Last Week's Lesson Piccies

[dancinghorse]

S has finally had a chance to send last week's lesson photos. Wow. I had no idea.



She calls this one "Pooka pays homage to his Arabian ancestors":



And adds about this one: "Someone said something about his neck being too short?"




And finally, hot diggity! We're on the bit! (I need to watch that crookity left wrist, but..)

Comments

[idiomagic.livejournal.com]

What a gorgeous boy! Someone should sculpt him. Out of alabaster, I think...

[green-knight.livejournal.com]

Looking at those pictures - someone already did. And then breathed life into him.

[raithen.livejournal.com]

I'll just say that there is a BIG ASS GRIN on my face nowish ;).

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

:)

[lurath]

He's GORGEOUS and stepping up really nicely too. And I know I've said it before, but he is white enough to be a unicorn. Seriously.

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

Thank you! He has a porcelain coat--it's iridescent. Bred to look good in the Winter Riding Hall.

[stillnotbored.livejournal.com]

I don't know that much about horses and I don't ride, but man, he is one beautiful horse. So, so pretty.

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

Thank you. :) He did get a big dose of the Pretty.

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

That last picture is...amazing.

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

I need to line them up to show how we got there. It's really interesting to see the progression.

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

Pooka is extremely handsome and looks wonderfully glossy in that top photo. As lurath says, he would make a very convincing unicorn!

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

Thank you. He's not short on groceries, that's for sure. Or Pretty. Just ask him! ;>

[green-knight.livejournal.com]

Love them all, but particularly the last one. It's just so honest, over-the-topline on-the-bitness.

Now do the same in trot and canter ;-)

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

I was going to say "Working on it!" but you know what? I'm not. I'm not working on it. I'm riding free, swinging gaits that feel balanced and straight. When he gets it all together, whaddaya know. He's on the bit.

I had to quit dressage to start doing decent dressage.

[green-knight.livejournal.com]

You *are* working on it. But you're riding the whole horse, not concentrating on one spurious aspect of it. I've always been taught to ride a horse on the bit you set them up and, at most, _invite_ them. Calm, forward, straight.

Also, young horses will experiment with their posture, and I *hate* people who try and ride a youngster in a headset. Every single one I've ridden (including older horses being reschooled) had to work out for themselves how to find posture. When they duck behind the bit you send them forward, when they come above the bit, you encourage them to stretch over the topline; and in that wide middle ground you _leave them alone_. Nor surprisingly, they all find their own sweet spots, and once they have found correct posture, they are likely to keep it.

[sea-pony.livejournal.com]

Wow. Coolness!

And Pooka's coat is sooooo shiny!

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

Just goes to show, a white horse can be shiny, too. ;>

[sea-pony.livejournal.com]

Yah, and now we'd like to know your secret to deh shiny-ness... ;-)

[mallt.livejournal.com]

I second the sea pony... what's the secret?!!!

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

Local soil is sand mixed with clay over caliche. It polishes the coat and doesn't stain when they roll in it.

On top of which, Pooka has a realllly slick coat, which testosterone makes even slicker. It's iridescent, and dirt doesn't stick. It slides off. Others including his full sister are more normal in the coat-and-grunge department. He won the genetic lottery.

[mallt.livejournal.com]

I haz envy!
I swear Ariel wants to be a brown horse!

[sfmarty.livejournal.com]

Proud auntie here. He has really bloomed.

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

Thank you. :)