March Goals

Yay! March is here, and hopefully that means Spring is on its way to Georgia! This weekend was full of non-horsey obligations so I didn't get to ride. I did think a lot about what I want to work on this month, and here's what I've decided:

Work on encouraging Kwik to seek contact with the bridle. This is the foundation for asking him to lift his back and connect the front and back ends. Obviously this is a concept that takes years to fully develop, but he's starting to understand the idea and I want to keep the ball rolling. I love this video (http://www.art2ride.com/blog/how-to-engage-your-horses-back/) from Will Faerber's Art2Ride blog- such a great explanation of concept and why we want to acheive it in the first place. My plan is to free lunge him in the round pen on Tuesdays and Thursdays w/t/c for warm-up, and then do some w/t work with side reins to reinforce the idea of seeking contact before we begin our work under saddle. If I feel like he's balanced enough and ready, we may do some canter work as well. I'd also like to start incorporating ground pole/cavaletti work.

My second "action item" for the month is trail riding. After each flatwork school in the arena, I've been taking Kwik on a hack on a very short trail that loops around the paddocks and ends up back at the barn. The barn stays in sight the entire time, and all of our trips so far have been relaxed and incident-free. My plan is to start on the short trail and instead of taking the loop around the paddocks, we'll take the longer trail away from the barn and add a little bit more each time before turning around and heading home. I also want to schedule Saturday trailventures (walk only) with a good, steady buddy. I'm hoping we'll be able to take the trail to the schooling show arenas and xc course solo by the end of the month.

What are your March goals?