Monday 25th: Manege work

Halleluja! I managed to get the manege to myself tonight for a change! What bliss it was not to have to dodge loose ponies and their caretakers.

Pinto was not very happy to be presented with his saddle for the third day in a row, and gave this huge sigh when I showed up with it. He is so cute. Grooming was definitely just a quick whipround to make sure there was no straw sticking to places where it would rub, and a very quick foot pick, but I was short on time, so wanted to get into the manege as soon as possible - just in case ;)

Almost immediately I felt something was different. I mounted Pinto and he stood like a rock, even when I dropped the reins to pull my jods up (again). Usually when I mount, Pinto is off as soon as my bum hits the saddle, despite my best efforts to stop him doing this. I don't know whether it was just tiredness from 3 days work in a row, boredom from what was coming next, or what.

Anyway we had a nice active walk stretching into the contact on a longer rein for a good 5 minutes before a realy good trot transition, really springing into the pace with the lightest of leg aids. I experimented with the length of rein for a few minutes which was very interesting:

A longer rein: Pinto's trot was very slow and unenergetic, though he kept a nice low head carriage, I felt that i was doing more work than he was rising to the trot.

A shorter rein: The trot was definitely springier and more forward, but still a bit lack-lustre compared to last week. I just put it down to tiredness and warming up, as he did get much better as the time went on.

Once I sorted out my rein length and remembered to bend my elbows I was feeling the most curious sensation at the end of the reins. Pinto was very mobile with his mouth, and he was playing with the bit a lot. Because of the whole "strangeness" feeling I was worried that he had somehow got his tongue over the bit, but when i checked he hadn't. However what I could feel was his tongue playing with the bit. I have never had that type of contact before. I could tell when he swallowed, and how much he was moving his tongue against the bit. It was really quite - enlightening - I suppose, once I ascertained that I wasn't hurting him.

I experimented a bit with sitting trot... and ascertained 2 things... 1) I can't sit his trot at a working pace... 2) sitting trot elicits a lot of bouncing from Pinto, because sitting trot is *always* a prelude to canter, isn't it, mum, isn't it??? I guess I'll have to practice a lot more, to prevent this anticipation! However Pinto was bouncing quite a lot really. Every time I used an indirect rein to ask him to remain on the piste we were bouncing, and at one point even had a single stride of a very nice, unrushed canter, before I growled at him and strengthened through my body.

I did notice that he wasn't very straight tonight, and kept banana'ing to the outside on the left rein and falling in on the right rein. I really need to call the osteo to see if Pinto needs manipulating or not.

We had a very productive 35mins trotting I feel, and I think that I gained a lot from tonight. My main gain, I think, was that I was able to keep my lower leg much more still than I normally can. I'm hoping that this means my risinig is actually improving and that I'm not 'pinging' so much.

Classes start again this week, so I don't know when I will be able to get Pinto back in the manege. I'll have to try and leave work really early one day, to get in before the lessons start at 5:30.