9/1 Lesson with Diane on Kalik and then she took him home. There is a lot of work to do to get him to trust his new way of going, but Diane will be able to do it quite well. I'll be around for any difficulties they might run into.

8/29 We rode in the pasture. He was not interested in walking on contact at first,
but after several circles he came around. His canter work today was very good. He
did have one explosive transition, but he recovered well and quickly. He is starting
to relax in his neck in the canter. Yay!

8/25 Diane came out and had a lesson on Kalik, which went well.

8/23 Diane was out for a lesson, which went very well.

8/19 He warmed up in a nice walk on contact and relaxed. A few moments of jig, but he figured it out. Canter work was very good. Now starting to focus more on the transitions. They are coming along and he is starting to relax in his neck better in the canter. Yay.

8/18 Road hack. After a walk warm up we did a lot of canter transitions within the gait and canter to halt. He has to learn to quit fighting the bit and engagaing his hindquarters instead. It is coming along, but I am tempted to put him in a sidepull. I wonder if there is something in his mouth that is physically uncomfortable. Worth a little experimentation. But, he is getting better and better all the time and relaxing more and more. Love it.

8/16 Road hack. He walked very nicely, even on contact. When we got to canter work he was doing so well and staying mostly relaxed so I asked him to move along in his canter to see if I could get him back to the quiet canter. Not too bad. That is the next step, transitions within the canter. He did very well.

8/15 Took him on another road hack. Walked the first quarter mile on a slack rein very nicely. Then I picked up contact and asked him to continue to walk on contact. He was pretty nervous about that, but came around. Then we did some nice long canters where I was asking him to let go through his throatlatch. He is hesitant to do so, and when he does, he frequently breaks into a trot, which I've found common in horses who habitually tighten their throatlatch. When they allow it to relax, the whole mechanism of their canter changes--they are no longer pulling from the front-- and they will trot because they don't think to engage their hindquarters to continue cantering. The trick is for the rider to be there with her leg to engage the hindquarters, but do it in such a way that they don't jump back into the bridle again and tighten their throatlatch. It is quite a balancing act and happens so quickly that it is easy to miss.

8/11 Took him on a road hack. We rec'd 2.6" of rain last night, so the footing on th edges of the gravel roads was primo. We did a lot of walking on an absolutely slack rein and then I asked him to walk on contact which is harder for him. I kept switching back and forth every two minutes or so and with each switch, the transition from slack to contact and back got better and better. We had some slow canter work, but he is not near relaxed in his neck yet. Coming...

8/9 Another day outside. Again many small circles at a walk but when we got to the canter work, we got to do some larger circles, while maintaining rhythm. Coming along. Yay!

8/8 Rode outside again and had some very nice canter work. Many small circles at a walk when he forgot that it is ok to just walk with a relaxed neck. Paid off in some nice canter work.

8/5 Moved outside and repeated the exercises that we have been doing in the indoor.  I wanted to see if we could re-create it outside.  We had good success.  Granted we are still cantering really small circles, but it is holding together in a balanced manner.  Yay!

8/4  Very good day.  We did a lot of walking and relaxing in the neck.  Then when he was completely relaxed I would ask him to canter and he just stepped right up into it several times.  The cadence is slowing down and at the end we had a relaxed “pony ride” walk.  Coming along.  Very encouraging.

First two log entries eaten by the server demons.  During this time we did a lot of trotting and walking, asking him to let go with those amazing throatlatch muscles.  Much progress made.

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