Haven't posted for quite a while! I've been busy with uni things unfortunately. I'm going home pretty regularly every 2 weekends to ride Niels at the moment. Very frustrating not being able to progress with him. I personally feel that my riding has improved over this year, even since the haflinger show earlier in the year.

This was this weekend:

I'm so impressed with the canter improvements, I'm ignoring the breaking into trot, trying not to make a deal of it. I can feel him trying his hardest, he hasn't been asked to work in canter this way since we've had him, if at all. His left rein is still his worst rein, so I'm working more on that rein in all paces.



Compared to earlier in the year:


He was so tense and hurried, and not listening to me at all.

I'm happy with the steady progress, over the Christmas break (in between studying for exams...) I'll have the opportunity to ride him every day and hopefully improve much more.

In other news my Dad's working in Australia and so his horse, Benny, hasn't been ridden for quite a while. My mum and I have been loose lunging him to keep him under control, which led to discovering that he actually loves to jump! We put up a jump, after he realised that he was meant to go over it, and it didn't mean a change of direction, we couldn't stop him coming! He knocks a pole, get really angry with himself and we have to hurry to put it back up before he gets back round to try again! He's even started learning about his striding and has started to prefer to canter to the jumps. Only problem is that every time he jumps from canter he lands disunited, front legs on the correct lead, back legs not so much... I'll try jumping him on the lunge in a circle and see if that helps.



:P Such a sweety.