Red has done something very sweet the past two days. When I get there in the early morning to turn them out into the pasture from their adjoining paddocks - this is so I can keep exact record of how much grazing time Pie is getting - I turn out Red first - he gallops off into the distance to join the herd and disappears - and then I turn out Pie - he gallops off too, often stopping to grab a few bites of grass as he goes.
Yesterday, Red did something different. He stopped halfway up the hill and waited for Pie. Pie galloped up to him and when he got close, Red took off and they both galloped away at very high speed - racehorse speed - with Red leading and Pie close behind. Those boys both have a fair percentage of racing Quarter Horse blood, and they can move out when they want to.
And then today, Red waited for Pie again, but this time they cantered away together at a nice relaxed pace, side by side.
What fine horses they are, and I love that they have a close bond.
Friday, July 12, 2013
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Red and Pie Don't Care About Making Hay
Well they do, really - hay is important stuff and very good. But they said they don't care about the equipment and noise and people that go with making hay in the field next to the closest pasture . . .
Dawn and I had a very nice 25 minute walking ride this morning. After our first few laps on a relatively loose rein, we work. I work on my position - eyes and chin up, shoulders up and back as best I can do, and moving with the horse through my hips and back and giving a nice, steady, allowing contact with my hands. I find that all I have to do to get her to soften, relax her head and neck and step under herself well is just engage my core and focus up and where I want us to go, while offering a nice soft, steady spot for her to relax into with my hands. She'll have a day off tomorrow, then we'll move up to 30 minutes of walk work for a day or two and then try a bit of trot. Her left hind is looking better every day - I think our light work has been good for her healing.
Pie had three hours of grazing this morning, and his feet seem to be doing fine. I think he'll be out on full day grazing pretty soon, with us adding 30 minutes a day for a couple of days and then an hour a day for a few more. I think that'll be our regular routine from now on - no point in playing around with laminitis risk - if the horses go onto pasture on June 1, he'll spend the month of June in a paddock and then slowly come back onto the grass in July.
Red and I had a pretty vigorous work session this afternoon. We worked on his maintaining forward at the trot - I use a secondary cue with my dressage whip much as I did with Pie - and on his maintaining the canter until I ask him to come back down to trot. His walk/canter transitions remain excellent - now we're working on a better trot/canter transition. At one point he broke to trot from canter before I asked, I tapped him to ask for canter again - he took the wrong lead and then he did a huge buck/leap flying lead change into the correct lead.
After our work session, we went for a pasture walk. There was a lot of hay making equipment in the hay field next to the pasture - empty hay wagons, tractors, trucks, people, and while Red and I were riding, even a winnowing machine marching around fluffing up the mowed hay. Red was alert and interested but was very, very good. From the moment he started looking we went right into some work exercises - circles and serpentines at sitting trot. He couldn't have been better, and I praised him immensely.
I finally got to ride Pie - the swelling on his face, while still there, is much less and the bridle wasn't too uncomfortable for him to wear. But we only walked and I didn't ask him for a lot with his head and neck, figuring that things were still a bit sore. We did a bit of nice loose rein walk work in the indoor first - his walk felt marvelously free and engaged - what a pleasure he is to ride now - and then went out to the pasture - I wanted to have him work around the haying equipment. He was also marvelous - he noticed the equipment, but the moment he did, I didn't leave him to his own devices but started asking him for circles and serpentines at the walk. Pretty soon, we were working right along the fenceline where all the equipment was, and he didn't blink an eye, even at the people crawling over and under a tractor that was having some sort of problem. I think this is the way to preempt his spookiness - if I'm not just blopping along on a loose rein, where he doesn't really know I'm there, but rather actively ride and maintain the connection while we do something together, the spookiness isn't really an issue. Neither Red nor Pie at this point are the type of horse you can just blop along on, and that's fine with me - I just have to remember to "be there" for them so they can connect with me and borrow my confidence when they might be uncertain.
After I rode Pie, I iced his face for a bit while he ate hay - he really wasn't that interested in the ice, which probably meant he felt he didn't need it anymore, so I didn't do it for long.
It was a good test to ride the boys out by themselves past all that equipment - particularly a good test of me and how I offer them guidance and direction to preempt spookiness, and I was very proud of all my wonderful horses today.
Dawn and I had a very nice 25 minute walking ride this morning. After our first few laps on a relatively loose rein, we work. I work on my position - eyes and chin up, shoulders up and back as best I can do, and moving with the horse through my hips and back and giving a nice, steady, allowing contact with my hands. I find that all I have to do to get her to soften, relax her head and neck and step under herself well is just engage my core and focus up and where I want us to go, while offering a nice soft, steady spot for her to relax into with my hands. She'll have a day off tomorrow, then we'll move up to 30 minutes of walk work for a day or two and then try a bit of trot. Her left hind is looking better every day - I think our light work has been good for her healing.
Pie had three hours of grazing this morning, and his feet seem to be doing fine. I think he'll be out on full day grazing pretty soon, with us adding 30 minutes a day for a couple of days and then an hour a day for a few more. I think that'll be our regular routine from now on - no point in playing around with laminitis risk - if the horses go onto pasture on June 1, he'll spend the month of June in a paddock and then slowly come back onto the grass in July.
Red and I had a pretty vigorous work session this afternoon. We worked on his maintaining forward at the trot - I use a secondary cue with my dressage whip much as I did with Pie - and on his maintaining the canter until I ask him to come back down to trot. His walk/canter transitions remain excellent - now we're working on a better trot/canter transition. At one point he broke to trot from canter before I asked, I tapped him to ask for canter again - he took the wrong lead and then he did a huge buck/leap flying lead change into the correct lead.
After our work session, we went for a pasture walk. There was a lot of hay making equipment in the hay field next to the pasture - empty hay wagons, tractors, trucks, people, and while Red and I were riding, even a winnowing machine marching around fluffing up the mowed hay. Red was alert and interested but was very, very good. From the moment he started looking we went right into some work exercises - circles and serpentines at sitting trot. He couldn't have been better, and I praised him immensely.
I finally got to ride Pie - the swelling on his face, while still there, is much less and the bridle wasn't too uncomfortable for him to wear. But we only walked and I didn't ask him for a lot with his head and neck, figuring that things were still a bit sore. We did a bit of nice loose rein walk work in the indoor first - his walk felt marvelously free and engaged - what a pleasure he is to ride now - and then went out to the pasture - I wanted to have him work around the haying equipment. He was also marvelous - he noticed the equipment, but the moment he did, I didn't leave him to his own devices but started asking him for circles and serpentines at the walk. Pretty soon, we were working right along the fenceline where all the equipment was, and he didn't blink an eye, even at the people crawling over and under a tractor that was having some sort of problem. I think this is the way to preempt his spookiness - if I'm not just blopping along on a loose rein, where he doesn't really know I'm there, but rather actively ride and maintain the connection while we do something together, the spookiness isn't really an issue. Neither Red nor Pie at this point are the type of horse you can just blop along on, and that's fine with me - I just have to remember to "be there" for them so they can connect with me and borrow my confidence when they might be uncertain.
After I rode Pie, I iced his face for a bit while he ate hay - he really wasn't that interested in the ice, which probably meant he felt he didn't need it anymore, so I didn't do it for long.
It was a good test to ride the boys out by themselves past all that equipment - particularly a good test of me and how I offer them guidance and direction to preempt spookiness, and I was very proud of all my wonderful horses today.
Pie Sees the Eye Vet
Pie's face is slowly getting better - it's still swollen but everytime I see him it's not quite as bad. I'm continuing to ice it when I can - he's very good about letting me ice his face without him even being haltered, and he even let me run cold water on his cheek when I was hosing him off - I guess it felt good (I never spray my horses in the face or on the head when I'm hosing off - they don't like it and I can easily take a wet sponge and sponge their faces and around their ears).
Pie had a visit with the eye vet yesterday - more vets? he says - to check out his cyst and also evaluate him for any damage from Lyme. It was good that they made a barn visit - the other eye vet in our area doesn't and you have to trailer to them and we are at the moment trailerless.
He has no retinal or optic nerve damage from Lyme, which is very good news - another horse at our barn, who'd probably had Lyme for a long time before it was detected, has permanent eye damage from it. The cyst, although good sized, is on the lower, rather than upper, edge of his iris which means it interferes with his vision less than it could. His spookiness may just be adjusting to the changes in his vision due to the shadow cast by the cyst - the vet agreed he was one of the least nervous or spooky horses she'd looked at - he just stood there half asleep as she examined his eyes. He can clearly see, the question is how well - horses can't take eye tests.
So for now, we're watching things - if the cyst gets bigger or his spookiness worsens we can do the laser procedure, which simply deflates the cyst. The procedure can be done with standing sedation at the barn, and is fairly straightforward and low risk, although pricey. For now, I'll just keep working with him, including taking him on the trail some more - wearing my helmet (of course) and also a body protector, and not taking to the trail alone. We may also experiment with some things - the vet suggested trying some obstacles - rails, step up platforms, tarps, etc. - with one eye covered and then the other to see if that makes any difference. I can also play around with race horse blinkers, which could make things better or worse.
And then, later in the day, another vet stopped by to take his blood for two tests - a follow-up on the slightly elevated EPM titer he had a while ago - he was treated and we think he's fine now - as well as a Lyme retest since he's now 6 months out from the end of his treatement for Lyme. As usual, he was a saint for the vet. His personality has changed a lot since I got him - he started out being aloof and a bit remote, got very crabby and unhappy when he had Lyme, and now he's just plain sweet, sweet, sweet. Everyone who meets him comments on it. He loves to meet with new people - even vets - is interested and alert and just is a real doll. That's my Pie Pie!
Pie had a visit with the eye vet yesterday - more vets? he says - to check out his cyst and also evaluate him for any damage from Lyme. It was good that they made a barn visit - the other eye vet in our area doesn't and you have to trailer to them and we are at the moment trailerless.
He has no retinal or optic nerve damage from Lyme, which is very good news - another horse at our barn, who'd probably had Lyme for a long time before it was detected, has permanent eye damage from it. The cyst, although good sized, is on the lower, rather than upper, edge of his iris which means it interferes with his vision less than it could. His spookiness may just be adjusting to the changes in his vision due to the shadow cast by the cyst - the vet agreed he was one of the least nervous or spooky horses she'd looked at - he just stood there half asleep as she examined his eyes. He can clearly see, the question is how well - horses can't take eye tests.
So for now, we're watching things - if the cyst gets bigger or his spookiness worsens we can do the laser procedure, which simply deflates the cyst. The procedure can be done with standing sedation at the barn, and is fairly straightforward and low risk, although pricey. For now, I'll just keep working with him, including taking him on the trail some more - wearing my helmet (of course) and also a body protector, and not taking to the trail alone. We may also experiment with some things - the vet suggested trying some obstacles - rails, step up platforms, tarps, etc. - with one eye covered and then the other to see if that makes any difference. I can also play around with race horse blinkers, which could make things better or worse.
And then, later in the day, another vet stopped by to take his blood for two tests - a follow-up on the slightly elevated EPM titer he had a while ago - he was treated and we think he's fine now - as well as a Lyme retest since he's now 6 months out from the end of his treatement for Lyme. As usual, he was a saint for the vet. His personality has changed a lot since I got him - he started out being aloof and a bit remote, got very crabby and unhappy when he had Lyme, and now he's just plain sweet, sweet, sweet. Everyone who meets him comments on it. He loves to meet with new people - even vets - is interested and alert and just is a real doll. That's my Pie Pie!
Monday, July 8, 2013
Poor Melon Faced Pie
Pie had two and a half hours of grazing this morning. When I hiked out to the pasture to retreive him, he and Red were grazing right next to each other.
Poor Pie - he had a swelling the size of a cantelope on the right side of his face, from below his eye, extending back to his ear and all down the side of his jaw. It didn't seem to be an injury - there was no wound, and he was chewing just fine. It seems that he got stung, perhaps more than one time. I brought him back to the barn, gave him a gram of bute and iced it. Pie was very cooperative - he would take a bite of hay from his hay bag, then stand chewing it while I held the ice to his face. We did three separate icing sessions and the swelling already was looking a bit better.
Red's reaction to all this was interesting. As I led Pie in, Red came galloping up behind us. He waited at the top of the hill, calling to Pie several times, until I put Pie in his paddock, then went back to the herd. About an hour later, Red came up to the gate - the rest of the herd was still out in the far pastures - and once again took a good look at Pie to be sure he was doing OK. Red must have know that Pie had been hurt and wanted to be sure I was taking good care of him.
My vet was at the barn that afternoon to see some other horses and was able to take a look at Pie. She said it was likely to be a sting, although it could also be an impact injury. She gave him an injection of antihistimine, and he got some more bute this evening and will get one more gram tomorrow morning. I'll continue icing as often as I can. If it's a sting, as we believe, the swelling should be down even more tomorrow.
Red supervised the vet visit by peering at Pie between the slats between the stalls and nickering to him - it was very sweet.
Poor Pie - he was a good sport and very sweet about all of this. Here's his face this afternoon - much reduced from the morning but still pretty swollen (the left side of the picture - below and behind his right eye):
Poor Pie - I hope he feels better soon!
Poor Pie - he had a swelling the size of a cantelope on the right side of his face, from below his eye, extending back to his ear and all down the side of his jaw. It didn't seem to be an injury - there was no wound, and he was chewing just fine. It seems that he got stung, perhaps more than one time. I brought him back to the barn, gave him a gram of bute and iced it. Pie was very cooperative - he would take a bite of hay from his hay bag, then stand chewing it while I held the ice to his face. We did three separate icing sessions and the swelling already was looking a bit better.
Red's reaction to all this was interesting. As I led Pie in, Red came galloping up behind us. He waited at the top of the hill, calling to Pie several times, until I put Pie in his paddock, then went back to the herd. About an hour later, Red came up to the gate - the rest of the herd was still out in the far pastures - and once again took a good look at Pie to be sure he was doing OK. Red must have know that Pie had been hurt and wanted to be sure I was taking good care of him.
My vet was at the barn that afternoon to see some other horses and was able to take a look at Pie. She said it was likely to be a sting, although it could also be an impact injury. She gave him an injection of antihistimine, and he got some more bute this evening and will get one more gram tomorrow morning. I'll continue icing as often as I can. If it's a sting, as we believe, the swelling should be down even more tomorrow.
Red supervised the vet visit by peering at Pie between the slats between the stalls and nickering to him - it was very sweet.
Poor Pie - he was a good sport and very sweet about all of this. Here's his face this afternoon - much reduced from the morning but still pretty swollen (the left side of the picture - below and behind his right eye):
Poor Pie - I hope he feels better soon!
Saturday, July 6, 2013
(Almost) Too Pooped to Pop
I seemed to have managed to come down with some sort of unpleasant virus - coldlike symptoms, with lots of sneezing, congestion and sore throat, with some digestive quesiness to add to the fun. Nothing terrible, but stuff like this drags on me when I'm as physically active as I am. The weather is hot and humid too, and the flies are just awful - the face flies have joined in - this just adds to the fun.
But I managed to get all three horses ridden today. Dawn had another 20 minutes of walking ride - sometimes I love walking as it allows me to really work on me - my position and my focus and my intent not to block or brace - we did lots of big figures - circles, serpentines, etc. She offered some very nice moments of softness. Her left hind is still enlarged on the inside just below the hock, but it's not particularly sore to the touch and she trots and canters well in the pasture - it could be a splint bone fracture but I'm inclined to think it's just bruising from a kick injury - we'll know more when we start a few minutes of trot work next week. Dawn is wearing a full Cashell fly mask with ears and long nose in turnout now, and it's made a big difference to her comfort - she seems particularly susceptible to the small flies that get in the ears, and the mask thwarts them.
Pie made it up to two hours of grazing with the herd today with no appraent ill effects - Red is pretty much out all day now and has the whole gelding herd firmly, but gently, under his thumb (or hoof). Pie gets a blood draw Monday to retest his EPM levels (his titers were slightly elevated last time we tested him) and a retest for Lyme as he's now 6 months out from his treatment. And then we have the eye vet on Tuesday. He seems happy and healthly, and has lost a little bit of weight and is close to the weight I'd like him to be. We had a nice ride today, with a cold sponge off afterwards.
In the afternoon, I was just plum tuckered out. So Red and I had a very nice, short bareback ride. He's just recently - as of yesterday - developed an aversion to walking through the wash stall between the barn aisle and the indoor - it's never been a problem before and perhaps he slipped going out one morning with the guys (the surface can be very slippery and it's often wet). We worked on that yesterday and today - when things come up we just deal with them as matter of factly as we can - as I led him through, if he stopped, I didn't look back but just reached back and tapped him with my dressage whip until he started moving - I only tapped if he was stuck. It took a while, but then we managed two walk throughs without any extra encouragement.
Then we rode. He was outstanding - we had a very nice walk/trot ride with excellent engagement and softness. He seems to really like being ridden bareback - perhaps he likes my lower center of gravity. When we were done, we walked back out through the wash stall again to confirm that things were good and they were. I told him what an excellent Red man he was.
Even though I don't feel that good, I really enjoyed my rides with my three fine horses today.
But I managed to get all three horses ridden today. Dawn had another 20 minutes of walking ride - sometimes I love walking as it allows me to really work on me - my position and my focus and my intent not to block or brace - we did lots of big figures - circles, serpentines, etc. She offered some very nice moments of softness. Her left hind is still enlarged on the inside just below the hock, but it's not particularly sore to the touch and she trots and canters well in the pasture - it could be a splint bone fracture but I'm inclined to think it's just bruising from a kick injury - we'll know more when we start a few minutes of trot work next week. Dawn is wearing a full Cashell fly mask with ears and long nose in turnout now, and it's made a big difference to her comfort - she seems particularly susceptible to the small flies that get in the ears, and the mask thwarts them.
Pie made it up to two hours of grazing with the herd today with no appraent ill effects - Red is pretty much out all day now and has the whole gelding herd firmly, but gently, under his thumb (or hoof). Pie gets a blood draw Monday to retest his EPM levels (his titers were slightly elevated last time we tested him) and a retest for Lyme as he's now 6 months out from his treatment. And then we have the eye vet on Tuesday. He seems happy and healthly, and has lost a little bit of weight and is close to the weight I'd like him to be. We had a nice ride today, with a cold sponge off afterwards.
In the afternoon, I was just plum tuckered out. So Red and I had a very nice, short bareback ride. He's just recently - as of yesterday - developed an aversion to walking through the wash stall between the barn aisle and the indoor - it's never been a problem before and perhaps he slipped going out one morning with the guys (the surface can be very slippery and it's often wet). We worked on that yesterday and today - when things come up we just deal with them as matter of factly as we can - as I led him through, if he stopped, I didn't look back but just reached back and tapped him with my dressage whip until he started moving - I only tapped if he was stuck. It took a while, but then we managed two walk throughs without any extra encouragement.
Then we rode. He was outstanding - we had a very nice walk/trot ride with excellent engagement and softness. He seems to really like being ridden bareback - perhaps he likes my lower center of gravity. When we were done, we walked back out through the wash stall again to confirm that things were good and they were. I told him what an excellent Red man he was.
Even though I don't feel that good, I really enjoyed my rides with my three fine horses today.
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Riding the Feel
Laura asked an interesting question a while ago:
I have a two-part question for you: (maybe you have tried to explain this already and I just don't remember) could you describe what you think of when you say "you ask the horse to do what you feel"? And when you are thinking about "the feel", are you giving leg/seat/hand aids and cues?
I'll try to answer - I'm sure I've made attempts before, but it's a hard concept to communicate in words - it's really not a "words" thing . . .
Start with yourself - just yourself - no horse. Now just walk, and feel what it means to walk - where are you looking, how are your feet moving forward and back, what does this all feel like . . .
Now break into a jog - just yourself, no horse - it just happens naturally, doesn't it? You don't think "trot", no one gives you leg or seat aids, the energy just comes up and with your thought - maybe hardly any thought at all - you're jogging. And now come back to a walk - again there are no aids, or even really thought - you're just walking.
That's how it can be for you and your horse, and that's what riding the feel is about.
When I ask the horse to do something, I think/feel in my body how what I want would feel, and offer that feel to the horse - this is a mental thing, there are no aids involved. I feel my own body move into the corners, and step longer or shorter, bringing the energy up or down, or change the rhythm from walk to trot to canter, or move laterally. I offer the connection and the horse joins into that and we do things together.
Aids - leg, hand, seat - are just boundaries and come into play only if the horse needs assistance understanding what I want - more and more these aren't really necessary.
The trick, I guess, is to feel yourself doing it and have the horse take up that feel and do it as well. With practice, it can become a pretty seamless connection . . . pure magic, but really not - just ordinary, like moving yourself from a walk to a jog.
I'll try to answer - I'm sure I've made attempts before, but it's a hard concept to communicate in words - it's really not a "words" thing . . .
Start with yourself - just yourself - no horse. Now just walk, and feel what it means to walk - where are you looking, how are your feet moving forward and back, what does this all feel like . . .
Now break into a jog - just yourself, no horse - it just happens naturally, doesn't it? You don't think "trot", no one gives you leg or seat aids, the energy just comes up and with your thought - maybe hardly any thought at all - you're jogging. And now come back to a walk - again there are no aids, or even really thought - you're just walking.
That's how it can be for you and your horse, and that's what riding the feel is about.
When I ask the horse to do something, I think/feel in my body how what I want would feel, and offer that feel to the horse - this is a mental thing, there are no aids involved. I feel my own body move into the corners, and step longer or shorter, bringing the energy up or down, or change the rhythm from walk to trot to canter, or move laterally. I offer the connection and the horse joins into that and we do things together.
Aids - leg, hand, seat - are just boundaries and come into play only if the horse needs assistance understanding what I want - more and more these aren't really necessary.
The trick, I guess, is to feel yourself doing it and have the horse take up that feel and do it as well. With practice, it can become a pretty seamless connection . . . pure magic, but really not - just ordinary, like moving yourself from a walk to a jog.
Monday, July 1, 2013
Two Gentlemen and a Lady
My horses are really making me feel proud lately. Pie and Red are my gentlemen and Dawn is my lady - they are mannerly, and well-behaved, and eveything else you could wish. I can get and ride them any time of day, no matter what else is going on, and they're well-behaved and responsive. I never have to lunge before I ride - even with Dawn, who'd been off for two weeks. If they spook - and Pie and Red occasionally do - they immediately calm down and just go about things as if nothing had happened. If they're in the pasture grazing, and I halter them and ask them to come with me, they come right along without protest and without diving for grass on the way.
They lead well, stay out of my space, stand still for mounting, and ground tie when asked to. They stand still on a loose rein whenever and for as long as I want, but move off immediately in any gait I ask. If I get off them in the arena, they stand where I leave them, unless I ask them to follow me, when they do. No matter the distractions, they just go to work, and although they may be aware of what is going on around them - particularly Red - they just keep on going and paying attention to me as well. They ride on a loose rein and with contact, it doesn't matter. They're just plain connected to me now, and it's wonderful.
Some recent occasions come to mind. I started riding Dawn again at the walk two days ago, and although she hadn't been ridden in two weeks, she just went around on a loose rein with no complaints. Then today, I decided to ride her bareback - she was lovely, although a bit bony in the back for bareback. Red, yesterday, was a perfect horse despite a mare entering and leaving the arena repeatedly and even heading out to the pastures in his sight line - he was aware of her but perfectly behaved for me, and then he escorted her on a very lovely pasture excursion, although he hadn't been out there for weeks. Today, Pie and I had an exceptional ride - I was working on him lifting and engaging his hind end and some of his trot work was outstanding, and his bending and stepping under himself in the corners was excellent at trot and canter - he used to be hard work to ride (my issue, not his) and now is just a delight.
I can't even begin to say how delighted I am with all three horses - people have asked me if I have a favorite, and I have to say no - they're each just marvelous in his or her own ways.
They lead well, stay out of my space, stand still for mounting, and ground tie when asked to. They stand still on a loose rein whenever and for as long as I want, but move off immediately in any gait I ask. If I get off them in the arena, they stand where I leave them, unless I ask them to follow me, when they do. No matter the distractions, they just go to work, and although they may be aware of what is going on around them - particularly Red - they just keep on going and paying attention to me as well. They ride on a loose rein and with contact, it doesn't matter. They're just plain connected to me now, and it's wonderful.
Some recent occasions come to mind. I started riding Dawn again at the walk two days ago, and although she hadn't been ridden in two weeks, she just went around on a loose rein with no complaints. Then today, I decided to ride her bareback - she was lovely, although a bit bony in the back for bareback. Red, yesterday, was a perfect horse despite a mare entering and leaving the arena repeatedly and even heading out to the pastures in his sight line - he was aware of her but perfectly behaved for me, and then he escorted her on a very lovely pasture excursion, although he hadn't been out there for weeks. Today, Pie and I had an exceptional ride - I was working on him lifting and engaging his hind end and some of his trot work was outstanding, and his bending and stepping under himself in the corners was excellent at trot and canter - he used to be hard work to ride (my issue, not his) and now is just a delight.
I can't even begin to say how delighted I am with all three horses - people have asked me if I have a favorite, and I have to say no - they're each just marvelous in his or her own ways.
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