Thursday, 6/30/11
It was a beautiful day, and Mom came out to the barn with me. After I warmed Wizard up, Carole rode him for a little while. Carole worked mostly in a half seat, sitting lightly and encouraging Wizard to move freely. After some trot work, she got him into a really nice, huntery canter. It gave me hope to see how floaty he can be. Carole is the first person I’ve seen ride Wizard at a canter, and it was a pleasant surprise! Carole has a really nice feel with Thoroughbreds, and Wizard seemed to appreciate her. It was actually really good for me to see that Wizard was playing with the bit with her as well, so I’m not the cause of his busy mouth!
After Carole was done riding, I did a little over-fences work with Wizard. We started with an outside line of cross rails. We trotted in, and cantered to the second jump in five strides. As usual, the first two times were really good and then I began to over-think things and we rushed the third time. Then, I halted Wizard in the middle of the line the fourth time so he would listen instead of immediately focusing on the next jump. It helped me to sit up and focus as well.
He took the line nicely the final time, and we moved on to an outside line on the other side, also five strides after trotting in. We upped the jump to a little vertical. Wizard blew through the line the first time, flat and fast- photo here:
The next time, I worked on keeping the rhythm the same and it really helped. Just focus on the rhythm and the horse will do the rest. I can’t jump for him, but I can make his cantering approach easier for a successful jump.
Rock and Racehorses: Sarah K. Andrew 