Ok, I have a couple of days of Striker to catch up on so i will start with him. Didn't do much with him over the weekend, just a little bit on ground yielding on Saturday morning. Monday I rode him and concentrated on leg yielding under saddle. He is quite flexible for a Standarbred and doesn't have trouble bending, but he does have trouble with a bit of stifle lock. It doesn't affect him when he is moving and going forward, but for the slow stuff like teaching him to yield his HQ's from a stand still, he finds it really difficult. I thought it was only the right leg but the left leg seems to have come up with it too. Maybe because he is losing muscle tone from racing??? Not too worry, we will get through it.

Tuesday it was back to yielding HQ's on the ground as he is still slightly lame. He gets a little confused and is quite scared of my carrot stick so I am spending time rubbing him with it. I had a little ride. His go forward button is not too flash, I am working harder than him, which is NOT a good thing lol. I am giving him the benefit of the doubt at the moment as I know his feet are still sore, so i am not pushing the issue too much at this stage.

Wednesday. I have just done ground work today. More HQ yields and transitions on line. Walk, trot, walk, trot, canter, trot, canter, trot, walk. He is a very quick learner and although he falls out of his canter after half a circle, I let him be as at this stage all I want is the easy break over, which he is giving me, so I don't care how long he holds it for, just as long as he understands what I'm asking when I lift my energy and say "canter". Started to teach him to back up from pressure today, from nose and chest, as most Standardbreds find a back up extremely difficult, ESPECIALLY from pressure. Most will automatically lean back against you. He did well, although the stifles are a bit of a problem with this, but he tries. To finish up today, we did some short sessions of asking him to lead WITH me. Not behind me not in front or to the side but WITH me. He was very confused as I don't think anybody has ever asked him to be WITH them. All in all, I am really happy with this little horse. :)

Envy

Started Envy's session today with HQ's yield from the ground. She is a very "dull" horse to touch and I had to use quite alot of stimuli to cause her to respond. I found voice was enough. Then more HQ yields and leg yields in the saddle, again, quite alot of stimuli needed - slap leg, slap reins. She gets it, she just thinks about it carefully first. I did do trot and canter today, and WOW, how much better is her canter! She holds it for as long as I ask her too now. It is a little bit of hard work on my part but she is getting easier, but most of what I did today was trying to help her unlock her neck and get her laterally and vertically flexing, just at a walk. I would guess she wore a head check because she really wants to lean on my hands, so we did ALOT of flex release, flex release, flex release. Trying to keep the forward in the walk still there. She did well and really tries but has a bit of trouble letting go of the past habits of racing. I am also really please with Envy, she just takes a little longer to respond but she tries hard.