Vitall is a happy boy this week. They have finally finished the new fields so he can go out. They’ve made a few smaller ones, where the horses can’t get into a full gallop but enough space to canter and buck. The first day Vitall went mental. Leaping , bucking on the spot looking at me like “ha ha I’m FREE!” Then he realized that he had all the grass he wanted and put his head strait down to eat and didn’t come up for air for at least an hour.
Training has gone well and I’ve finally figured out how to get him off my right hand. The trick is for me to do a slight leg yield in to move him over which stops him leaning and makes me take more contact on the left. Working on this has made him feel much more balanced. I’ve also been working on the famous word TRANSITIONS. Keeping him forward and bringing him back and incorporating that into exercises. As the week went on it was getting easier and easier and he is starting to feel much stronger.
I’ve also started to give him different food, a hotter grain called Super Force to give him a bit more PEP. Especially now with the heat we have been having lately he gets a bit slow.
Next week I have a practice test in Uden again where you ride through your test and the judge makes their comments on video instead of paper. I’m riding the PSG again. I’m trying to do as many as these as possible to get us both in the ring to feel comfortable and to have a solid plan for preparation and warm up. Having a solid plan for competion is really important to me. If I have a routine down pat I know my job and I just get things done instead of worrying what to do. I can just say DONE, DONE and DONE.
If all goes well on Friday and I am feeling more confident I am going to enter to go to two CDI’s in France early July. So fingers crossed!
