Winter is slowly giving way to spring. We had our first 60 degree day Sunday and even though I was watching the piles of snow melt into a muddy slush I was grateful for heat and light. It’s so hard to be patient at this time of year. I’m ready to take blankets off, ride Jet outside, and get the Cruiser back under saddle.
Honestly though, warmer weather aside, we need about another month to complete the TRT young horse module with C and get things really smooth. Then the plan is to start him under saddle 2-3 times a week for spring/summer and maybe some field trips in the fall. He turns 4 in August and looking at the above drawing that seems like a reasonable workload.
Jet is going well inside with much more ease for collectibility and some really nice work. I feel like I have made some real breakthroughs about the biomechanics for collection. The plan is transition to outside with some cavalletti, field walks, and then to the dressage court. I’m not sure if his stifle will become a problem when we are doing harder work of a longer duration. I guess this spring is going to be the time to find that out. He has been fine with 20-25 minutes of working gaits with bits of collection mixed in. Not sure if he will stay sound for the necessary fitness for 2nd Level but we shall see.
How are you getting through these last weeks of winter? Tips and tricks?
We have been doing a lot of long line work and while some days are better than others, thats pretty normal. The driving event we were hoping to debut at should be this month. Life gets in the way sometimes. But at least the weather has warmed up- we may be in the low 80's soon, then another drop in temps for a couple days and back to warm again. Time to fix the stall fans, wash and pack up the winter blankets.
ReplyDelete80 sounds fabulous! Jealous!
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