Critique nr. 8

Here's the critique number eight from Will. :D

Really nice to hear that everything is advancing the right way. Even though training has been really tricky because of the weather. That is, we have mainly walked recently and trotted when possible. There has been quite some days off as well for him. On the lunge we have been able to do a bit more. We have been occasionally to the summer paddocks to lunge as well when the school has been impossible to work on. And walkies to the forest at least once a week.

There has been some better weather days as well, but indeed not that many. And there has been better training sessions than what you can see from the video. But it has been impossible to film it, either because it has been too dark or then I haven't had a cameraman with me.

This day you see on the video I could just and just ride on the surface in the school. The whole surface was icy... but in the middle there was a circle of softer ice that broke under the hooves and was not slippy (especially with winter studs on). But I did not want to go anywhere beyond that circle... it was hard and definitely slippy ice everywhere else. It was a bit too small a circle (< 20 m) for our boy to move comfortably under saddle. Lunging-wise it was just about ok, but as you can see he was not that happy when ridden on it; his head is occasionally ever so slightly bent backwards, swishes his tail every now and then, wants to drop back to walk, and he is mouthing excessively.

But even so, his rhythm remains good and back dips only when he tries to fall back to walk by himself. And he does not find it too difficult to make the really very tight turns for him. That is, the stretch and rhythm remain pretty much the same (although not all the time or perfect as yet).

Now it's a week's holiday for the boy-o! :D Hopefully next week we'll have better weather and something else on the school than ice.