During my last lesson on Legacy we used poles to switch it up a little. Although I pretty much understood what was wanted of us after a tester warm up round. It took me a while to translate it over to Legacy. 

What we did with the poles;

On a 20 circle I would either go on the inside, over or on the outside of the fan of poles. Then on the set of 2 poles I would go between the fence and poles, between the 2 poles or on a smaller circle between the fan of poles and the 2 poles. 

I did this exercise in trot on both reins and my instructor would say what she would want us to do with the next set of poles as we finished one set. For example I would go between the gate and the poles and then over the fan of poles. Sometimes she would leave it a little longer so I would have to react fast and get Legacy working quickly and effectively. We struggled with this a little in the beginning because it took a while to get Legacy into a nice rhythm, she would be running along in trot. When she's at this pace I never know to kick her on to keep her going or slow her down to steady her I'm fear she's going to think I'm asking her to canter or if she'll stall on me. I had to try get her into rhythm without showing her I'm worried about what she's going to do. 

Even when you think you've got Legacy working at a good speed you still have to be on the ball and concentrating on her at all times or she will just give up and go back to walk or even just stand there. There was a few times I lost my stirrups and took my concentration off of Legacy to sort these out during the trot and she was back to walk. 

So the stirrup situation is something I'm going to work on, through my position and possibly trying out the cheese grater stirrup grips so help with my losing stirrup problem.

At the end of the lesson we did a little canter on each rein, this is something that Legacy needs to work on a lot as she's not balanced at all, and I don't feel like she's balanced enough to get any benefit out of being cantered on the lunge. So in my sessions with her when I feel like I've got her in a good trot I will ask her for canter but only do a few strides then bring her back and continue doing this as she gains balance. Another thing she needs to learn is that when she comes back down from canter to trot is to keep working and not just die down back to walk.  

I really enjoyed doing this exercise with Legacy and it was nice to get her working over poles. This is something I would do again with her on my individual schooling sessions with her. 

Legacy's Work Boots

This post is about Legacy's work boots, these are the ones I have that work best for her after trying many different types on her. I've found that she can only have a certain type of boot that fits her leg shape. She has to have the type of boots that are structured and not the ones which incorporate the brushing pad into the boot. 

For her overreach boots she has the Roma Fleece Trim Rubber boots. She has these on when she ridden and also when she's out in the field as her legs are close together and she clips herself as she's running around the field. 

For her front brushing boots she has the Mark Todd Collection 2 strap boots. These offer her great protection, and are kept secure on her legs by the double locking velcro system. They have a velcro strap going towards the front then another towards the back to have double security. 

Her back boots are the Roma Pebble Splint Brushing Boots. I first bought these when I first got Legacy as I was going to start putting boots on her before I realised that she actually needed to wear them whenever she's ridden. These have a through a ring and back on itself closure. Over the years the rings have become rusty which I'm really gutted about but they offer Legacy a great amount of protection and I'm not sure I'd be able to find another pair of boots I like so much that will fit her properly. She needs these boots as she's very close behind and kicks herself. When she does this when being ridden she drops and loses her footing until she's regained herself. 

Ideally she needs to have the turnout with the over reach boots on her hinds as she kicks her coronet bands when in the field too. This is something I'm not too sure about trying though as she'd never had brushing boots on her hinds before I got her and it's only very recently gotten safe to put them on without her reacting.

(Yes that's poo on her hind foot, I took the chance to get this picture while she was standing still, unfortunately she'd just stood in the poo.)

"I'm Not Working Today!"

Now the weathers much better I'm getting to ride Legacy much more, and I'm having lessons every other week. I'm trying to ride on my days off from work and after or before depending on what shift I'm doing and she's not enjoying it. 

I've always heard that ex racers are great to have because they love to work, well I definitely got the odd one out and she hates it. She won't hack out on her own due to having separation anxiety and I can't hack out with Cloudy because she plays up in the road when she doesn't want to go. This is why I started up the lessons again, getting her to listen.

When I take her down to the school she may work nicely for 10 minutes, 20 minutes or even just 2 before she decides that she's finished working and will just stop in the middle of what we're doing. Have it be in the middle of a lesson, just warming up or down she will just stop. Now I can't give her a kick to move her on as she's sensitive that and will fling her head up in the air. In my lessons I've now learnt that giving her intermittent squeezes with my right then left foot will make her move but not until she's given me a cow kick out as to say get away trying to kick my leg. 

Recently when riding her I have to know that I'm feeling confident that day to fight with her to get her working properly. Once you fight back with her she will fight back a little but will give up in the end, and at times she she will work lovely after. I'm hoping this is just a phase for her and she will be happy to work soon as she starts to learn the basics more.