Willough Wonder Horse


 Finally I feel like a have a few minutes to blog about my last clinic with the lovely Sue Martin. Sue is an amazing trainer and rider who has lived and worked in both Colorado and California and we are so lucky to have her back here. As a barn we have worked with her quite a bit now, having her locally through Covid was truly wonderful and every single rider who works with her has told me they adore riding with her and get an absolute ton from her each time she comes. We have been trying to do every other month with Sue, people can usually stretch their budget to be able to ride this often, and especially as we were utterly devoid of shows in 2020 it allowed us to have some learning opportunities instead of competing opportunities and each rider and horse combination have made huge progression as time has gone on. Its so cool to see!


Personally I have had progression forward each time I see her, my aims from this last clinic are getting more refined and quicker as a whole, quicker forward thinking half halts to stop Willough plowing onto her forehand or hanging on the reins. Not collapsing in my leading ribcage in lateral work and keeping her canter with  little half halts and reapplying the canter aid quickly before she starts to get heavy in my hand. Here are some little Wills vids from the clinic:

Trot Work:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DT2gm4TlgTc 

Tempi Changes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUAz9ilSkU0


Axel is currently chilling out after his stifle injections and has spent his downtime snoozing in his run and eating the hay that he lay down in haha- brekkie in bed! Wills and I have begun riding through parts of 4th 3 in prep for possibly showing her if she feels like she wants to go show. She knows her stuff, I just need to be able to ride her correctly, clearly and keep her light and fluffy! 


Excited that our next calendar item is a test riding clinic, we can get some feedback on what we need work on before we start shows in May. I am already feeling a little nervous about the clinic but I know it is a perfect way to get us rockin and rolling on the path towards competing.


For now signing off and praying the stifle injections help Axel feel a little stronger in his canter work.





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