The ribbon exercise - and should we change the outfit?

Remy and Chambord are now assigned to help manage Saumur's weight by sharing the pasture and keeping him moving more.

The change of scenery (and richer food) seems to have a mellowing effect on Remy. Even with the little work he has had in the past weeks he was a good boy. Still pushy, though, and Sandy reminded me that Remy does not have Saumur's fragile ego. This one is actually pretty full of himself and thinks he knows it all. Just a regular guy!

We practised a new and very effective exercise that Sandy calls her 'ribbon exercise' ("think of curly Christmas ribbons"). First in the walk, then in the trot, the horse moves from the wall to the quarter line in a shallow loop, and back to the wall, with a clear change of bend; i.e. turning right requires right leg, right rein, and the core (belly button) pointing in the direction of the movement. Once I got into the swing of things I felt like a belly dancer. The great effect was that Remy became soft and round and was on the bit with a very good connection.

With that success, maybe I should get us in the belly dancer garb for more good vibes? Probably not, Remy wearing a skirt would hurt his macho pride too much!