Michigan April weather at its finest - the storm today was so heavy that I had a hard time keeping the car on the road while driving to the barn (it's an one hour commute each way).
I decided to longe both boys. If they were to act silly they could always get rid of the energy on the longeline, without me aboard. I like longeing from time to time, and especially for days like today it's perfect. Now, there is longeing, and longeing. I don't believe just chasing a horse around in a circle serves any real purpose, and it's very hard on the legs.
Chambord's patience was tested yesterday with saddle fitting. If done right, saddle fitting is a quite extensive and often exhaustive process. Especially when trying to find a used saddle to fit both horse and rider. Chambord had to go through a lot of saddle on, saddle off, JP on, JP off... so I thought he deserved an easy day today, which I believe he truly appreciated. It was dinner time, after all.
I only put the longeing cavesson on Saumur (no bit, sidereins, saddle) and took him to the indoor. He was quiet and relaxed, despite the howling winds outside. Longeing gives me a great opportunity to really observe him: How are the muscles in his back moving? Are the hind legs tracking up or overtracking? Is he even? How does he carry his head? How are his transitions? Is he listening to my voice commands? To me, these are all very important observations. What I really noticed today was how fluid and supple he moved, but most remarkable was his underneck muscle: it was 'floppy'. When I first got Saumur he had this huge underneck that was hard as a rock, and I had to turn him with both hands -- Now seeing these well defined and supple muscles is really amazing.
And yes, I admit, I also longed him because I wanted to ogle him a bit. After all, he's quite stunning :-)!
No comments:
Post a Comment