And we work.

Digby has been perfect lately! I rode with a friend on Saturday and he was great. As an odd note, he did try to lay down when we were done in the ring? He wasn't colicking, as he had pooped while I was riding and was otherwise chipper. The only thing I can think of is his girth was a hair tighter than normal. He's been putting weight on (whooooo!!!) and he's in between holes on my girth. If I leave it at one hole, it feels like a hair too loose but the hole up is a hair too tight. Well, I was nervous because we were going to walk around the property (aka mini trail) so I put it to the tighter one. That's the only thing I can think of. If he ever does it again, I'll definitely have the vet or my chiro come out and look.

We've been sticking to the mostly walking plan, although I had some trotting thrown in there to make sure he was thinking about going forward. I've been doing a lot of reading as of late, both online and via actual books. I'm working on fitness, as part of my July goals, and a lot of that is developing muscle in his topline. He is very much lacking after his time off and weight loss issues this winter. We worked in the ring and then followed my friend and her horse out for a stroll around the property. The hony was pretty well behaved! Some jigging, lots of super forward walking and no near death experiences. Win!

On Sunday, I lunged for about 15 minutes. I don't typically lunge much, especially not twice in a week, but I have lunged him in a chambon before and it tends to make him go well. It's a good reminder on how I want him to be thinking. He really focuses on stretching down and out and coming over his back. I like that it's effective, I can keep the session short and he gets to stretch out and build some muscle without me flailing around on his back.

"Something smells funny..."

Well behaved Digby is back!

First off, Happy Fourth of July!! Hopefully everyone has off from work (or isn't working all day) and is going to relax by the beach or a pool with some BBQ and adult beverages. :) I know I will be after work!

I'm sure you're all waiting with anticipation to see if my horse has tried to kill me again between Wednesday and now. Based off the title of this post, you can safely assume that the answer is no. Your assumption would be correct.

Such wild. Much craze.

So the wild hony has been well behaved since his meltdown on Wednesday. On Thursday I had full intentions of working him in hand and doing a quick lunge as a reminder of what proper behavior is without worrying about me being on his back. Lunging isn't my favorite tool since it's hard on their legs but I think it has it's purpose. For me, it's good to get some solid transitions and I tend to keep it as short as possible. Sadly, by the time I got to the barn around 6:15 PM it was raining. There was a 20% chance of rain (go figure) so I turned out the horses. I did make sure that Digby behaved on his way out to the field. It started raining harder. It rained various levels of heaviness from around 6 PM until 8 PM. I waited around until 8 but eventually had to leave as I had other stuff to do in the evening. Of course it stopped raining shortly after I left the barn but such is life!

Friday evening I made it to the barn a bit later than I wanted so I turned the horses out. let Digby graze for about half an hour while I set up poles in the ring and got his feed and hay ready for the next day. I was going to actually put tack on him to lunge but got lazy based off the time and just put on his rope halter. We laid down some solid walk/trot work and he was perfect. I mean, PERFECT. Never whinnied, never went around like a giraffe, didn't even think about melting down. Granted there were horses outside today so that probably helped but all in all, I was pleased. I'm planning on hopefully riding tomorrow and Sunday in the ring again. 

So tell me people! When, if at all, do you use lunging as a training tool? Do you prefer other forms of groundwork? Why do you like/dislike it?