Thursday, August 16, 2007

longlining with the bit

for the first time since our accident on the 26th may - was a "bit" worried about what she might do, but thought it would be ok as i've been working on her acceptance of the bit, and we've got the strap shutting her mouth. and she worked well, as well - if not better - than on the bitless.

our changes of direction are getting really smooth, i've got to be really careful where i make that change as the arena is so small, did it right both ends.....

she wasn't on the bit until near the end, partly down to me as i didnt' want to push the issue too much in the circumstances, but when she came back to walk she was looking good so i tried to push it a little bit in trot.

and the halt was a lot better.

i wished i'd had someone videoing it.... but there we go.

oh, and we only had one walk off when i was putting the longlines on...

1 comment:

Jean said...

Good job--a little "bit" at a time, eh?

Longlining in the bit is a great way to train. Both Tucker and Toby were started off that way before they were undersaddle. Toby was so good, the girl who worked him for me kept saying he was already trained. Tucker had a little less lining to start, but he too was a cinch to ride, steer, and stop as far as the basics went--aside from the bucking which had nothing to do with the reins. *G*