Frosty Pants

I got off work early yesterday, which was exciting; however, it was tainted by the reason. The reason is I have several 6am mornings ahead of me, bleh! The bright side though was that Shane and I were able to get out to ride the ponies early enough in the day that we didn't conflict with feeding time and we still had time to take the dogs for a romp in the gardens before our dinner time!

When we got to the barn I grabbed Frosty Pants and Shane grabbed Trinity. I really want to ride Frosty mostly this summer so she is ready for Shane to really get a feel for her. She is an amazing horse and her gait is SO smooth, but for a beginner any horses trot (no matter how smooth) is going to be a bit jarring. So, I want to work on getting her to a good place for him. I stared by lunging her really well to let her get some steam out. We got a few crow hops and then she settled in to work.

She has the cutest movement, don't you think?

Shane did really good with Trinity. He had to ride English, because we only have the one Western saddle right now. His form is 100x better in the English saddle. I think it is just the way my amazing saddle holds you. English is definitely the way to go to learn proper horse posture. They mostly walked and turned. I am sure Trinity was thrilled to have a walking lesson. It was good for Shane as well to get the feel for it again. 

Look at that form! Better then mind, I am embarrassed to say!

After we lunged I got on Frosty and we did a lot of trot work. Mostly learning to turn and listen to the new hackamore. She hasn't quite gotten the whole steering concept. That is something we REALLY need to work on. She is so stiff in the neck and almost dead to me legs when trying to bend her around my leg. Anyone have any ideas? She was cowboy broke (we assume), so I am wondering if they killed her face and sides with thumping? Any suggestions would be appreciated! 

Here she is resisting to the pressure on her nose. She does not get asking for softness, roundness, or flexion.

Doing better but she is counter bending the wrong direction.

I love her stride. She is so the cutest little thing. Here she is relaxed in the reins, but she is still stiff through her whole body.

Shane also took a video so we can maybe see if there is anything I am doing or I could be doing to make it better. I am just at a loss right now, she is the first total stiff horse I have worked with...