Saturday Morning Workout

A good Saturday morning - cool, plenty of sunshine and no wind! It's a perfect morning to get into the saddle. We're still working Gletta and Morgunn in our paddock to get us all into riding shape.

The first thing we ALWAYS work on is neck flexion. This is a picture of Betty flexing Gletta's neck while on the ground. The whole purpose of this is to get Gletta and Morgunn to soften their neck muscles. Their neck muscles are some of the strongest in their bodies and we want them to be soft and supple instead of stiff and rigid.



This is a picture of Morgunn flexing while I'm in the saddle. I want his nose to touch my boot while keeping his feet still which he does well.






Betty on Gletta walking the fence. This helps Gletta learn to walk straight and not veer to the right or left.







Betty on Gletta stopped at the fence corner. This gives Gletta a chance to rest and teaches her that the back of the paddock is a good place. She learns not to walk too fast back to the stable.






Dan on Morgunn asking him to disengage his hip. Dan is bending Morgunn to the left and putting pressure back toward his left hip. This gets Morgunn to step to the right with his rear left leg and it's going in front of the rear right leg which is the correct thing. Morgunn will pivot his rear end around to the right.




The end of a good morning's work and a good way to spend a beautiful New Mexico morning.