Light schooling and schlepping around the barn. I love my horse.

Today, I really didn't feel like riding, but I figured neither of us are ever going to get any better without some effort. Spent a good thirty minutes fussing over him and tacking up- he's finally putting on some weight, and his coat looks really good from all the corn oil he gets. Did some "carrot stretches," worked on massaging the knot on his neck a little more, went through my bag of treats trying to figure out what flavor he likes best. The usual. He's really soaking up all the attention- totally an in-your-pocket horse.

Went out to the ring and worked on being on the bit. He's definitely more comfortable now that his teeth are floated-didn't cross his jaw at all today and I even took my cavesson off. He's not a huge fan of any sort of impulsion and was really behind my leg at first, but after a while I got him to wake up and got a nice, schwung-y trot, per one of my favorite sites, Sustainable Dressage.

(http://www.sustainabledressage.com/rollkur/work_stretch.php)

We alternated between a working frame (for his level of muscle tone- basically, attempting to get him to accept contact, lift his neck, and bring his face a few degrees in front of the vertical w/hock engagement, of course)and a long and low stretch. We'd walk briskly for a few strides with correct attitude and then we'd stretch down. Moved up to trot- we'd trot around the arena twice with correct head and neck positioning and then we'd do long and low for another lap.

No cantering today. I want to fix my brakes before I start moving up to a faster pace. We did a lot of up-down transitions and he's doing better, but I'm trying to teach him to stop off my seat so that we can use rein aids as a last resort. I want the progression to be
1. Restrict with seat.
2. Half-halt.
3. Say "whoah"
4. Fixed rein.
5. Absolute last resort- cavalry stop.

That way, he'll have fair warning and several opportunities to listen up before I start demanding a response. The cavalry stop is basically if he runs through my aids repeatedly and we are in danger of getting out of control. I'm not anticipating needing it, but it's good to know.