as you speed up, so it might take longer. but remember each lesson to review the past lesson, and you should be fine.

I love it! It worked wonders for Zan, and Chief, and they're in martingales - which I would recommend if your horse has headset/bending issues. Anyways..

We also worked on slowing down his trot and canter. He has problems with his right lead canter, so we worked on it, and by the end of the hour, his trot was a pleasure trot! I love progress. <3