New Bit

Friday June 27 2008

Only a short ride, we got rained out. Tried out the new bit today as well; a french link egg butt. It is quite big and heavy, the bars are quite thick but he didnt seem to mind it in his mouth much, he didnt fiddle with it.

I have him walking around with his nose on the ground like a western horse, stretching nicely and rounding his back up. Only problem with that now is that I cant pick up a contact and steer him properly. As soon as I try to pick up a contact, he drags his head down to the ground and pulls the reins through my hands and Im not sure if I should hold a firm contact and stop him from doing it as he gets antsy about a hard contact. I can steer him better with my legs so I am using this at the moment and just using soft steering with the reins. He still isnt sharp enough off the leg going forward either. Although he is nice and forward going when he does get moving. I dont have to nag at him when he does get going which is good I suppose.

He doesnt feel like he is silly enough to shy, spook, buck or bolt at the moment. I think he is just bored and getting sour. We need to find some more interesting schooling exercises and start hacking down the road. I need someone home to be able to hack out the first couple of times though.

Things to work on: picking up a contact, sharp off the leg, steering.